Chapter 7

1. Chapter 7 Section 1 Pages 252-259

2. Terms to Know • Ellis Island • Angel Island • Melting Pot • Nativism • Chinese Exclusion Act • Gentlemen’s Agreement

3. The Big Ideas in Section 1 • Increase in the numbers and the kinds of immigrants (Late 19th and early 20th centuries) • Why did they come? • The impact of the immigrants on the growth of cities • The rise of corruption in city politics • The rise of calls for reform

4. They came: • To escape religious and political persecution • For economic opportunities

5. Before 1890’s most immigrants were from Western and Northern Europe • Most Protestants, literate, assimilated well • EXCEPTION: The Irish. Were poorer, illiterate, Catholic • 1840’s the potato famine = 2 million to the U.S.

6. Between 1870 and 1920 • 2 million immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe to the East Coast of the U.S. • Much poorer, most illiterate, unskilled, Catholic

7. Religious persecution • Especially the Jewish population in Russia • Were subjected to government-sponsored persecution and violence • Called Pogroms

8. Between 1800 and 1900 • European population doubled but resources did not • Lack of land • Abject poverty, starvation • Loss of unskilled jobs : competition and automation

9. Immigration to the U.S. • for religious freedom • political freedom • economic opportunities

10. The Chinese and the Japanese • Immigrated to the U.S. West Coast • 1851-1883: 300,000 Chinese • The gold rush beginning in 1848 • The Railroads

11. The Anson-Burlingame Treaty • Sped up the process for Chinese workers to come to the U.S> to work on the railroads.

12. The government passed this legislation because they were pressured by RR companies to get more Chinese rr workers to the U.S. • They worked hard • They were paid poorly • They rarely complained

13. The Japanese • Had worked on American-owned plantations in Hawaii since 1884 • The U.S. annexed Hawaii in 1898 • Then Japanese began to come to the U.S. • By 1920, over 200,000 had come

14. The West Indies • Between 1880-1920 over 260,000 to the East and Southeast U.S. • Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, etc.

15. Mexico • Between 1910-1930 More than 700,000 came to the U.S. • About 1/7 of the population of Mexico! • Began with the 1902 National Reclamation Act: Cheap arid land to those who would be willing to irrigate it (SW U.S.)

16. The Journey • Most came by steamship • One week from Europe • Three weeks from the Pacific

17. The Journey • Most were so poor they came in the steerage compartment (below deck) • Crowded, unsanitary, many to a toilet, rarely allowed above deck, lice • Unsanitary, undernourished so more vulnerable to disease • Sometimes were locked up below!

18. Immigration Stations • Before 1892 immigrants were taken to Castle Garden on the east coast • 1892-1943: Ellis Island on the East Coast • Angel Island on the Wet Coast

19. Immigrants had a long wait in sometimes filthy conditions • Had to under fo medical exams by doctors and were questioned by government inspectors

20. The Physical Exam • was conducted by doctors who looked for serious or contagious illnesses (like TB). If these were found, the immigrants were sent back home

21. The Government Inspectors • Checked documents • Rejected Felons • Assessed ability to work • Had to have some money (after 1900 one had to have at least $25) • Interpreters were often needed

22. Angel Island • On the West Coast (San Francisco area) • Mostly Chinese and Japanese • Harsher questions • More unsanitary conditions • Longer wait

23. Once Admitted • Needed a place to live • Needed a job • Needed to adjust to new languages, traditions, laws, culture

24. Ethnic Communities • The new immigrants sought out others like themselves • Little Italy • Chinatown • Mexican Village • Hamtramck

25. Those in Ethnic Communities • Pooled Resources • Built churches, synagogues • Aid Societies • Orphanages • Cemeteries • Kept many traditions…newspapers in old language

26. Sometimes • These ethnic communities stood in the way of assimilation

27. Hyphenated Americans • Polish-Americans • Italian-Americans • Japanese-Americans

28. America • The Great Melting Pot • The ethnic communities stood in the way of assimilation • This led to resentment by Americans • Economic competition did not help

29. Nativism • Discrimination against ethnic groups • With the increase of immigrats came the increase of nativism

30. Most Americans • Favored immigrants from Northern and Western Europe • The were Protestant • Easily assimilated • Literate • Not quite so poor

31. Southern and Eastern Europeans • Catholic • Poorer • Seemed more foreign • Many illiterate

32. The New Immigrants • Tended to not assimilate as well • Also these Southern and Eastern Europeans competed for factory jobs • Their sheer numbers caused a labor surplus

33. A Labor Surplus • Kept wages low, hours long • Hurt the ability of unions to improve the lives of their members • Unionized workers were fired and easily replaced

34. Evidence of Nativism • The Irish: 1840’s-1850’s • The Know-Nothing Party: Tried to get the government to restrict Irish immigration and to keep those Irish who were already here from voting or holding public office

35. The Chinese 1870’s • The formation of anti-Coolie Societies • Eventually led to the Chinese ExclusionAct (1882): Banned Chinese immigration (with some exceptions) and kept the Chinese who were already here (but not yet citizens) from gaining citizenship

36. 1887 The American Protective Association • 1915: The KuKlux Klan! • Most nativist organizations seemed to be patriotic and claimed that they were protecting America from foreign influence

37. In 1887 • Congress, influenced by the Immigration Reform League, passed a law requiring immigrants to pass a literacy test but it was vetoed by President Cleveland • Remember,,,Big Business WANTED cheap labor so did not want immigration restrictions…and Government was overly influenced by Big Business

38. By 1917 • Congress did require a literacy test and overrode President Wilson’s veto to do it • By this time we had our first Red Scare • All immigrants over 16 had to read 49 words in English or in their native languages. Usually passages from the Bible

39. Anti-Asian feelings in the West • Much of the nativism was economically-based • After the Panic of 1873, much competition for jobs • Most of the railroad building was complete

40. the Railroad Companies • Had put pressure on congress to speed up the process of getting Chinese workers here to build railroads • 1868 Conngress passed the Anson-Burlingame Treaty • By 1882 RR companies did not need Chinese labor anymore so…The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed

41. The Chinese Exclusion Act • Was repealed in 1943 • The Chinese were our allies during WWII

42. The Japanese • 1904-05 Russia and Japan were at war • Teddy Roosevelt arranged for the treaty that ended that war • The Treaty of Portsmouth

43. The Treaty of Portsmouth • The Japanese believed that they were cheated by the treaty • Anti-American riots broke out in Tokyo • The San Francisco School Board began to segragate Japanese-American children in their schools!

44. The American Press • Called the Japanese, “The Yellow Peril” • It looked like we might go to war with the Japanese! • The issue was solved with …

45. The Gentlemen’s Agreement • Was pretty racist • 1907 • Japan agreed to stop its citizens from coming to the U.S. (some exceptions) • The San Francisco School Board agreed to stop segregating Japanese-American children in school