Immigrants Reasons: 1. Lured by promise of better life 2. Escape difficult conditions at home a. Famine b. Land Shortages 3.

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2 Immigrants Reasons: 1. Lured by promise of better life 2. Escape difficult conditions at home a. Famine b. Land Shortages 3. Escape religious/political persecution 4. Jobs supposedly plentiful in America 5. Come to earn money then go back

3 - Europe: Northwest: English, Irish, German, Scandinavian Southeast: Italian, Russian, and Polish - Asia: Chinese and Japanese - Mexico and Caribbean: Mexican, Jamaican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican

4 Traveled by steamship to America - trip across Atlantic took 1 week - trip across Pacific took 3 weeks Traveled in steerage (cheapest accommodations in a ship s cargo hold)

5 The Immigrants Guide By: John Carr Your Money Take care of it. Trust no irresponsible person with it. Change it at the Government s money exchange office in Ellis Island. Baggage You will find your baggage in the baggage room. Aid the officers cheerfully to find it; don t get nervous, but keep your head. When your baggage is found give it to the checker or agent, who will check it to the place where you go. Keep carefully the check that the agent gives to you, and do not worry about your baggage. The Train Don t rush to the trains. Listen to the trainmen and do what they ask of you. On the train don t waste the water, for the supply is limited. Do not wander from the train when it stops in a station; you may be left behind. Be cheerful and give prompt and respectful answers to all officials who ask you questions. Work America is a country of workers. Immigrants willing to work hard are welcome in America. Take the first honest job you get and keep it until you get something better. Keep yourself respectable and clean. Don t tell the boss how to do his work. If you can t find work go to the Young Men s Christian Association and you may be helped.

6 The Immigrants Guide By: John Carr Home Ties You ve left home, but don t forget the old folks. Write home often. Let your family and friends know where you are and how you are getting along. New Friends Choose new friends carefully. Avoid the man who knows it all. Try to make friends of men who have the same ideals. New Home Locate on the map the place to which you go. That will be your new home. Make it happy by living right. God is in America as well as in the homeland and His commandments are the same. If there is no church of your choice in your town then go to some other church. Join the Young Men s Christian Association. Don t Gamble You can t get rich quickly by gambling. You ll lose your money and be tempted to crime. Betting in every form is immoral. Don t try to get something for nothing. If you earn honest money see that you spend it honestly.

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8 As for conditions below decks, an agent for the United States Immigration Commission described them as follows: During the twelve days in the steerage I lived in surroundings that offended every sense. Only a fresh breeze from the sea overcame the sickening odors. Everything was dirty, sticky, and disagreeable to the touch. In such conditions, disease and even death were not uncommon.

9 Ellis Island: Atlantic side immigration station in New York Harbor - decided whether to admit or reject immigrants - 17 million immigrants passed through - Had to pass a physical health exam - Had to pass a govt. inspector s test a. able to work? b. have some money? c. never been convicted of a felony?

10 Passing Through the Golden Door - Ellis Island Only those passengers who had come Third Class were processed on Ellis Island. It was assumed that if one could afford to travel on First or Second Class tickets they were not likely to become public charges. Landing Cards were immediately pinned on them. These corresponded to the ship s passenger lists and contained information on health conditions aboard.

11 Passing Through the Golden Door - Ellis Island Although most likely feared this was the last they would ever see of their baggage, they followed the orders bellowed out at them. They were directed up to the second floor. Put your luggage down here! Men this way! Women and children to that side!

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13 Passing Through the Golden Door Public Health physicians for any signs of loathsome or contagious diseases, any strange appearance such as a limp, cough, or shortness of breath. Clothing marked in blue chalk with a coded initial. B = Back problems H = Heart problems PG = Pregnant E= Epilepsy: deportation F = Facial rash SC = Scalp, L = Lameness a head fungus C = Conjunctivitis (a contagious eye disease) G = Glaucoma CT = Trachoma TB = Tuberculosis X = Mental deficiency, for which you would later be given an intelligence test and be required to solve simple math puzzles X with a circle around it = insanity

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15 Form 1551 UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION SERVICE Port of New York Medical Examination Card Age: 29 Initials: E. S. Edward Schlereth OK. Name: Edward Schlereth Nativity: Germany Accomp: Ship: Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse Group E No. 29

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18 Passing Through the Golden Door Most of the arrivals got processed within 4 or 5 hours. Once you found a seat on a bench in the Great Hall, you waited nervously for your name to be called. Finally, you heard your name called and found yourself sitting at a table opposite an immigration officer, with a translator. Where were you born? Are you married? Where is your husband/wife? Do you have a job in America? Have you ever been in jail? Is someone going to meet you here? Where are you going in America? Who paid for your passage over? What skills do you have? How much money do you have? Those who did not have the required $25 were not cleared, but detained until a friend or relative already in America brought the money. If you failed to pass inspection, your detention could run into weeks and months, during which time you slept in the dormitory.

19 Angel Island: Pacific side immigration station in the San Francisco Bay - decided whether to admit or reject immigrants - 50,000 Chinese enter U.S. ( ) - Had to pass a physical health exam - Had to pass a govt. inspector s test (much more harsh and longer decision time)

20 physical health exam govt. inspector s test

21 Silently complete this assessment. If you get more than 1 wrong answer you will receive a What is your name? 8. What is the address of your school? 2. Have you any brothers or sisters? How Many? ice cream flavor? 3. When did you start Del Sol High School? 4. What time of day did you arrive? 9. What was the name of your first grade math teacher? What was his or her favorite 10. How many teachers work at Del Sol High School? 5. How many steps are there to the front door of your house? 6. Who lives in the third house in the second row of houses in your town? 7. What is the name and address of the hospital you were born at? 11. What was served for School lunch on the second day? 12. How many toothbrushes are in your bathroom at home? 13.Describe the view out of the largest southern facing window of your elementary school.

22 The following interrogation is a sample of what questions were asked and how the Chinese immigrants answered. Chinese immigrants often memorized full books of information in order to pass this grilling. These immigrants were called "paper sons." What is your name? Leong Sem. Has your house in China two outside doors? Yes. Who lives opposite the small door? Leon Doo Wui, a farmer in the village; he lives with his wife, no one else. Describe his wife. Chine Shee, natural feet. Didn't that man ever have any children? No. How old a man is he? About 30. Who lives in the first house in your row? Leong Yik Fook, farmer in the village; he lives with his wife, no one else. How many houses in your row? Two. Who lives in the first house, first row from the head? Yik Haw, I don't know what clan he belongs to. Why don't you know what clan he belongs to? I never heard his family name. Do you expect us to believe that you lived in that village if you don't know the clan names of the people living? He never told us his family name. How long has he lived in the village? For a long time. Who lives in the first house, third row? Leong Yik Gai; he is away somewhere; he has a wife, onse son and a adaughter living in that house. According to your testimony today there are only five houses in the village and yesterday you said there were nin. There are nine houses. Where are the other four? There us Doo Chin's house, first house, sixth row. This sample interrogation clearly shows the difficult and overly specific questions asked by the interrogators. The questions were very unrelated to actually gaining citizenship: their primary function was to limit Chinese citizenship as much as possible.

23 Immigrants Faced Challenges: 1. find a place to live 2. find a job 3. understand the language 4. understand the culture How to Cope? - Create ethnic communities

24 Where to live? Tenement buildings - Multi-family dwelling in urban areas - Families shared living space - Lighting & fresh air were scarce

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28 What were conditions like? - Uncomfortable, Crowded, and Dirty - In New York, 1,231 people lived in only 120 rooms in one part of the city - In Chicago in one year, over 60% of newborn never reached their first birthdays - Many had no home and slept in 5 cents a spot rooms where people paid for a small space to spend the night

29 An immigrant himself, Jacob Riis was well known for his photographs documenting the lives of immigrants & the urban poor in his book How the Other Half Lives

30 Jacob Riis

31 Jacob Riis

32 Jacob Riis

33 Americans saw country as a Melting Pot Problem: Many immigrants do not give up old culture

34 Outcome: Immigrants numbers increased = Anti-immigrant feelings emerge Nativism: favoritism toward native-born Americans 1. Anti-immigration groups begin to form - Immigration Restriction League - American Protective Association 2. Demand for immigration restrictions

35 Outcome: 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: law passed by Congress which banned Chinese immigrants for a period of 10 years (few exceptions) 1897 Congress pass law requiring literacy test for immigrants