Immigrants 1880-1912, PART I:

1
Immigrants 1880-1912, PART I

• Why did they leave their native countries?
• Why did they move to the U.S.?

2
New Immigrants

• Most immigrants came from West European
  countries, such as England, Ireland Germany
• By 1900, 50 of immigrants were coming from
  Eastern Southern Europe
• After 1892-most were screened processed at
  Ellis Island New York
• Nearly all Chinese immigrants landed on the West
  Coast were processed at Angel Island

3
Industrial Revolution Immigration (1880-1920) set
records that stood until1990
4
Immigrants Traveling to the U.S. in Steerage

• Usually endured crowded, unsanitary conditions
• Were screened for illnesses that would prevent
  them admitted to the U.S.
• Could only bring limited luggage

5
Why Did They Leave Home?

• To escape religious political persecution
• To get jobs
• To avoid upheaval of war
• To escape starvation
• To escape diseases

6
Why Did They Come to the U.S.?

• Political and religious freedom
• Better economic opportunities
• Gold Rush
• Encouraging letters from relatives
• U.S. Government advertisements
• U.S. Business recruitment

7
Where did they go?

• Majority headed to industrialized cities-such as
  New York, Chicago, Boston
• Most settled in clusters by language, culture,
  religion
• Learning English freed them to move where they
  wanted

8
What about California?

• California Gold Rush attracted numerous Chinese
  immigrants
• Many were escaping poverty, famine
• Chinese were key workers on railroads
• 1910 Angel Island opens in CA--processing center
  akin to Ellis Island
• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act bans Chinese
  immigrants until 1943!

9
NativismUS. Citizens Fear Immgrants

• Powerful, exotic religious beliefs and ceremonies
• Foreign languages, dress and customs
• Competition for housing goods
• Political upset if immigrants become voting
  citizens
• Crime and debauchery in immigrant population
• Plentiful supply of cheap labor competing for jobs

10
Bibliography of Immigrants PowerPoints, Part I
11
Cellar Tenement, Womens Municipal League
Photo, 1914, No. 24-J58 Conwell, Col. Russell H.
Why the Chinese Emigrate, and the Means They
Adopt for the Purpose of Getting to America. Lee
and Shepard, n. d . Frenzeny Tavernia.
Emigrant Wagonon the Way to the Railway
Station Harpers Weekly, Oct. 25, 187?, p.
940. H. Harrah, S.C. On Board an Emigrant
Ship, The Graphic. Dec 2, 1871. http//www.migra
tioninformation.org/datahub/charts/immigration1820
2007mils.jpg http//lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/pp
msca/05600/05660r.jpg http//loc.gov/pictures/res
ource/cph.3b http//www.angelfire.com/ns/immigra
tion/ http//www.migrationinformation.org/datahub
/charts/immigration18202007mils.jpg The Result
of the Immigration from China, New York, T. W.
Strong, n. d. Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half
Lives Studies Among the Tenements of New York
With Illustrations Chiefly From Photographs Taken
by the Author. Sandler, Martin J. Immigrants A
Library of Congress Book. New York, HarperCollins
Publisher, 1995.Yankee Notions, Vol. VIII, 3, p.
65
11
Bibliography for Parts I II
Cellar Tenement, Womens Municipal League
Photo, 1914, No. 24-J58 Conwell, Col. Russell H.
Why the Chinese Emigrate, and the Means They
Adopt for the Purpose of Getting to America. Lee
and Shepard, n. d . Frenzeny Tavernia.
Emigrant Wagonon the Way to the Railway
Station Harpers Weekly, Oct. 25, 187?, p.
940. H. Harrah, S.C. On Board an Emigrant
Ship, The Graphic. Dec 2, 1871. http//blsciblog
s.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005fall2010/tag/immigrants/
http//lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/05600/0
5660r.jpg http//loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3b
  http//martialhistory.com/wpcontent/uploads/20
07/06/1869_anti_chinese.jpgimgrefurlhttp//marti
alhistory.com/2007/06/chinese-american-boxers-befo
re-1900 http//www.migrationinformation.org/datah
ub/charts/immigration18202007mils.jpg http//www.
oregonlive.com/O/index.ssf/2009/02/oregons_immigra
tion_debate_mor.html http//sites.google.com/site
/immigration327/working-conditions-for-immigrants
   
12
Bibliography for Pts I II continued
http//sites.google.com/site/immigration327/triang
le-shirtwaist-fire http//www.angelfire.com/ns/im
migration/ http//www.migrationinformation.org/da
tahub/charts/immigration18202007mils.jpg http//w
ww.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/images/1900salt_mine.jpg
imgrefurlhttp//www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/histo
ry/interactive-timeline.htmlusg The Result of
the Immigration from China, New York, T. W.
Strong, n. d. Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half
Lives Studies Among the Tenements of New York
With Illustrations Chiefly From Photographs Taken
by the Author. Sandler, Martin J. Immigrants A
Library of Congress Book. New York, HarperCollins
Publisher, 1995.Yankee Notions, Vol. VIII, 3, p.
65