U.S. Immigration: 1840-1920 Final Draft

U.S. Immigration: 1840-1920 Final Draft

1. WHY DID IMMIGRANTS COME TO THE U.S.?

   • Africans
     • forced to come as slaves
   • Chinese
     • 1840's- war and poverty in China; heard about gold in California; came to work in the mines
     • came to build the transcontinental railroad; they were recruited by Charles Crocker
   • Italians
     • Southern Italian peasants some of the poorest in Europe; exploited through taxes and corrupt laws
     • Experienced many natural disasters; malaria epidemic in 1800's, 1905 earthquakes, eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, 1908 tsunami that killed 1000,000 people
   • Russian Jews
     • fled poverty but mostly religious hatred;
     • segregated in shtetls; anti-Semitism was official governemnt policy; couldn't own land, be army officers, judges, professors;
     • "pogroms"- raids of terror through Jewish shtetls; massacres; 1905- 600 pogroms
   • Multiple groups
     • Refugees fled countries torn apart by war or destroyed by natural disasters; 1.5 million Vietnamese refugees came to the US and Canada to escape war and " a controlling gov't"
     • Immigrants came for more economic prosperity and a better life
   • Mexicans
     • Many Mexican immigrants came because of great poverty in Mexico, demand for low-wage labor in US
     • Thousands of Mexicans became part of the US when Mexico ceded half its territory to the US at the end of the US-Mexico War; they didn't cross the border- the border crossed them!

2. WHAT WERE THE BENEFITS OF IMMIGRATION?

   • Immigrants' perspectives
     • Chinese
       • Chinese immigrants were able to send money home to their families
       • Started lucrative businesses- restaurants, laundries, and shops; developed fishing industries
     • Italians
       • Escape from the cruel treatment of landlords, taxation by the government, and natural disasters like malaria, floods and volcanic eruptions
       • Able to maintain much of their culture, live among their own people, speak their own language, own newspapers, maintain a rich cultural life, and go to restaurants, clubs and theaters
     • Russian Jews
       • Escape from the Czar and have the relgious freedom guaranteed in the US Constitution (from indep. reading)
     • Multiple groups
       • People found jobs in sweatshops; it was hard work, but they were able to survive, stay in the US, and earn money to bring their families to this country
       • Immigrants support the economy by taking jobs that citizens don't want
       • Could find work to support families
       • Could go to school
   • Perspectives of Others in U.S.
     • Chinese immigrants develolped the shrimp and abalone industries in Calif.
     • Chinese immigrants used knowledge of farming to build levees and contributre to agricultural development.
     • Chinese immigrants took jobs no one else wanted; worked long hours for little pay
     • Got workers for the growing economy
     • Workers were willing to work for low wages and under difficult conditions; bosses made a lot of money and created goods
     • Trangle fire galvanized public sentiment, and NY legislature passed many reform measures for better working conditions
     • Immigrants became leading citizens and excellent workers, adding to the richness of US culture
     • Immigrants fought and died for the US in WW I (and later wars)
     • Senator Clancy argued to keep immigration open; cited how immigrants, despite being treated as inferior, helped build the country; saw as a "fearful fallacy: the idea that one race was meant to be dominant over others
     • Migrant workers did hard, low-wage argicultural jobs in harsh conditions that many "Americans" did not want
     • President Johnson described the important contributions of immigrants in his 1965 speech; "the land flourished because it was ... nourished by so many cultures and traditions and peoples"

3. WHAT WERE THE PROBLEMS OF IMMIGRATION?

   • Perspectives of Others in U.S.
     • Companies began to hire Chinese laborers for jobs people already here wanted- thought the Chinese immigrants were replacing them
     • Only wanted immigrants who would be good workers to help the economy; wanted to filter out anyone else
     • Some people in the US were angry with immigrants for not assimilating and for taking jobs away from "white laborers."
     • Some people thought Russians, Jews and Italians were anarchists
     • Some thought immigrants might have contagious diseases
     • Senator Smith argued that the US was weakened by allowing in people who had no experience with democracy
     • Some who wanted to limit immigration considered new immigrants to be of inferior genetics and culture; afraid of race mixing and wanted to maintain "pure, unadulterated, Anglo-Saxon stock" (Eugenics)
     • Proponents of undocumented immigrants say businesses "benefit by paying less" to these workers
     • Some sources report as many as 12 million undocumented immigrants live in the US
     • Opponents of immigration argue that new immigrants are a drain on services like healthcare, housing and education
     • It was difficult for gov't to locate undocumented immigrants
     • Immigrants were perceived as taking jobs away from exiting workers
     • "paper families"- earthquake in San Francisco destroyed documents- couldn't prove immigrants were related to someone
     • Chinese immigrants sold false identities to others in China, so they could immigrate
   • Immigrants' Perspectives
     • Chinese
       • Because of discriminatory laws, Chinese immigrants were not allowed to mine in the best places and were subject to higher taxes
       • Had to leave their families in China and take very little with them on the journey
       • Other workers persecuted the Chinese immigrants- mobs destroyed their homes and businesses, murdered their families, rioted
       • Chinese immigrants were held in Angel Island detention center for months/years.
       • Angel Island was like a prison. Men and women were separated and locked in barracks with poor sanitation and food
     • Jews/Italians
       • Difficult voyage on ships, crowded in steerage, everything was dirty and sticky; there was little water and spoiled food (from indep. reading)
       • rented crowded homes meant for far fewer people; "dumbbell" tenements with little air or light; poor sanitation, few toilets, rats, firetraps
     • Multiple groups
       • Greenhorns- everything was new and different, including language
       • Had to get through inspection at Ellis Island; meant to turn back anyone who "might be a burden"; called it "Island of Fears"; if one family member was rejected, he/she could be sent back alone
       • In NY, children didn't go to school; they worked at home or in sweatshops; they didn't have enough food
       • Sweatshop bosses treated workers like animals, forcing them to work nonstop; workers had to keep up monotonous and dangerous work
       • Factories were dangerous; children worked in "harmful dust and fumes" and "risked injuries from accidents"; 146 people killed in Triangle fire due to lack of safety equipment, fire escapes and locked doors
       • Manufacturers increased profit by paying as little as possible to contractors, who in turn "sweated " the workers into working every minute
       • Child labor- in 1880 only 35% of children between the ages of 5 and 21 went to public school; child labor laws were not enforced
       • People who live in the US exhibited anger and hatred toward immigrants; they said immigrants' different cultures were undesirable.
       • Laws were passed against Chinese men entering the country in 1882; Chinese immigrants in the US were reclassified as aliens and could not become citizens; exclusion laws were made permanent in 1902
       • The US limited immigration with literacy tests (had to prove ability to read);, set quotas, and outright excluded Japanese and Chinese immigrants
       • Some thought immigrants might have contagious diseases
       • Families are divided by citizenship- some might have green cards, others might have been born in the US and are citizens, and others might be undocumented and living under the threat of deportation
       • Undocumented immigrants live in fear of being caught and deported