1. New Immigration

2. Europeans Flood into America
Between 1865 and 1914, 25 million Europeans immigrated to the United States
By the late 1890s, more than half of all immigrants were from southern and eastern Europe
More than 70% of the new immigrants were men

3. Why did they come? Wars Forced military service
Famine or high food prices
Religious persecution
Overpopulation
Availability of jobs in America

4. The Atlantic Voyage
Most immigrants booked passage in steerage, the cheapest accommodations available
Passage to the United States often cost a life’s savings
Entire families would often save enough money to send just one or two family members to America

5. On the Boat
“Narrow, steep and slippery stairways lead to it. Crowds everywhere, ill smelling bunks, uninviting washrooms – this is steerage. The odors of scattered orange peelings, tobacco, garlic, and disinfectants meeting but not blending, No lounge or chairs for comfort, and a continual babble of tongues – this is steerage. The food, which is miserable, is dealt out of huge kettles into the dinner pails provided by the steamship company.” – World of Our Fathers

6. Ellis Island
Most immigrants coming from Europe passed through Ellis Island in New York City
A huge three-story building served as the processing center for many of the immigrants after 1892
Immigrants filed past a doctor for an initial inspection
“Whenever a case aroused suspicion, the alien was set aside in a cage apart from the rest… and his coat or shirt marked with colored chalk.”
If an immigrant failed the inspection, they risked the chance of being sent back to Europe

7. Ellis Island

8. Ellis Island
With the huge numbers of immigrants, inspectors had just 2 minutes to complete the process
Many immigrants had their last names changed by the inspectors because they didn’t have the time or patience to struggle with the foreign spellings.
Long lines of immigrants were tagged according to what language they spoke

9. Ethnic Cities Most immigrants settled in the nation’s cities
Immigrants made up a large percentage of New York City, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit
Immigrants tended to move into ethnically similar neighborhoods
Ex. “Little Italy,” Jewish “Lower East Side,” “Chinatown”
Adjustment depended partly on how well they learned English and adapted to American culture

10. In the Tenements Many immigrants lived in crowded tenement buildings.
Families shared living space and decent lighting & fresh air were scarce. *

11. Living Conditions Conditions were uncomfortable, crowded, and dirty.
In New York, 1,231 people lived in only 120 rooms in one part of the city.
In Chicago in one year, over 60% of newborns never reached their first birthdays. Many babies asphyxiated in their own homes.
Many immigrants had no home and slept in 5 cents a spot rooms where people paid for a small space to spend the night.

12. Jacob Riis
An immigrant himself, Jacob Riis was well known for his photographs documenting the lives of immigrants & the urban poor in his book How the Other Half Lives.

13. Asian Immigration
By the mid-1800s, China’s population reached about 430 million
Country was suffering from unemployment, poverty, and famine
Thousands of Chinese left the nation for the United States
Demand for labor on the railroads led to further Chinese immigration
Chinese settled mostly in the western cities
Often worked as laborers, servants, or skilled tradesmen
American business often would not hire Chinese, so they were forced to open their own businesses

14. Angel Island
Until 1910, Asian immigrants arriving in San Francisco had to stop at a two-story shed on the wharf
As many as 500 people were squeezed in at a time
January 1910  California opened Angel Island for Asian immigrants
Most were young men in their teens or twenties
Wait could last months

15. Nativism Resurges
Nativism  extreme dislike of immigrants by native-born people
First surfaced during the Irish immigration in the s  later focused on Asians, Jews, and eastern Europeans
Feared the influx of Catholics would swamp the Protestant United States
Labor Unions thought that immigrants undermined American workers by working for low wages and working as strikebreakers

16. Prejudice Against Catholics
American Protective Association, founded by Henry Bowers in 1887, was an anti-Catholic organization
Largely protestant population considered the Irish to be lazy, superstitious, and ignorant
A new law in 1882 banned convicts, paupers, and the mentally disabled from immigrating to America
Also created a $.50 tax on each head

17. Restrictions on Asian Immigration
Denis Kearney organized the Workingman’s Party of California, and worked against Chinese immigration
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Law banned all Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented Chinese already in America from becoming citizens
Congress renewed law in 1892 and it became permanent in 1902  not repealed until 1943
San Francisco required all Asian immigrant children to attend segregated “Oriental Schools”
Theodore Roosevelt agreed to limit Japanese immigration if San Francisco would end the segregation of schools