The USA

1. By Mr Bargery Hugh Christie Technology College Downloaded from SchoolHistory.co.uk The USA What was it like at the start of the Twentieth Century?

2. Coming to America! • Between 1850-1914, 40 million people emigrated to the USA • For most the journey was hard and consisted of two weeks in the cheapest class of travel with little or no privacy • There was also no guarantee that they would be allowed in!

3. Why America? • Overcrowding in Europe • Lack of Opportunity • Unemployment • Persecution • America offered escape from these

4. Immigration had made the USA a very mixed society America was like ‘a melting pot’ The idea was that the immigrants lost their old identity and became AMERICANS! Old Immigrants. These were the first European settlers from Britain, Germany and Scandinavia. Their descendants tended to hold the best jobs, the most money and political power- WASPs Who were the Americans?

5. Native American Indians. These people originally lived across the whole of the continent. Between 1850-90 they were forced off their land By 1917 many Indians lived in reservations across America Black Americans. In the C18th and C19th millions of Africans were brought to America to work as slaves. By 1920 there were 11 million Black people living in America Who were the Americans?

6. Who were the Americans? • Southern and Eastern Europeans. In the late C19th most new immigrants came from Russia, Poland and Italy. Many were Jews and Catholics. • Hispanics • Asians

7. Questions to Consider • Why do you think the Americans ‘processed’ the immigrants before letting them in? • What were the push and pull factors that encouraged people to go to America? • Do you think that the hopes of the immigrants would be easily achievable?