IMMIGRATION
1870-1920
IMMIGRATION TIMELINE
Introduction:
The New Immigrants
The New Immigrants
- Millions of immigrants entered the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lured by the promise of a better life. They saw America as a land of opportunity. Some of the immigrants sought to escape difficult conditions- such as famine, land shortages, or religious or political persecution (PUSH FACTORS). Others, known as “birds of passage,” intended to immigrate temporarily to earn money, and then return to their homelands.
- Between 1870 and 1920, approximately 20 million Europeans arrived in the United States. Before 1890, most immigrants came from countries in western and northern Europe. Beginning in the 1890s, however, increasing numbers came from southern and eastern Europe. In 1907 alone, about a million people arrived from Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
- Why did so many leave their homelands? Many of these new immigrants left to escape religious persecution. Between 1800 and 1900, the population in Europe doubled to nearly 400 million, resulting in a scarcity (lack) of land for farming. Farmers competed with laborers for too few industrial jobs. In the United States, jobs were supposedly plentiful. In addition, a spirit of reform and revolt had spread across Europe in the 19th century. Influenced by political movements at home, many young European men and women sought independent lives in America.
- While waves of Europeans arrived on the shores of the East Coast, Chinese immigrants came to the West Coast in smaller numbers. Between 1851 and 1883, about 300,000 Chinese arrived. Many came to seek their fortunes after the discovery of gold in 1848 sparked the California gold rush. Chinese immigrants helped build the nation’s railroads, including the first transcontinental line. When the railroads were completed, they turned to farming, mining, and domestic service. However, Chinese immigration was sharply limited by a congressional act in 1882. [This act was later extended in 1892 and 1902.]
- In 1884, the Japanese government allowed Hawaiian planters to recruit Japanese workers, and a Japanese emigration boom began. The United States’ annexation of Hawaii in 1898 resulted in increased Japanese immigration to the West Coast.
- After initial moments of excitement, the immigrants faced the anxiety of not knowing whether they would be admitted to the United States. They had to pass inspection at immigration stations, such as the one at Castle Garden in New York, which was later moved to Ellis Island in New York harbor. About 20 percent of the immigrants at Ellis Island were detained for a day or two more before being inspected. However, only about 2 percent of those were denied entry…The processing of immigrants on Ellis Island was an ordeal that might take five hours or more.
- One response to the growth in immigration was NATIVISM, or favoritism toward native-born Americans. Nativism gave rise to anti-immigrant groups that led to a demand for immigrant restrictions.
- Many nativists believed that Anglo-Saxons- the Germanic ancestors of the English- were superior to other ethnic groups. These nativists did not object to immigrants from the “right” countries. Prescott F. Hall, a founder in 1894 of the Immigration Restriction League, identified desirable immigrants as “British, German, and Scandinavian stock, historically free, energetic, progressive.” Nativists thought that problems were caused by immigrants from the “wrong” countries- “Slav, Latin, and Asiatic races, historically down-trodden…and stagnant.” Nativists sometimes objected more to immigrant’s religious beliefs than to their ethnic backgrounds. Many native-born Americans were Protestants and thought that Roman Catholic and Jewish immigrants would undermine the democratic institutions established by the country’s Protestant founders.
- Nativism also found a foothold in the labor movement, particularly in the West, where native-born workers feared that jobs would go to Chinese immigrants, who would accept lower wages. The depression of 1873 intensified anti-Chinese sentiment in California. Work was scarce, and labor groups exerted political pressure on the government to restrict Asian immigration…In 1882, Congress slammed the door on Chinese Immigration for 10 years by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act banned entry to all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials. In 1892, Congress extended the law for another 10 years. In 1902, Chinese immigration was restricted indefinitely; the law was not repealed until 1943.
Restrictions on Immigration
Immigration Act 1882
Immigration Act 1882
- Imposed a 50 cent head tax on entering immigrants Excluded criminals, paupers, and the insane.
- Excluded Chinese immigrants to the U.S. for 10 years. This act was made permanent in 1904, but cancelled after World War II.
- Japan voluntarily agreed to limit the immigration of Japanese laborers to the U.S. by refusing to give applicants a passport.
- Immigrants over 16 years of old were required to read and write one foreign language (The physically handicapped were exempt from this requirement.)
- Established the first immigration quota; set a yearly ceiling of about 357,000 newly entering immigrants from outside the Western Hemisphere Restricted the number of new immigrants to 3% of the number of foreign-born persons of that country in the U.S. in 1910.
- Set a yearly ceiling of about 160,000 newly entering immigrants from outside the western hemisphere. Restricted the number of entering immigrants to 2% of foreign-born persons of that country in the U.S. in 1890.
- Set a yearly ceiling of about 150,000 newly entering immigrants from outside the western hemisphere Based origins quota on foreign-born population in the U.S. in 1920. Said no one country could have a quota of less than 100.
ELLIS ISLAND-webquest #1
ANGEL ISLAND-Webquest #2
Immigration postcards
You will be asked to CREATE 3 postcards in the persona of an immigrant coming to the United States. They will describe your journey to America, arrival in America (Ellis or Angel Island), and your life after arriving. Requirements and helpful questions for this project are covered below. Remember that this is a challenging assignment. You are being asked to take new information and use it in a creative way that shows your understanding of the issues of immigration. The purpose of this project is to describe what happened to you and your family as you traveled to America, when you landed at Ellis Island or Angel Island (Chinese and Japanese immigrants), and life after arriving. The following are requirements and helpful questions:
Students can choose to be an Irish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, or Japanese immigrant. Each student will be required to:
Create 3 postcards (each postcard is about the size of half a piece of computer paper) to a family or friend back in your home country.
Postcard 1– immigrant experience on their journey to America
Postcard 2 – Immigrant experience from Ellis or Angel Island
Postcard 3 – After release from an immigration center – describe your life and the decisions about where to go and how to live in America
-Postcards will have a full side of writing and a full side of images . Images can be hand drawn (must be colored) OR computer generated. You may NOT print or use a postcard that has already been created!!! Images must reflect the stage of the journey that the immigrant is writing from. (ie: on boat, on Ellis Island, life after Ellis Island)
-SPELLING AND GRAMMAR will be part of your grade. I suggest that you do a rough draft of your letter before you put it on your final sheet.
POSTCARD TEMPLATE
Students can choose to be an Irish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, or Japanese immigrant. Each student will be required to:
Create 3 postcards (each postcard is about the size of half a piece of computer paper) to a family or friend back in your home country.
Postcard 1– immigrant experience on their journey to America
- Why did you leave your country?
- Why did choose to go to America?
- What port did you leave from in your home country?
- What what were the conditions on the boat like?
- What did you eat?
- What did you do for fun?
- What were the other people like?
- Describe your first sight of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, or Angel Island. What do you feel? How do the other members of your family feel? What is happening around you on the deck of the ship?
- Are there rumors or worries about what will happen to you when you land? Do you hear that some people are sent back or taken away? Are people offering advice on what to do or say when you meet immigration officials?
- What are your dreams and hopes for your new life in America? What are your fears and worries about a new life in America?
Postcard 2 – Immigrant experience from Ellis or Angel Island
- Describe getting off the ship, landing and the process the immigration officials put you through.
- Do you feel welcome, afraid, confused?
- Do you see someone else being rejected by the immigration officials?
- Was your family separated for some reason?
- Those who land at Angel Island should include a reaction to some of the poems carved into the walls of the barracks. How do those poems make you feel?
- What are your feelings after you have been allowed into America?
- Did everyone in your family get in?
- Are you being met by a relative, a friend or an employer?
- Where do you plan to settle?
Postcard 3 – After release from an immigration center – describe your life and the decisions about where to go and how to live in America
- Where did you live?
- What type of job did you get?
- How did people in America treat you?
- What is your house like?
- What are your future plans?
- Make a prediction for your future in America. Will your dreams come true?
-Postcards will have a full side of writing and a full side of images . Images can be hand drawn (must be colored) OR computer generated. You may NOT print or use a postcard that has already been created!!! Images must reflect the stage of the journey that the immigrant is writing from. (ie: on boat, on Ellis Island, life after Ellis Island)
-SPELLING AND GRAMMAR will be part of your grade. I suggest that you do a rough draft of your letter before you put it on your final sheet.
POSTCARD TEMPLATE
***Here is an excellent video on Ellis Island where you might find some inspiration for your postcards:
Ellis Island video
Ellis Island video
RESEARCH SITES
:GENERAL INFO:
https://learn.uakron.edu/beyond/industrialage.htm
http://www.ohranger.com/ellis-island/immigration-journey
EXPERIENCE ON BOATS OVER:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/5_2.html
https://spartacus-educational.com/USAEjourney.htm
FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/immigrating.htm
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/relive-boys-journey-america/
https://www.nps.gov/elis/learn/historyculture/oral-histories.htm
https://vinceparrillo.com/2013/09/24/true-immigrant-stories-a-teenager-at-ellis-island/
EXPERIENCES/PROBLEMS AFTER SETTLEMENT
https://learn.uakron.edu/beyond/industrialage.htm
http://www.ohranger.com/ellis-island/immigration-journey
EXPERIENCE ON BOATS OVER:
https://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/5_2.html
https://spartacus-educational.com/USAEjourney.htm
FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/immigrating.htm
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/relive-boys-journey-america/
https://www.nps.gov/elis/learn/historyculture/oral-histories.htm
https://vinceparrillo.com/2013/09/24/true-immigrant-stories-a-teenager-at-ellis-island/
EXPERIENCES/PROBLEMS AFTER SETTLEMENT