Parrillo Chapter 5

1. ParrilloChapter 5 Northern and Western Europeans

2. Sociological Perspective • The Colonial Period • Reasons for each immigrant group coming to America: • Economic Reasons • Political • Religious Reasons • Encountered Native Americans • Cultural differences on both sides resulted in xenophobic reactions

3. Sociological Perspective Cont. • European – Native American relations punctuated by: • Misunderstanding • Fear • Suspicion • Hostility • Exploitation • violence

4. Cultural Diversity • Parrillo: “ From the moment Europeans first landed on these shores, cultural differences existed” • [A Eurocentric point of view] • The indigenous population was already a diverse population with differences in: • Culture • Language • Religion • New Amsterdam

5. Religious Intolerance • Religious differences cause more problems than did nationality differences • Europeans were seeking a place of religious harmony • Brought with them their religious prejudices • Intolerant of others with different beliefs • Example: Expulsion of religious dissident Roger Williams from the Massachusetts colony

6. Religious Intolerance Cont. • Baptist the most persecuted in New England • Fines, … Beatings, … Whippings, … etc. • Baptists thrived in Philadelphia • The Massachusetts Charter extended “liberty of conscience” to all Christians except the “Papists” (Catholics) • Religious intolerance created wide cultural gulfs • Gary :Nash “Any attempt to portray the colonies as unified and homogeneous would be misguided.”

7. The Early National Period • Anglo-Americans dominated American culture, economy, politics • A common language, history, and culture solidified by 1820 • Included belief in Protestantism, individualism, and political democracy • U.S. Constitution drafted in 1789 • A bedrock principle of “the separation of church and state” • Some religious tolerance, but Catholics and Jews were barred from running for office

8. The 1790 Census • Anglo-Saxon Protestants were the dominant group • American society was both culturally and racially diverse (Table 5.1, p. 130) • English 48% • African 19% • German 7% • Scots 7% • Native American 2%

9. Early Signs of Nativist Reactions • During the post-Revolutionary period, a broad based antiforeign attitude • Jeffersonians and Federalists feared the other side would benefit from immigration • George Washington had reservations of immigrants (newcomers, strangers) • Quote, (p. 132) • Federalists believed the foreign immigrant population was the root of all evil in the U.S.

10. Nativist Legislative Action • Federalists attempted to limit office holding to the native-born • Evidence of Xenophobia, … Ethnocentrism • 1798, …Alien and Sedition Acts • Concern of a war with France • Jefferson Elected President in 1800, … the acts were abrogated

11. Pre-Civil War Period • 1820 Census: • Excluded Native Americans • 9.6 Million Americans • 20% of the population was black • Remainder were mainly Northwestern Europeans • Between 1820 and 1860, … 5 million immigrants • Irish and Germans accounted for the greatest number, … Irish, 44 to 49% during this period

12. Structural Conditions • Urban living conditions were substandard • Irish • Poverty stricken • Lived in squalid conditions • High disease and mortality rates • Quote (page 144) • “Typical of overcrowded cellars … “

13. Pre-Civil War Xenophobia • Xenophobia: Immigrants 1820 to 1860 • Seen as a threat to American institutions • An imagined radical threat • An imagined Catholic threat • Antiforeign organizations, …“Native Americans”, … The Know Nothings” • Frequent mob action, burning, … assaulting, … murdering

14. The English • First white ethnic group in New World • First two settlements: • Jamestown VA, … Southern aristocracy • Plymouth, … Yankee origins • Different purposes, …religions, … climates, … terrains • Developed different cultures

15. English Departure • Departure: The Pilgrims • Fled England for Holland • Experienced Culture Shock in Holland • “Heard a strange and uncouth language” • “Different manners and customs” • “Strange fashions and attires”

16. Resisting Assimilation • Not all immigrants desire full assimilation • Many never become naturalized citizens • Do not intend to forsake their cultural heritage, … seek to preserve their heritage • Often children become assimilated • Pilgrims feared their children would become assimilated into Dutch culture • A factor in Pilgrim migration to New World

17. English Influence • Greatest English impact occurred during the Colonial period • 1790, 63% of U.S. population, … English descent, … nationality • Made a great impact on U.S culture • Language, … Law, … customs, … values • Seldom experience prejudice or discrimination • Relatively few ethnophaulisms for the English

18. English Enfluence • Many British found America less attractive than England • It failed to live up to their expectations • Read quotes pages 148-149 • Between 1881 to 1889, more than 370,000 British returned to England • Found U. S. a “debased copy of their homeland • The Second Generation fit in, ..assimilated

19. The Dutch • Two greatest periods of migration: • 1881 to 1930, about 1.6 million • 1941 to 1970, nearly 98,000 • Had a significant impact on early American development • Settled in the present New York City area • Very little reason to immigrate to America • Few “Push” factors

20. The Dutch Cont. • Pluralism: Dutch settlements were pluralistic, much like their homeland • Holland offered sanctuary to many groups • Maintained their culture, language for a long period (Quote) • Dutch endogamy and isolation • Many immigrated during 1880 to m1920 • Did not encounter the ethnic antagonisms that Southeastern Europeans experienced

21. The French • Three population segments: • Migrants from French Canada, who settled in New England • French Expelled from Nova Scotia in 1755 who settled in Louisiana, … Cajuns, … • The Huguenots, … came to America to escape religious persecution

22. French Cont. • The Huguenots: Protestants, … anxious to convert to the Anglican Church • Adopted English language • Assimilated as rapidly and possible • Changed their names, … Customs, … Lost their ethnic identity • The second generation experienced a marginal status • Lost their ethnoreligious status

23. French Cont. • Francophobia; The XYZ Affair • Jeffersonians were French sympathizers • Federalists were anti-French • French officials demanded bribes for U.S diplomats to obtain desired agreements • To Federalists every Frenchman was a potential enemy • By 1801 the Republicans ended Federalist dominance, … the Louisiana purchace

24. French Cont. • Pluralism • Have assimilated many groups • Examples: Germans, … Spanish • Loss of ethnic identity as a distinct culture • Television accelerated ethnogenesis • Increased Anglicization, … names, language • Education, … migration looking for jobs • An effort to retain French (Cajun) culture

25. Germans • Has supplied the greatest number of immigrants to the U.S. • 7.2 million since 1820 • Today 58 million claim German ancestry • Early Reactions: • William Penn recruited Germans for the Pennsylvania colony • Large number, … different language, … customs, … religion

26. Germans Cont. • Early Reactions by “Americans” • Benjamin Franklin: • Quote on page 158 • Franklin’s worries: • The duality of language • Clannishness • Their meager knowledge of English

27. Germans, The Second Wave • The second wave settled in the midwest • Preserved their heritage through schools, … churches, … newspapers, … language, … mutual-aid societies, … recreational activities • Some considered creating a German state • Other of creating a separate German country • Concentrated in “Germantown” communities

28. Second Wave, Cont. • Increasing criticism: • Being clannish, … attempting to preserve their culture • World War I: became targets of harassment, business boycotts, … physical attacks, … vandalism of their property • Cultural Impact: German influence • American speech, … food, … drinking, … P. 160 • German immigrant industrialists, … p. 161

29. The Irish • Prerevolutionary immigrants were Ulster Irish (the Scots-Irish) • Settled in New England at first • Clustered together preserving their culture • Irish Catholics fared poorly because of: • Religion, … peasant culture, … rebelliousness, … increasing numbers, … Anti-British • “Dublin Districts”, … overcrowded, … deplorable conditions, … • First immigrants to come in large numbers

30. Irish, Societal Reaction • Native U.S. citizens blamed Irish for: • Their widespread poverty • Resented the heavy burden they placed on charitable institutions • Stereotyped the Irish as: • Prone to alcoholism, .. Brawling, … corruption, … and crime • Anti-Irish feeling linked to Anti-Catholic feeling and fears of “Popery”

31. Societal Reaction Cont. • Strong social and job discrimination • NINA, … “No Irish Needs Apply” • Played a key role in U.S. industrial expansion • Canals, … Waterways, … Railroads, … • A Middleman minority

32. Irish Response • Irish experience, a prototype of experiences of later immigrants • Hostile reception, … prejudice and discrimination • Irish actions and reactions • Alternately retreatist and aggressive • Small degree of intermarriage, … with other Catholics • Built parallel social institutions • Irish labor in low–status jobs

33. Irish Response Cont. • The Molly Maguires • Secret terrorist group in conflict with mine owners • Movement ended with hanging of 20 men • Draft Riot of 1863 in New York City • 400 rioters were killed

34. The Functionalist View • Immigrants generally highly desirable • Forge a civilization from a vast underdeveloped country • Economic opportunity • Religious freedom • Political Freedom • Unskilled built cities, canals, railroads • Entrepreneurial skills, craftsmanship to supply a growing nation

35. Functionalist View Cont. • “Useless and withered plants”, … “have taken root and flourished” • Large numbers of immigrants, ... Dysfunctional, … could not absorb quickly • Immigrants generated prejudice and discrimination • In time with adjustments and education they became upwardly mobile • Finally acceptance and assimilation

36. The Conflict View • Dominance of English Americans • Influence, … language, customs, political principles • A propertied elite saw immigrants as “common” people and a threat to their power • Federalist and Nativists saw them as a threat • Immigrant Economic exploitation, … working under brutal conditions • Industrial expansion at their expense

37. Anglo conformity Assimilation Discrimination Ethnocentrism Nativism Pluralism Prejudice Upward mobility Xenophobia National period Pre-Civil War Period Push, Pull factors Marginality Key Terms