Name: __________________________
Date: ____________
Mr. Armstrong
SS8 | AIM #: ______
American Immigration Timeline & Notable Legislation
1880's - First "Great Wave" of European Immigrants to the United States
"[T]he first great wave of European immigration did not come until the 1880s. Previous events such as the Irish potato famine of 1845, the Gold Rush in 1849 and
failed revolutions in Germany and France in 1848 led to the immigration of more than one million people by the 1850s. Nevertheless, the 1880s saw a huge
immigration explosion. The period between 1880 and 1924 witnessed an average of 560,000 immigrants per year, amounting to over 25 million immigrants over a
44 year period. This period saw a large increase in Jewish immigration to the US, largely due to repressive laws enacted in Russia and Prussia. Additionally, large
numbers of Italians fleeing the economic and political climate of their homeland found a new home in America.
1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act Passes and Immigration Exclusion Era Begins
"In the beginning Congress created the Chinese Exclusion Act ... That May 1882 statute, which has long been treated as a minor if somewhat disreputable
incident, can now be seen as a nodal point in the history of American immigration policy. It marked the moment when the golden doorway of admission to the
United States began to narrow and initiated a thirty-nine-year period of successive exclusions of certain kinds of immigrants, 1882-1921, followed by twenty
two years, 1921-43, when statutes and administrative actions set narrowing numerical limits for those immigrants who had not otherwise been excluded.
During those years a federal burocracy was created to control immigration and immigrants, a bureaucracy whose initial raison d'être was to keep out first
Chinese and then others who were deemed inferior."
1892 - Ellis Island Opens as Immigrant Entry Checkpoint
"From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. While the
new immigration station on Ellis Island was under construction, the Barge Office at the Battery was used for the processing of immigrants. The new structure
on Ellis Island, built of 'Georgia pine' opened on January 1, 1892; Annie Moore, a 15 year-old Irish girl, accompanied by her two brothers entered history and a
new country as she was the very first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island on January 2."
1907 - United States and Japan Sign the "Gentlemen's Agreement" Allowing Japanese "Picture Brides" to
Immigrate
"In 1907, amidst the anti-Japanese pressures in California, President Theodore Roosevelt and the Government of Japan reached an agreement stopping
issuance of passports to Japanese laborers but continuing issuing passports to laborers who had been in the U.S. previously and also to parents, wives,
relatives of those already in the U.S.
This essentially eliminated new Japanese laborers but thousands of wives (picture brides) came over. The purpose of this 'Gentlemen’s Agreement' was to stop
Japanese immigration but it did not have the desired effect as thousands of 'picture brides' continued to arrive. It was euphemistically called 'The Gentlemen’s
Agreement.' A halt to all Japanese immigration was achieved by law in 1924."
1910 - Angel Island Immigration Station Opens
"In 1905, construction of an Immigration Station began in the area known as China Cove. Surrounded by public controversy from its inception, the station was
finally put into operation in 1910. Although it was billed as the 'Ellis Island of the West,' within the Immigration Service it was known as 'The Guardian of the
Western Gate' and was designed control the flow of Chinese into the country... By 1920, an estimated 6,000 to 19,000 Japanese 'picture brides' were processed
through Angel Island... In 1940, the government decided to abandon the Immigration Station on Angel Island. Their decision was hastened.”
1917 - Immigration Act of 1917 Denies Entry to Immigrants from Eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands
"Immigration Act of 1917 ('Asiatic Barred Zone Act'). Denies entry to immigrants from the 'Asiatic Barred Zone'--much of eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands.
It also sets a literacy requirement for immigrants over 16 and a head tax for entry into the country; it bars entry by 'idiots,' 'feeble-minded persons,'
'epileptics,' 'insane persons,' alcoholics, 'professional beggars,' all persons 'mentally or physically defective,' polygamists, and anarchists."
Event/ Legislation Date
First "Great Wave" of
European Immigrants to
the United States
Chinese Exclusion Act
Passes and Immigration
Exclusion Era Begins
Ellis Island Opens as
Immigrant Entry
Checkpoint
United States and Japan
Sign the "Gentlemen's
Agreement" Allowing
Japanese "Picture Brides"
to Immigrate
Angel Island Immigration
Station Opens
Immigration Act of 1917
Denies Entry to
Immigrants from Eastern
Asia and the Pacific
Islands
Important Quote/ Line
MAIN IDEA