Unit 3, Ch. 7.1: The New Immigrants

Through the Golden Door: Millions of immigrants entered the U.S. in the late 19th, early 20th century in search of a better life. Push Factors – Circumstance forcing someone to leave their country and move to another. Ex: War, Famine, Disease, Political Persecution, Religious Persecution, etc. Pull Factors – Circumstance that draws someone from one country to a new country. Ex: Family/Marriage, Land, Jobs, Freedom/Opportunity, etc.

Europeans during the late 1800’s to early 1900’s were escaping religious persecution. Jewish Russians were pushed out, sometimes entire villages, because of prejudice. Others left because of overpopulation, and the lack of jobs or land to support them. America had jobs in abundance. Chinese immigrants arrived on the west coast, initially sparked by the gold rush in 1848-49. Eventually they helped build the railroads, and eventually to mining and farming. The Japanese started coming over too after the annexation of Hawaii in 1898. Mexicans started immigrating to the Southwest after the 1902 National Reclamation Act encouraged the irrigation of arid lands for farming.

Life in the New Land By the 1870’s, almost all immigrants arrived by steamship. The trip across the Atlantic for Europeans too about one week, while the trip for Asians across the Pacific took 3 weeks. Most immigrants traveled in steerage, the cheapest quarters on a ship, and they were often crowded together in dark filthy cargo holds. Disease and death was a risk they were willing to take to come to our country.

Ellis Island: Immigrants were not guaranteed entrance into the US. Most Europeans arrived at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, where 20% of them were detained for a day and about 2% were denied entry. The processing of immigrants could take 5 hrs. or more. They had to pass a medical screening, and if they passed they reported to a government inspector who would check documents and question immigrants on whether they met requirements proving they were not felons, able to work, and had money needed to become citizens.

Angel Island: Asian immigrants arrived on the West Coast arrived at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. Processing at Angel Island was different than at Ellis Island, immigrants endured harsh questioning and a long detention in filthy buildings while waiting to learn their fates.

Challenges: Finding a job, daily life in a country with an unfamiliar language and culture was very difficult. Immigrants sought out other immigrants with similar culture and religions, or spoke their language as life rafts. People pooled their money to build churches, form social clubs, etc. These new communities faced hatred from native born citizens who disliked their differences and saw them as a threat to the American way of life.

The Rise of Nativism: Nativism, favoritism toward native-born Americans, gave rise to anti- immigration groups and led to demand to restrict immigration. Many nativists believed that Anglo-Saxons were superior to other ethnic groups. They weren’t against immigration from countries with those ethnic groups, but to all others they deemed as “lesser”.

Nativism: Attacks on immigrants based on their faith (Jewish primarily) or their ethnicity was rising. Groups eventually demanded that Congress institute literacy tests to limit immigrants from entering the country. In the west, workers feared losing jobs to the Chinese (who would accept lower wages), this coupled with tough economic times led to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act. This banned entry to all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists and government officials.

The Gentlemen’s Agreement: The fears that had led to the anti-Chinese sentiment extended to Japanese and other Asian people. In 1906, the local school board in San Francisco segregated Japanese children by putting them in separate schools. Japan was upset, and they worked out a deal with Theodore Roosevelt. Under the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907- 1908 Japan agreed to limit immigration to the US in exchange for a repeal of the segregation law.