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.
“…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
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