1. Immigration to America
A Summary

2. Coming to America!
Between , 40 million people emigrated to the USA
For most the journey was hard and consisted of two weeks in the cheapest class of travel with little or no privacy
There was also no guarantee that they would be allowed in!

3. Who were the Americans?
Immigration had made the USA a very mixed society
America was like ‘a melting pot’
The idea was that the immigrants lost their old identity and became AMERICANS!
Old Immigrants. These were the first European settlers from Britain, Germany and Scandinavia. Their descendants tended to hold the best jobs, the most money and political power- WASPs

4. Who were the Americans?
Native American Indians. These people originally lived across the whole of the continent. Between they were forced off their land
By 1917 many Indians lived in reservations across America
Black Americans. In the C18th and C19th millions of Africans were brought to America to work as slaves. By 1920 there were 11 million Black people living in America

5. Who were the Americans?
Southern and Eastern Europeans. In the late C19th most new immigrants came from Russia, Poland and Italy. Many were Jews and Catholics.
Hispanics
Asians

6. Open Door Policy – mass immigration encouraged by the USA up to the 1920s.
This made entry into the country as easy as possible.

7. “Push” factors
An attempt to get away from the poverty of the home country.
A desire to escape persecution.
Economic depression and new machinery led to unemployment
lack of opportunity, class dominated society

8. “Pull”factors
The promise of tolerance towards religion and the chance to practice their faith safely.
The lure of plentiful land and the prospect of owning property.
The hope of a better life for themselves and their families.
A sense of adventure in the land of opportunity.

10. Ellis Island

11. Immigrants arrive
More than 70% of immigrants to America arrived at Ellis Island.
At times as many as 5000 people per day would pass through immigration control.
For most, the processing, which involved medical and legal examinations, took between 3 and 5 hours. However, some were sent home.

12. The move towards a ‘closed door’ policy
‘Old’ immigrants (those from northern & western Europe) came to resent the ‘new’ immigrants (those from southern and eastern Europe). This was because:
They were often poor
Many could not speak English and were illiterate
Many were Catholic or Jewish
After WWI many were frightened of ‘foreigners’
As a result, the government moved to restrict immigration

13. Tasks
1. Make a list of the push and pull factors that influenced migration. Use these headings to help you :
Geography
Opportunity
Employment
Freedom
2. Answer either 2A or 2B from the the information sheet.
3)Define the following words in detail. - immigrant, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Open door policy, Closed door policy.