Immigration

1
Immigration

• Late 19th and early 20th centuries

2
A Nation of Immigrants

• Three great forces of change
• Industrialization
• Urbanization
• Immigration
• 1850 1900 US Population triples
• 23.2 million in 1850 to 76.2 million in 1900
• 16.2 million immigrants in same 50 year span
• 8.8 million more immigrants from 1901-1910

3
Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island
4
Growth of Immigration

• Pushes negative factors
• Poverty of displaced farm workers
• Overcrowding and unemployment in cities
• Religious persecution of Russian Jews
• Pulls positive attractions
• Repudiation for political religious freedom
• Economic opportunities
• Cheap fares in steamship steerage class

5
Steerage Class Passengers

6
Old versus New

• Old Immigrants
• Northern and Western Europe
• British Isles, Germany, Scandinavia
• Mostly Protestant some Catholic (German Irish)
• Relatively easily assimilated
• Mostly English Speaking
• High literacy levels
• Possessed occupational skills

7
Old versus New

• New Immigrants
• Southern and Eastern Europe
• Italy Greece Croatia Slovenia Poland Russia
• Mostly Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Russian
  Orthodox, and Jewish
• Difficulty assimilating
• Largely poor and illiterate
• Unaccustomed to democratic traditions
• Concentrated in poor ethnic neighborhoods

8
Ethnic Enclaves
9
Immigration 1861 - 1930
New Immigrants
10
Restricting Immigration

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

11
Increasing Fears
12
Restricting Immigration

• Undesirables
• Convicted of criminal acts
• Diagnosed mentally incompetent

13
Administration of IQ Test to Immigrant(Ellis
Island, circa, 1913)
14
Beta IQ Test 5(1917)
15
Restricting Immigration

• Ellis Island
• Opens as processing center in 1892
• Rigorous medical exams and document inspections
• Entry tax

16
Processing Lines
17
Nativism

• Supporters of immigration restrictions
• Labor unions
• American Protective Association
• Social Darwinists
• Immigrants became scapegoats for the anger of
  jobless workers during a severe depression in the
  1890s
• Immigration Act of 1924
• Quotas

18
Trash Dump