Unit VI – A Growing America

Unit VI – A Growing America Chapter 20Section 1 – New Wave of Immigration

The Impact of Immigrants on the United States • Video- 4:21 • Question: Why do you think the United States had stricter immigration regulations for Asian Immigrants? • Answers vary; The United States had a history of predominantly European Settlers, and so Asian immigrants may have seemed unfamiliar to Americans during the first major waves of immigration.

Immigrants – 1:06

A New Wave of Immigration • The Big Idea • A new wave of immigration in the late 1800s brought large numbers of immigrants to the United States. • Main Ideas • U.S. immigration patterns changed during the late 1800s as new immigrants arrived from Europe, Asia, and Mexico. • Immigrants worked hard to adjust to life in the United States. • Some Americans opposed immigration and worked to restrict it.

Main Idea 1: U.S. immigration patterns changed during the late 1800s as new immigrants arrived from Europe, Asia, and Mexico. • Old Immigrants • Arrived before 1880s • Mostly from Britain, Germany, Ireland, and Scandinavia • Mostly Protestants, but some Roman Catholics • Many were skilled workers. • Some settled in rural areas and became farmers. • New Immigrants • Came after 1880 • From southern and eastern Europe; included Czechs, Greeks, Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Russians, and Slovaks • Diverse cultures and religious backgrounds. • Wanted job opportunities in cities

New Immigrants – A Nation of Immigrants • 1800-1880- more that 10 million immigrants- “Old Immigrants”- from Northern and Western Europe. • 1880-1910- some 18 million immigrants- “New Comers”- from Southern and Eastern Europe, including Catholics, Orthodox and Jewish faiths. • Severe immigration laws limited East Asia. • 1910- one out of every seven Americans was foreign born.

19th-Century Immigration (04:16)

Irish Potato Famine and Immigration to America – 1:36

Changing Patterns of Immigration • What areas of Europe did old immigrants come from ? • Some people imagined that their lives in the United States would be ideal Once they arrived, how do you think their opinion might have changed? • What kind of character would people need to face the hardships of immigration?

Journey to America Immigrants faced a difficult journey, usually traveling in steerage,the area below the ship’s deck. New arrivals had to go to immigration processing centers run by state and local governments. Officials in processing centers interviewed immigrants to determine whether to let them enter the country. Some immigrants were kept at processing centers for weeks or months while officials investigated their families. Detained

Immigration Centers • East Coast • Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the busiest East Coast center. • Opened in 1892 • Millions of immigrants came through its center over the next 40 years. • Less than 2% of arrivals were denied entrance into the country. • West Coast • Angel Island near San Francisco • Opened in 1910 • Entrance for many Chinese immigrants • By law, only Chinese whose fathers were U.S. citizens were allowed into the country. • South • El Paso, Texas had the main processing center for immigrants from Mexico. • Most settled in the Southwest. • Found work in construction, steel mills, mines, and on large commercial farms

Ellis Island Angel Island

Main Idea 2: Immigrants worked hard to adjust to life in the United States. • Many immigrants moved into neighborhoods with others from the same country. Ghetto • They could hear their own language, eat familiar foods, and keep their customs. • Business owners often helped new arrivals by offering credit and loans. • Some communities formed benevolent societiesto help immigrants in cases of sickness, unemployment, or death. • Many immigrants lived in tenements—poorly built, overcrowded apartments.

Immigrant Workers • Many immigrants were farmers in their homelands, but had to find jobs in cities in the United States. • Had to take low-paying, unskilled jobs in garment or steel factories and construction • Some worked long hours for little pay in small shops or mills called sweatshops. • Immigrants with appropriate skills sometimes found work in a wide range of occupations. • Others saved, shared, or borrowed money to open small businesses. • Some Mexican immigrants worked on large commercial farms in Arizona, Texas, and California.

Adjusting to a New Life • Tell why people might want to move into neighborhoods with others from the same country? • How might loaning money to immigrants have helped the economy? • What kinds of businesses did immigrants open?

Adjusting to a New Life • How do the Asian Americans pictured on page 640 on the right appear different from those on the left? • Why do you think new immigrants often opened the same types of businesses as earlier immigrants from the same country had opened? • How might you feel about your job if you worked as a thread trimmer in a shirtwaist factory?

Main Idea 3: Some Americans opposed immigration and worked to restrict it. • Anti-immigrant feelings grew with increases in immigration. • Some unions feared immigrants would take away jobs. • Americans called nativists held racial and ethnic prejudices. • Thought new immigrants would not learn American customs, which might harm American society • Some were violent toward immigrants. • Some nativists advocated laws limiting immigration. • Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. • Later laws were passed restricting convicts, immigrants with certain diseases, and those likely to need public assistance from entering the country.

Coming to America • Reasons to immigrate- Political, Economic and Religious • Ellis Island, New York Harbor- in 62 years over 12 million came through • Angel Island, San Francisco Bay- newcomers from Asia. • Hardships in America- crowded tenements, low paying unskilled jobs, ghettos. • Ethnic neighborhoods tried to keep their cultures alive and build communities. • Prejudice- • Nativists- American Natives who blamed immigrants for increases in crime and poverty. Stealing American jobs. • Chinese Exclusion Act- 1882- banned Chineses immigration for 10 years. • Some Nativists wanted literacy tests to determine the ability to read. This Act was approved over President Wilson’s veto.

Opposition to Immigration • During which time period was there great industrial growth in the United States? • In what ways did the new wave of immigrants contribute to the development of America?

Unit VI – A Growing America