The Hopes of Immigrants

1. The Hopes of Immigrants Chapter 14

2. Why People Migrated • Many people came because of push-pull factors. These forces push people out of their native lands and pull them to new lands. • There were 5 push factors: • The population boomed in Europe. • Changes in farming forced people off the land. • Crop failures caused hunger. • The Industrial Revolution made factory goods cheap and put artisans out of work. • Some countries had religious and political conflicts.

3. Why People Migrated • There were 3 pull factors that drew people to the United States: • There was freedom of religion. • Americans had economic opportunity. • There was a lot of land.

4. Scandinavians Seek Land • There was much poverty in Scandinavia and land in the U.S. was cheap • Many people left and settled in the Midwest. • It had forests, lakes and cold winters like their homelands. • Most Scandinavians became farmers.

5. Germans Pursue Economic Opportunity • Some Germans also moved to the Midwest—Many settled in Wisconsin where the climate allowed them to grow oats. • They also moved to Texas and became farmers. • Some built cities and opened their own businesses. • Germans were the largest immigrant group to come to the U.S. during the 1800s—They had a strong influence on American culture.

6. The Irish Flee Hunger • Most Irish immigrants were Catholic—For centuries the Protestant British had ruled Ireland and denied people their rights. • This caused a lot of the Irish to be poor. • In 1845 a disease attacked Ireland’s main crop, the potato, causing a famine. • About one million people died as a result of the famine—and about 2 million people left Ireland. • In the U.S. the Irish settled in cities. • They had little education and few skills—so they took the low-paying backbreaking jobs that no one else wanted.

7. U.S. Cities Face Overcrowding • With new immigrants coming into the country, the population of cities grew rapidly (New York, St. Louis, Cincinnati). • Urban growth caused problems. • Not enough places for people to live. • People lived in cramped, unhealthy conditions • Crime spread • Most cities could not handle the problems

8. Some Americans Oppose Immigration • Some people that were born in the United States thought that foreigners could not learn American ways. • They feared that immigrants would outnumber natives—and treated immigrants with prejudice. • Some U.S.-born citizens wanted to end foreign influence—they were called nativists. • They refused to hire immigrants and formed secret societies. • They formed a political party called the Know-Nothing Party—if you asked them about their secret society they would say, “I know nothing about it “. • This party wanted to cut immigration and stop Catholics and foreigners from being elected to office.