URBAN AMERICA: 1865 – 1896

IMMIGRATION

Chapter 4 Lesson 1

The New Immigrants

Essential Question:

How did European Immigrants of the late 1800s change American Society?

The foreign-born population of the U.S. nearly doubled between 1870 and 1900.

Immigrant = person who comes to a new place to live permanently

Post-Civil War America 25 Million Immigrants came

to America b/w 1865 - 1914 #s would steadily grow until

1920s

The New Immigrants

Patterns of Immigration in the United States:

OLD vs. NEW

“Old Immigrants”Colonial Period (thru Indep.)

Mostly English Scots-Irish, German, Swedish, Dutch Settled throughout Eastern Seaboard

Old Immigration (Independence – Civil War) Northern & Western Europe (Still English) Ireland, Germany, Scandanavia

* Old immigrants had profound influence on shaping society

* Brought language (English), forms of government (Democracy), religion (Protestantism), Family & cultural traditions (strong family ties), economic patterns

The New Immigrants

Until 1870, the majority of immigrants were Protestant Christians from Western & Northern Europe (WASPs)

“New” Immigrants: Mostly from southern and eastern

Europe Italy, Greece, Poland, Austria -Hungary,

Russia, Serbia (Many immigrants Arrived until WWI, when

the U.S. restricted immigration) Many immigrants on West Coast from

Asia – China & Japan “New” Immigrants:

Unskilled Poor Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox Radical Politics (Socialism, Anarchy) Settled in cities not farms. *Single males

The New Immigrants

Push/Pull factors lead to Immigration

Push Factors: Compel people to leave their homes, such as famine, war, or persecution. Jews from Eastern Europe

(Russia/Poland) came in large numbers because of persecution

Pull Factors: Draw people to a new place, such as economic opportunity or religious freedom. Immigrants were recruited from

Europe to work building railroads in western U.S.

Chain Immigrants: Joining family or friends that are already settled in America.

The Immigrant Experience

The Atlantic Voyage: Steamships made the trip

across the Atlantic safer and faster than ever before.

Three months now took 2 weeks

Large sacrifices were made to come to the U.S. Steerage: Located on the

lower decks with no private cabins, crowded and dirty. Worst Accommodations

The Immigrant Experience

Ellis Island: All third-class, or steerage,

passengers were sent here. Immigration officers conducted legal and medical inspections. (Only 2% were denied entry.)

Immigrants w/ disesases (leprosy, V.D.) were sent back

Customs officials often Anglicized names

*About 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954!

Ellis Island

Ellis Island

The Immigrant Experience

Angel Island: Immigration station in San

Francisco Bay. Designed to filter out Chinese

immigrants. Very harsh towards Chinese –

had to prove U.S. citizenship or had family here

The Immigrant Experience

Most poor immigrants stayed in cities close to industrial jobs in factories. Some traveled West to North

Central StatesLived in ethnic

neighborhoods with people who shared their native language, religion, and culture. Often grouped together with

folks from same village or region Provided the most help and

comfortable surroundings

The Immigrant Experience

Impact on Urbanization

By 1890, NYC contained: Twice as many Irish as Dublin Same amount of Germans as

Hamburg ½ as many Italians as Naples 2.5 x Jews than Warsaw

4/5 New Yorkers had been born abroad or were children of foreign born parents

Mulberry Street – “Little Italy”

Hester Street – Jewish Section

Pell Street – “China Town”

Most Immigrants Settled in Urban Areas (Specifically Industrial Centers)

How were “new” Immigrants absorbed into the larger society?

Another theory

Assimilation Americanization: Programs helping

newcomers learn English and adapt American dress, diet, work habits, etc.

Settlement houses – ran the Americanization programs

Many Americans believed that America was quickly becoming a “melting pot” “Melting Pot”: White people of all different

nationalities blended to create a single culture. (Asians/African Americans excluded ?)

Resulting culture is made up of various, unidentifiable cultures

It usually took 1-2 generations to become more Americanized

Salad Bowl (pluralism) Groups do not always lose distinctive

characteristics Can and do live side by side Groups, like different vegetables in a salad,

remain identifiable but create a new, larger whole

Nativism

Fight for power:

WHITE

ANGLO-

SAXON

PROTESTANT

As immigration continued into the early 1900s, many Americans rejected the “new” immigrants

Nativism became a movement Nativism – belief that Native-born white

Americans (descendents of “old” immigrants) were superior to newcomers

Nativist resentment stemmed from several factors: Competition for jobs and housing

(during a recession) Religious and Cultural Differences

(Protestants vs. Catholics and Jews) “New Immigrants” seen as threat –

Main targets were Asians, Jews, and eastern Europeans.

NativismLaws were passed to limit

immigrationChinese Exclusion Act – 1882

prohibited immigration by Chinese laborers

Limited the civil rights of Chinese immigrants in U.S.

Forbade the naturalization of Chinese residents

*Eventually a quota system was established (Emergency Quota Act)

Nativism

The Gentlemen’s Agreement