Immigration (1850-1920)

Immigration (1850-1920)

Spanish/French/Dutch (1500s) African (1600s-1800) English----United States (1600s) Germans/Scots Irish (late 1700s) The “New” Immigrants

Before 1850

Reasons For Emigrating Famine (Irish) Persecution (Jews) Political Unrest (Russians,

Italians) Job Opportunities

–Railroads, Mining, & Farming

1865-39 million1890-62 million1900-75 million

Population Boom

U.S. Immigration levels http://teacher.scholastic.com/acti

vities/immigration/immigration_data/

Ellis Island

Ellis Island 1892-1931

Italy 2,502,310 Russia

1,893,542 Hungary (1905-

1931) 859,557

Austria (1905-1931) 768,132

Austria-Hungary (1892-1904) 648,163

Germany 633,148

England 551,969

Ireland 520,904

Sweden 348,036

Greece 245,058

Norway 226,278

Ottoman Empire 212,825

Scotland 191,023

Belgium 63,141 Czechoslovakia

(1920-1931) 48,140

Bulgaria (1901-1931) 42,085

Wales 27,113 Yugoslavia (1920-

1931) 25,017 Finland (1920-

1931) 7,833 Switzerland

1,103

The West Indies 171,774

Poland 153,444

Portugal 120,725

France 109,687

Denmark 99,414 Romania (1894-

1931) 79,092 The Netherlands

78,602 Spain 72,636

The Goals of Ellis Island Bring in a healthy workforce Process the large number of

immigrants in an organized fashion

Keep out the sick, mentally ill, or political radicals.

EMMA LAZARUS

“…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-tost to me, I

lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Chinese Immigrants

Chinese Railroad Workers

Angel Island Station (1910-1940)

*Rock Springs WY Massacre 1885. =28 killed.

Violence

*Fire bombings in

San Francisco.

-California Governor George C. Perkins proclaimed March 4, 1880, a legal state holiday for anti-Chinese demonstrations

Naturalization Act of 1790– Free White persons living in the U.S. for two years

(changed to five in 1795) could apply for citizenship. 14th Amendment 1868

Naturalization Act of 1870=persons of African descent could

become citizens, but not Asians.

Page Act of 1875-First federal immigration law. Sought to prevent “undesirables” (Asian cheap

labor & prostitutes) from entering the U.S.

Immigration Laws

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882=Officially excluded Chinese immigration.

-similar laws were continually enacted until 1943.

Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907–Japan agreed to limit emigration if San Francisco was desegregated.

Other Laws

Nativism-Preferences toward native born citizens/resentment against immigrants

Xenophobia-an extreme fear or hatred offoreigners.

Immigration Hysteria/Backlash

Quotas

In the 1920’s immigration was limited

-African countries no more than 100

-China 100

-34,000 for England

-51,227 from Germany

-3,845 from Italy They used 1890 census and limited it to 2% of existing

population. Quotas were repealed in 1965.

The “2nd” KKK-By 1924 spread to 4 ½

million-Strongest outside the

South-Indiana and out West

-Targets: Catholics, Jews, Blacks,

immigrants and immorality.

Organized Resistance