Immigration

1. Immigration Getting here, problems and discrimination

2. Immigration to America • Millions of people came to America seeking liberty, jobs and an opportunity for a better life • Traveled by steamship in steerage; conditions were unhealthy • Before 1880s they came from England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, and Norway • During 1880s more than ½ million came from Italy, Russia, Poland and Greece • Left homelands ravaged by drought, famine, war, unfair laws and religious freedom • Settled in major cities: New York, Philadelphia

3. The Homestead Act of 1862 • 1862 • Offered cheap, fertile land to immigrants • Railroad companies advertised this in Europe to attract immigrants to the West • By the time they arrived most of the land was gone • Unable to move West, immigrants stayed in the eastern and Midwestern cities

4. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 • Passed by Congress • Passed a law saying that no more Chinese could come to the United States • They completed much of the work on the transcontinental railroad

5. Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907 • Agreement between the U.S. and Japan • U.S. would not impose restriction on Japanese immigration • Japan would not allow further emigration to the U.S. • It was an informal document that was never passed by Congress • Congress ended the agreement in 1924

6. Discrimination Immigrants Faced • Some Americans did not like the new immigrants • Feared that immigrants might take jobs that Americans could have • Feared they would have to work at a lower wage • Disliked dealing with those who were not able to speak English well

7. Jim Crow Laws • Passed in the 1880s and 1890s • Separated African Americans and whites in public spaces • Developed “separate but equal” • Most people felt that the laws were unconstitutional • Civil Rights Act of 1875 made segregation in public places against the law • 1883 Supreme Court ruled the CRA was unconstitutional • Store owners, railroad companies and other private businesses could not discriminate against African Americans

8. Plessy v. Ferguson • Homer Plessy refused to move from the “white only” section of a railroad car in 1892 • Plessy wanted to challenge this law • He was arrested and brought before a judge named Ferguson • Plessy was found guilty • He appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court

9. He argued at the Supreme Court that the Louisiana law was unconstitutional • He said the 14th amendment forbid state laws that discriminate against African Americans • Supreme Court disagreed • In 1886, the Supreme Court upheld the law and “separate but equal” • This was a shock and continued their struggle for equality