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History Of Immigration To 1929
The United States is unique in its diversity. Other nations, such as Australia and
Argentina, have been built by immigrants, but no country has absorbed people from as
many different nations and cultures.
Immigration began with the first settlers, but the tide of immigration during the colonial
era was low in comparison with later periods. During the 1700ʼs, in many years less than
10,000 people entered the English colonies in North America. Most of these people were
from the British Isles or Germany. In the later years of the century, revolutionary upheavals
hindered the flow of immigrants. Only after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 did it
pick up again. By the 1850ʼs, the first great wave descended. Mos of the immigrants
came from Ireland, British Isles, Germany, and Scandinavia--the ”Old Immigrants”. On the
West Coast, thousands of Chinese immigrants also arrived in this period.
During the Civil War era, immigration slowed. A second great wave, however,
occurred from the 1880ʼs to the early 1920ʼs. While British, Irish, German and Scandinavian
immigrants continued to arrive, they began to be joined in large numbers by the Slavs,
Jews, Hungarians, Italians, and Greeks--the “New Immigrants”. This great wave peaked
from 1904 until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914; six times, the number
exceeded 1,000,000 a year. Generally unable to read or write, practicing the Catholic or
Jewish faith, with basic employment skills, they settled in major cities. The third great wave
is the direct result of the 1965 Immi-gration Act, in which the quota system was abolished, a
maximum number of immigrants per year was established, and increased opportunities for
Africans, Asians, and Latin Americans to enter were made available.
Since the late 1700ʼs, Europe has been transformed by a demographic explosion.
A massive increase in population caused the collapse of the old agricultural order. Peasants
who owned land started to have too many children to share in the division of their farms.
The farms became too small to support families. Some of these displaced farmers
migrated into cities, in particular Great Britain, in lure of factory work, i.e. The First Industrial
Revolution. Others sought to migrate to areas, such as North and South America and
Australia, where large tracts of land were available at low prices.
Other emigrants left Europe because of religious or ethnic persecution. Millions of
Jews were drive out of Russia by physical attacks and economic discrimination. Hundreds
of thousands of Armenians were driven out of their homes by Turkish massacres. The
threat of being drafted into the army drove young men from many countries to leave their
homelands. Family disputes and the desire for adventure impelled others. Almost every
immigrant hoped to improve his economic situation. This great movement of people to the
New World was made easier in the post Civil War period by improvement in tranportation. Migrants took trains to European port cities, where they would seek passage via
steamship. The journey now took several days rather than several weeks. Ticket prices
were somewhat cheap, and prepaid tickets were sold all over the United States and
Europe. German and English steamship lines provided dormitories and safe sanitary living
conditions for the upper levels; otherwise, conditions were dark, cramped, and filthy. The
Hamburg-Amerika facility had kosher kitchens and made provisions for concerns and
lectures.
Most immigrants came to the United States because it offered economic
opportunity. Industrialization created vast demand for labor. The people who worked in
these new factories needed to be transported. Immigrants not only labored in the factories
but also built the tenements, sewers, trolley lines and schools that characterized the industrial
city. The availability of jobs, combined with economic opportunities and cheap food, made
the United States “the best poor manʼs country in the world.”
As a group Americans held ambivalent attitudes toward immigrants. Throughout
American history, some Americans have feared foreigners and sought to restrict immigration
and the rights of immigrants. At times when the country has been prosperous and people
have been optimistic about the future, Americans generally welcomed immigrants. When
there are economic upheavals, increasing numbers of Americans have wanted to limit
immigration. Generally wealthy Americans have fought against immigration restriction, for
they are seen as low wage workers, strikebreakers, and servants. Native born workers
have tended to view immigrants as potential competitors for jobs, housing, and public
services. Some Americans of all classes have seen Catholic, Jewish and Muslim
immigrants as a threat to American culture that they perceive as solely Protestant and
Anglo-Saxon.
In the period after the Civil War, much of the energy of those who feared foreigners
was directed toward restricting immigration. The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) suspended
the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years. Merchants however, were admissible.
In addition it allowed Chinese workers, who were already in the country, to obtain certificates
that would allow them back after visits to China. These certificates were canceled in 1888.
In 1892 the act was extended for another ten years, and in 1902 Congress made it
permanent. The Chinese were an immigrant group that had few friends and little power to
fight this “deserving status”. At the same time, the government started to make rules and
regulations for all immigrants and created a bureaucracy to enforce them. The building of
Ellis Island (New York, 1892) and Angel Island (California, 1910) created a place where
immigrants could be efficiently processed.
Many of the early immigration laws affected few people. In response to pressure
by organized labor, Congress passed laws prohibiting contract labor in 1885 and 1887.
Immigrants were not permitted to sign labor contracts while abroad for jobs in the United
States. In 1891 a law was passed that barred from entry “all idiots, insane persons,
paupers or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome
or contagious diseases, persons who have been convicted of a felony or other infamous
crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude.” Polygamists were also barred.
In 1917, after several failed attempts, Congress passed a literacy test, which was
the first general restriction on immigration ever passed. By the early 1920ʼs, Americans
were more fearful than ever about being invaded and overwhelmed by foreigners, in part
due to threats of communism and anarchy. As a result, Congress passed the Emergency
Immigration Act Of 1921 which set up a quota system: immigrants from any country could
not exceed 3 percent of the number of persons of their nationality who had been in the
United States in 1910. This cut the number of immigrants from 800,000 in the year ending
June 30, 1921, to about 300,000 in the following year. Those who believed this act
allowed too many “undesirables” (Jews, Italians, Slavs, Asians) pushed Congress to pass
the National Origins Act (1924). This law banned the immigration of virtually all Asian and
set a quota of 2 percent for Europeans based on the 1890 census. Moreover, all
immigrants had to obtain a visa from an American consul in their country of origin. The quota
system, however, did not apply to countries in the Western Hemisphere.
MIGRATION UNIT: IMMIGRATION
Waves (Years/Who)
First -->
Second -->
Third -->
Old Immigrants-------------------------------------------------------New Immigrants
The Journey
Migrants took __________ to European port cities, where they bought
_____________ for a ________________. Generally, the conditions
were undesirable. The trip lasted several _________.
The Arrival (refer to our simulation)
Requirements to enter -->
Information required (forms) -->
Reasons For Coming To America (2 Ideas Each)
Political----------------------------------------Economic----------------------------------------Social
Legislation
1880 Chinese Exclusion Act -->
1891 law -->
1917 Act -->
1921 Immigration Act -->
1965 Immigration Act -->
1924 Immigration Act -->