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“New Immigration” Lecture 1880-1921

“New Immigration” Lecture 1880-1921. Turn of the Century Immigration to the U.S. 1910 16% from NW Europe 73% from Eastern and Southern Europe 11% from Rest of the World. 1880 49% from NW Europe 27% from Eastern and Southern Europe 24% from the Rest of the World.

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“New Immigration” Lecture 1880-1921

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  1. “New Immigration” Lecture 1880-1921

  2. Turn of the Century Immigration to the U.S. • 1910 • 16% from NW Europe • 73% from Eastern and Southern Europe • 11% from Rest of the World • 1880 • 49% from NW Europe • 27% from Eastern and Southern Europe • 24% from the Rest of the World

  3. Characteristics of the “New Immigrant” • From Southern and Eastern Europe • Many young males • Many Catholics and Jews • Mostly unskilled agricultural laborers • Little money or education • “I once thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that immigrants WERE American history.” --Oscar Handlin (Journal 1)

  4. Push and Pull Factors

  5. Push Factors (Get OUT!) • Economic decline in Europe • Effect of Industrial Revolution • Rising populations, decreasing death rate • More people + fewer resources = TROUBLE!! • Political and Religious Persecution in Eastern Europe • Legal restrictions on Jews • Pogroms=violent mob attacks • Other ethnic minorities

  6. Pull Factors • The Lure of Life in America (Work, land, and LIES!!) • “That was the time, you see, when America was known to foreigners as the land where you’d get rich. There’s gold on the sidewalk– all you have to do is pick it up!”-Lithuanian immigrant

  7. Leaving the Homeland Journal 2

  8. Journey Across the Atlantic Steerage on the SS Pennland 1893

  9. Steerage Conditions • Crowded, unsanitary, little food, enclosed! –Journal 3

  10. Arrival in America—AT LAST!! 75% go thru Ellis Island (1892-1920) aka “Island of Tears” --”Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore…I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” –Statue of Liberty inscription

  11. Unloading and Baggage

  12. Time For Inspections

  13. Medical Inspections

  14. Legal Inspections– Registry Hall

  15. The Final Inspection Journal Entry 4

  16. Leaving Ellis Island • Make travel arrangements • Exchange money • Collect baggage • 2/3 going elsewhere; 1/3 stay in NY • Welcome to America…Now what???

  17. Ethnic Enclaves • 2/3 settle in urban centers (community, familiarity) • Newspapers, customs, food, churches, clothing “Here no one goes to bed on an empty stomach because one Pole will save another, if he can.” –Polish immigrant

  18. Living Conditions 5 cents a spot

  19. Tenement Living 120 rooms for 1231 people 60% die before 1st birthday Journal Entry 5

  20. Working Conditions • Immigrants Seek Industrial Jobs • High supply/high demand • Prefer to agricultural work • 80% unskilled workforce

  21. Struggling Families

  22. Child Labor Journal Entry 6

  23. Americans’ Treatment of Immigrants/Nativism

  24. Motivation For Nativism • Fear, hostility, and suspicion • Prejudices based on race, ethnicity, religion • Old Immigrants vs. New Immigrants “The immigrants are an invasion of venomous reptiles…long-haired, wild-eyed bad-smelling, atheistic, reckless foreign wretches, who never did a day’s work in their lives.” –from a newspaper editorial • Some similarities to today (i.e. jobs)

  25. The ‘Golden Door’ Slams Shut • Literacy tests to prevent ‘inferior races’ • Call for laws restricting immigration • 1921 Dillingham Bill sets quotas Journal Entry 7

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