Objectives Identify the reasons immigration to the United States increased in the late 1800s. Describe the difficulties immigrants faced adjusting to their new lives. Discuss how immigrants assimilated and contributed to American life. Describe efforts to limit immigration.
A Flood of Immigrants Before 1865, most immigrants coming to the United States came from northern and western Europe (the Old World).
A Flood of Immigrants In the mid-1880s, that pattern began to change. New immigrants began to come from eastern and southern Europe Greeks, Russian, Italians, Poles, etc. By 1907, 4 out of 5 immigrants were from these parts of Europe.
A Flood of Immigrants Who are they? Many of these new immigrants are Catholic or Jews. They do not speak English. After 1900, immigration from Mexico will increase, and many thousands will arrive from China and Japan. These new ethnic groups and their religions and beliefs do not blend well with the old immigrants, who are generally Protestant and English-speaking (Irish, Scottish, English, etc.) Because of this, these groups clustered together in neighborhoods made up of the same nationality.
A Flood of Immigrants Why are they here? For many immigrants, they had no choice but to LEAVE their home. They were pushed from their country. Some left home because of economic troubles. In Italy, overcrowding and poverty made it hard to find a home and shelter. In Sweden and Ireland, major crop failures led to thousands dying from starvation. All across Europe, Industrialization resulted in new machines that replaced the need for skilled, manual labor. Hundreds of thousands were left without jobs as a result.
A Flood of Immigrants Why are they here? For many immigrants, they had no choice but to LEAVE their home. They were pushed from their country. Persecution also drove people from their homes. Some countries passed laws that targeted certain ethnic groups. Targeted groups genuinely fled for their lives and came to the United States. One example is the immigration of Russian Jews who came to America to flee the pogroms; the systematic discrimination and violence toward people of this particular religion.
A Flood of Immigrants Why are they here? For other immigrants, many saw the United States as a land of opportunity, promise, and potential. This chance for a better life pulled people to the U.S. Industrialization was just beginning in the United States, and thousands of jobs needed to be filled. Cities were just beginning to grow and it was said the streets were paved with gold.. A vast majority of the country had not even been settled and many moved out west, where land was everywhere and it was cheap or free.
The Immigrant Experience Finding work An immigrant s greatest challenge was finding work. Fast-growing industries needed thousands of workers. In the steel mills of Pittsburg, the majority or workers were recent immigrants. Immigrant women and children worked in sweatshops, cutting, sewing, and producing the latest fabric fashions. The hours were long, the work could be very hazardous, and the pay low. Still, immigrants found opportunity.
The Immigrant Experience Adjusting to America An immigrant s greatest challenge was finding work. While most immigrants tried to preserve their own cultures, most wanted to assimilate, or become part of America. Immigrant parents continued to speak Italian, German, or Russian at home while their children learned English at school. These children of immigrants, speaking both languages, eventually had children that would speak English only. These people had become American, but at the loss of their ancestral culture. Most immigrants tended to form separate communities in the cities in which they lived. Cities such as Chicago, New York, and San Francisco would have a separate neighborhood for Italians, Poles, Chinese, etc.
The Immigrant Experience The Nativist Movement Immigrants attempts to assimilate and become part of the American culture often faced criticism from native-born Americans. Many feared the new immigrants would take away jobs, or drive down wages because they would accept lower wages. Still other native-born Americans were intimidated by new immigrants. They argues that new foreign languages, unfamiliar religions, and unique customs would not fit in to American society. People found it easy to blame immigrants for these problems and the Nativist Movement took hold. Nativists called for immigration restrictions.
The Immigrant Experience The Nativist Movement Lawmakers quickly responded to the movement s requests for limits. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The act prohibited any Chinese immigrants for ten years. In 1892, Congress extended the act for another decade. Notice the year and location of the printed advertisement
The Immigrant Experience The Nativist Movement Congress and Japan also came to a gentlemen s agreement concerning Japanese immigrants. Congress agreed not to prohibit and Japanese immigrants, and Japanese agreed to control the number of people leaving for the United States. Still later, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917, requiring a literacy requirement in order for any immigrant to enter the United States. What details do you notice in this political cartoon from the time?