History of Immigrants

Guadalupe Pimentel, Habibatu Ighile, Alissa Hickson, Keren Agurcia

Immigrants in Colonial America

❖ Religious groups such as the Quakers, Protestants and Puritans came to America.

❖ They settled along the Eastern costs and built up colonies

❖ Their main reason for coming to America was to flee from religious persecution that was occurring in Europe

First Settlement in 13 Colonies ❖ English

➢ Jamestown established in 1607 developing tobacco plantation system ➢ Pilgrims and Puritans establish Massachusetts Bay in 1620➢ Quakers establish Pennsylvania➢ Catholics establish Maryland

❖ Dutch➢ Settled on Hudson River in 1626 and established New Amsterdam➢ Were conquered by the British

❖ Scot-Irish➢ Settled mostly in western frontiers and southern lands

❖ Swedish/Finish➢ Established in Delaware lands but were eventually conquered by the

British❖ Africans

➢ Mostly brought to southern colonies for plantation labor

❖ All founded by Puritans for religious freedom ❖ Plymouth: separatists, William Bradford- advancement of the Christian faith❖ MA: non-separatists (believes one can work within the Church and fix it)- John

Winthrop- ‘City upon a Hill’❖ CT: Thomas Hooker (believed that MA was not pure enough)❖ RI: Believed in separation of church and state❖ NH: Followers of Anne Hutchinson (she spoke and accused ministers of being fake)❖ Puritan faith- purifying the Church // Visible Saints (Elect)- those who were going to be

saved by God // Predestination- those who were either going to heaven or hell....there was no choice)

❖ Congregational Church ➢ Each minister is in charge of its congregation➢ Contributed to education- Harvard and Yale- this way people were able to read

the Bible

New England Colonies Plymouth-1620, Massachusetts Bay-1629, Rhode Island-1644, Connecticut (Hartford-1635, New Haven-1639), New Hampshire-1679

Immigration during Antebellum America

❖ Most immigrants came for food and political freedom, but some immigrated just for a better life in America.

❖ Irish, Germans, and French❖ These immigrants groups

took jobs that no one wanted➢ Digging canals and

making railroads.

IRISH❖ Germans were more liked

than the Irish because they looked more “American”

❖ Settled around the Midwest area

❖ 1.5 Germans arrived❖ They didn’t work in big

factories in the large cities, because they had enough money to form farms of their own

❖ 2 million Irish immigrants arrived❖ Americans did not like the Irish

because they were Roman Catholics

❖ Signs stating “NINA” (No Irish Need Apply) were often posted at factory gates because Irish took jobs from natives

❖ 1840- The Know Nothings➢ Political party that limited

immigration➢ Bar Catholics from

voting/holding office, ban Irish Immigration

GERMANS

❖ Mexicans➢ After the Mexican-American War in 1848, people in Mexican Cession

become American citizens overnight➢ During the Gilded Age, mexicans mainly worked in railroad industries

and agriculture where jobs were plenty❖ Asians

➢ California Gold Rush in 1849 leads to massive migration to California and the Pacific West

➢ Not a lot of gold was found➢ these individuals were called the ‘forty-niners’

The Know-Nothing Party❖ The new immigrants in the US

began to pose a threat to the ‘natives’ because of their unknown languages and cultures

❖ Some feared that the foreigners would outnumber them and take over the country

❖ Some natives formed a party in New York called the “Order of the Star Spangled Banner”➢ members would not identify

themselves➢ they were anti-Catholics

Concept of Pull and Push❖ Push

➢ economic reasons➢ rising populations➢ industrial revolution➢ political and religious persecution

❖ Pull➢ encouragement from companies➢ religious freedom➢ better conditions➢ ‘Land of Opportunities’

Immigration during the Gilded Age

❖ From 1840 -1890, majority of the immigrants were Eastern European, they consisted of the Old immigrants

❖ From 1890-1920, a new population of immigrants came to America, they consisted of Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican

❖ These immigrants settled in ethnic neighborhoods all over the U.S.: the Northeast, Northwest and West Coast

❖ Reasons for Immigration:-Poverty and oppression in

Europe: the industrial revolution in Europe forced many families to in live in poverty.

-Job opportunities in America: a high demand of unskilled labor in American industry allowed immigrants to take on new jobs in the U.S.

-Labor Contract: recruited Chinese workers from China to work for a certain number of years.

From 1865-1920, at total of 30 million immigrants made up the population of America

United States Reaction to ImmigrationNativism: Many groups during the Gilded Age formed to restrict ImmigrationAmerican Protective Association, Immigration Restriction League, Anti-Coolie Clubs.❖ These anti-immigration groups formed

because they believed that immigrants:-brought violence and crime-were ruining American culture; new

languages, religions, and culture-were taking the jobs of other

American born citizens-brought poverty and foreign

political ideas, such as socialism, anarchism, and communism

Government Actions:❖ In the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was

established to prevent Chinese people from emigrating to the U.S.

❖ Along with the Chinese, people who were convicts, paupers, or mentally ill were also banned from coming to the U.S. The government didn’t want to take on the problems of other people from different countries.

❖ A 50 cent tax was placed on immigrants who wanted to come to the United States.

❖ Contract Labor Law was outlawed and prevented the Chinese from gaining passage to America by business owners to work

❖ The Gentlemen’s Agreement and the immigration centers at Ellis Island and Angel Island were other ways the government implemented to limit immigration into the U.S.

Political/Economical Responses to Immigration❖ Political Machines and Bosses

➢ Used ignorance of immigrants to ‘buy’ votes➢ Provided jobs and support as long as immigrants voted for a

particular candidate (yes, they were threatened)➢ Ex. Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed

❖ Economical Response to Immigration➢ Industrialization led factory owners and corporations to hire

immigrants➢ Assembly line required less skilled workers➢ Many immigrants joined labor unions such as the Knights of Labors

■ immigrants who participated in such strikes were characterized as radicals

Social Gospel❖ The majority of American citizens were

Protestant but as the immigrants were populating the cities Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and Judaism were becoming the dominant religions. Others lost their faith because the idea of heaven and hell didn’t matter when workers had to live with a small wage and long hours.

❖ As a result, the Social Gospel started in order to combine the contemporary life of the workers and their religion. This social gospel advocated strikes and the end of child labor.

❖ The Salvation Army crossed the Atlantic from England and provided free soup for the hungry.

❖ Immigrants that entered the United States usually felt out of place and did not know where to begin. The settlement movement was a movement in which was an effort to help immigrants to settle and adjust to life in the United States.

❖ A middle class woman named Jane Addams established the Hull House in Chicago in 1889. A Hull House is a settlement house which was located in poor immigrant neighborhoods. These houses offered classes which taught English, counseling to adjust to life in the Big City, and citizenship classes, as well as helping immigrants to find jobs and housing.

Settlement Movement