Zusammenfassung der Ressource
U.S. Immigration: 1840-1920 Final Draft
- 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!
- 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"
- 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