Immigration

The American Dream?

Task one: Discover the geographic origins of European immigration to the United States.

Task two: To understand the justifications and motives of the Nativists groups throughout United States history

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•“Old Immigrants”: those who came from Northern/Western Europe before 1900.

•“New Immigrants”: those who came from Eastern/Southern Europe from 1890-1920s.

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“New Immigrant”

Study the map and consider what countries are considered part of the “New immigrant” group

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What specific countries would not be included in the “New Immigrant” description?

Germany Italy Ireland Great Britain

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Which of the following observations about annual immigration are true? A.Immigration increases during America’s hard economic timesB.Immigration decreases during America’s hard economic timesC.People continued to come to America to escape persecution in their

own countriesD.Immigration increased dramatically during WWIE.Quotas limit the number of immigrants

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NATIVISMDefinition: A defense of native-born people

and a hostility to the foreign-born.

Task: What are the common themes in the Nativist position regardless of time/group?

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Who said this?“[The immigrants] who come [to America] are

generally of the most ignorant and stupid sort of their own nation…Their own clergy have very little influence over the people…Not being used to liberty, they know not how to make a modest use of it…they are not esteemed men till they have shown their manhood by beating their mothers…now they come in droves…few of their children in the country learn English. Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us insteade of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion…Which leads me to add one more Remark: That the Number of purely white People in the World is proportionably very small…”

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Benjamin Franklin

He was writing in 1753 about German immigrants to America

Before the Revolutionary War he grumbled about bilingual street signs and translators in state government

The big question, should German or English be the national language?

Answer:

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Cartoon Interpretation:Is this a pro or anti Nativist cartoon?

ProAnti

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Cartoon Interpretation:Is this a pro or anti Nativist cartoon?

ProAnti

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Nativists Groups

Know-Nothing Party Limits on immigration

from Catholic countries Restricting political office

to native-born Americans Require a wait of 21

years before immigrant could gain citizenship

Restrict public school teaching to Protestants

Daily Bible readings in public schools-from the Protestant version of the Bible

American Protective Association

Openly discriminatory against Roman Catholics

Social Darwinists, who viewed the new immigrants as biologically inferior to English and Germanic stocks.

Depression of 1893-foreigners as scapegoats

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1887: Immigration Restriction League

Immigrants should be screened, through literacy tests and other standards to separate the desirable from undesirable immigrants.

“Must be able to read or write in English or in their own language before entering the U.S.”

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The Chinese Exclusion Act 1882.

•Chinese unskilled workers were forbidden to immigrate.

•Skilled workers needed some proof from the Chinese government—difficult to get.

•Chinese already in the U.S. could not become citizens.

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•Gentleman’s Agreement (1907): an informal agreement between Japan and the U.S. that resulted in Japan agreeing to stop any further Japanese immigration to the U.S.

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Immigration Laws

1917-Literacy Test Requires all

immigrants to read or write English before granted entry into U.S.

Proves INEFFECTIVE: between 1918-1921 of 1.5 million immigrants only 6,000 limited by literacy test

1921-Emergency Immigration Act

Sets quota on immigrants

Limited annual immigration to 3% of people living in U.S. of that nationality.

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Immigration Laws

1952-McCarren-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act

Eliminates race as a limit to immigration and naturalization

Opens door to Asian immigration

Reaffirms national quota system

Establishes preferences for those with desired skills or with relatives in U.S.

1965-Immigration Reform Act

Abolishes the national quota system

But places a limit on 20,000 on any one country outside of Western Hemisphere

Admits immigrants on first-come, first qualified basis: professional, skilled, unskilled

Preference system for relatives as well as for refugees and those with desired skills

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Immigration Laws 1990-

Immigration Act Raises overall limit on

immigration 450,000= to relatives of

people already here 140,000= to skilled

workers Modifies existing

restrictions on Communists Sexual preference Removes AIDS from list

of diseases mandating exclusion.

1994-Prop 187

Requires by law: Verify the immigration

status of persons potential employees

Report persons to state & federal authorities

Deny those persons social services (health care, and education)

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Current immigration issues.How are they similar?

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Play the video, and identify the use of sarcasm-Wait for it to load!

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How does the video use sarcasm to present

immigration? The video presents immigration from a

Native-American perspective. The video uses sarcasm to mock Native-

Americans. The video uses sarcasm to show how

European are superior to other groups The video uses sarcasm to show how

Native-American always overreact.

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Summarize the Nativists

All of the following are themes shared by the Nativists groups EXCEPT. Racism Religion Economic concerns Gender discrimination

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End of the presentation. Click when done.

No!-Try again. German immigrants would be considered part of the “New Immigrant” group

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No!-Try again. Irish immigrants would be considered part of the “New Immigrant” group

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No!-Try again. Italian immigrants would be considered part of the “New Immigrant” group

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YES. British immigrants are not considered part of the “New Immigrant” group. British immigrants would be immigrating to the United States in low numbers, and also they blend in with the existing cultural characteristics of most Americans

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Yes. This is one of the factors influencing immigration.

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NO-This is not a immigration factor. Try again!

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NO-this is not evident in the video. Try again.

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Yes! The video offers a view of immigration not often considered by white Americans.

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No! This is a pro-nativist cartoon

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Yes! The symbolism supports the nativist ideas.

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No. This would be a major theme of the nativist groups.

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Correct. Gender discrimination did not play a major role in the nativists ideas.

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