Immigration Causes Famine Land Shortages Persecution Birds of

Immigration

Causes ** • • Famine Land Shortages Persecution “Birds of Passage” – Earn $ and then return home

Europeans • 1870 -1920, 20 mill. Europeans • Religious persecution – Russian Jews • Overpopulation = No land • Political change

Ellis Island** • Inspections – 1 st was physical – 2 nd performed by a government inspector • Documentation • Criminal Past • Work Ability • 17 million imm. past through E. I.

Chinese / Japanese • 1851 -1883, 300, 000 Chinese arrived on the west coast • Big Reasons: – Gold – RR • Congress limited Chinese imm. in 1882 • Hawaii annexation in 1898 increased Japanese immigration. **

Angel Island** • San Francisco Bay • Chinese immigrants • Process similar to Ellis Island

Life Rafts** • Immigrants would gravitate towards neighborhoods that housed people from their home country • Ethnic communities that served as a support structure for immigrants.

Nativism • Nativism: favoritism toward native-born Americans ** • “Right” immigrants – English, German – Progressive / energetic • “Wrong” immigrants – Slav, Latin, Asiatic – Down-trodden / stagnant • 1896, Literacy Test for immigrants – 40 words in English

Anti-Asian Sentiment • Chinese accepted jobs for lower $$ • Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882 – 10 year ban on all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, and gov. officials. – Not repealed until 1943.

Gentlemen’s Agreement • Board of Ed. in S. F. segregated Japanese children by putting them in separate schools. • President Teddy Roosevelt: worked out the Gentlemen’s Agreement – Japan would limit imm. of unskilled workers in exchange for repeal of the segregation order.

Then & Now • Immigrants now in the U. S. : displaced from war-stricken countries (Serbian Peninsula, E. Europe) • Pacific Islands • Caribbean Islands • Middle East • Africa • Mexico • Border Patrol issues • Differentiated State Laws • Relevancy of Nativism • Jobs • Welfare • Constitutional Rights • Political Debate