THE NEW IMMIGRANTS

IMMIGRATION Europeans 20 million between 1870 and 1920 Rising population ( European population doubled) Not enough farm land and much competition in factories Chinese and Japanese ,000 Chinese arrived on the west coast First to seek gold, then to build railways, then farming 1884 Japanese workers begin to emigrate to Hawaii Hawaii annexed in 1898 results in Japanese immigration to the west coast By 1920 more than 200,000 Japanese lived on west coast

IMMIGRATION Ellis Island Where immigrants would be inspected and let into U.S. Physical examination, serious disease was sent home, document checks, made sure they could work and had money 17 million passed through Angel Island Where Asian immigrants passed through to get into America Harsh questioning, long detention Mexico Mexicans came after 1902 National Reclamation Act which encouraged arid farming in south 1910 political upheavals drove many to U.S. as well

IMMIGRATION

RESPONSE Immigration Restrictions Americans viewed America as a melting pot (abandon old ways to become American) Immigrants however did not want o give up old way of life The Rise of Nativism Nativism: favoritism toward native born Americans many believed that English/Anglo-Saxon were the superior immigrants and others were “ down-trodden ” American Protective Association 1887 launched anti-Catholic attacks Refusal to admit Jews to colleges and clubs was also common 1897 Congress passed a literacy test for immigrants

RESPONSE Anti-Asian Sentiment Native born workers feared their job would go to Chinese workers Asians would work for less 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act Chinese were banned from 10 years (students, teachers, merchants, tourists) Congress added another 10 years in 1902 The Gentleman’s Agreement 1906 San Fran local board of education segregated Japanese children by putting them in separate schools Teddy Roosevelt in 1907 passed the Gentleman’s Agreement stating: Japanese students could go to normal school in Japan limited emigration

RESPONSE Emergency Quota Act of 1921: Imposes national/racial quotas for immigration using ethnic ratios from 1890 census, when America was more Northern European an attempt to stem immigration from Southern European nations, but no limits on immigration overall. Immigration Act of 1924: The Johnson-Reed law builds upon 1921 law puts a cap of 164,000 immigrants per year, nearly all from Northern Europe. National quotas stay in place. (at that time, immigrants are 13 percent of total U.S. population … same as today)

RESPONSE