Immigration

1. Immigration Just a few amendments Why? Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these the homeless, tempest tossed to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these the homeless, tempest tossed to me I lift my lamp beside the golden door

2. As many as 400,000 people per year emigrated to the USA, amounting to 35 million between 1850 and 1914. Where did these people come from? • ‘Old immigration’ [1820s-1880s] - mostly Protestants from Northern Europe – Britain, Germany and Scandinavia • ‘New immigration’ [1880-1920] - mostly made up of poor and illiterate people from eastern and southern Europe

3. The USA, after 300 years of virtually free immigration shut its doors in the 1920s • It would be wrong to think that immigration controls were a sudden step taken in the 1920s

4. The Red Scare The Dillingham Commission Racism • Immigration World War One Restrictions Before 1900 American Self interest

5. In 1907 the US Government wanted to know more about the ‘problem of immigration’ so it set up the Dillingham Commission The Dillingham Commission discovered that since 1880 immigrants had come mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe. The Dillingham Commission The Commission ended its work in 1911, concluding that immigration from southern and eastern Europe posed a serious threat to American society and culture and should be greatly reduced in the future.

6. Racism Many Americans were WASPs. Their families had come from Northern Europe Many of these people disliked the new immigrants from Southern Europe, who were poor and often illiterate. Italian immigrants were some of many races that were discriminated against in America Italian Immigrants Jewish Immigrants Greek Immigrants Chinese Immigrants

7. World War One WW1 made many Americans realise that new immigrants might be more loyal to their old country and would not be ‘good’ Americans.

8. American self interest Many immigrants came to the USA looking for homes and jobs. With growing unemployment after WW1 many Americans wanted to stop immigrants competing for scarce jobs. “Anything done to improve our conditions or wages is wrecked by Italian or Polish workers who are prepared to work longer hours and for less wages” Americans saw immigrants as a threat to their standard of living