Give me your tired your poor your huddled

  • Slides: 28
Download presentation
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses”: Immigration to the United States

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses”: Immigration to the United States (1850 -1920)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name MOTHER OF EXILES. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "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!" - “The New Colossus, ” Emma Lazarus, 1886

Immigration • In the late 1800 s, a mixture of push and pull factors

Immigration • In the late 1800 s, a mixture of push and pull factors boost the numbers of people coming to the US • Whereas Germans and Irish constituted the majority of immigrants up to the 1870 s, by 1890, 70% came from southern and eastern Europe • Fears about differences in culture between newcomers and settled populations became a focus for nativist movements

Coming to America • Push factors: Bad situations at home: famine, disease, poverty; racial,

Coming to America • Push factors: Bad situations at home: famine, disease, poverty; racial, religious, political persecution • Pull factors: Job opportunities, promise of plenty; US propaganda (railroads, industrial recruiters, federal government)

Foreign-born population • 1870: 5. 5 million (14% of total population) • 1880: 6.

Foreign-born population • 1870: 5. 5 million (14% of total population) • 1880: 6. 7 million (13%) • 1890: 9. 2 million (15%) • 1900: 10. 3 million (14%) • 1910: 13. 5 million (15%) • 1920: 13. 9 million (13%) • 1930: 14. 2 million (12%) • 1940: 11. 5 million (9%) • 2010: 43. 7 million (13. 5%)

Ellis Island • Reception center: many immigrants passed through between 1892 -1954 • 12

Ellis Island • Reception center: many immigrants passed through between 1892 -1954 • 12 million entrants • 40% of Americans can trace heritage to at least one person who came through Ellis Island • Average of 5, 000 people per day

Nativist Response • New immigrants viewed as a threat to America and the American

Nativist Response • New immigrants viewed as a threat to America and the American way of life • In 1890 s-1910 s, nativism was mainly expressed as anti-Semitism and anti. Catholic propaganda • Cultural differences: assumption that Protestant Nordic peoples of previous generations were superior – made “better” Americans than non. Protestant Italians, Polish, Russians and Jews

Restricting Immigration • Early laws exclude undesirable individuals (those who commit crimes) • Chinese

Restricting Immigration • Early laws exclude undesirable individuals (those who commit crimes) • Chinese immigrants became an early focus of restrictions and discrimination • Chinese laborers: railroad workers, resented because they took lower wages than Americans • 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act; extended in 1902 and not removed until 1943

Immigrants and Crime • Immigrants were often associated with criminal activities in the nineteenth

Immigrants and Crime • Immigrants were often associated with criminal activities in the nineteenth century – became part of stereotype • Immigrants also assumed to be political and social radicals (communists and anarchists); nativists blame labor unrest on foreign elements • Some immigrants were criminals and/or radicals – this only fueled nativist fears – but most were obviously not

Next Class • Corruption and Social Agitation in the Gilded Age • Readings: •

Next Class • Corruption and Social Agitation in the Gilded Age • Readings: • Shi and Tindall, Ch. 19, pp. 714 -770 • No primary source