1. The Immigrant Experience Lesson starter: What problems might immigrants face when they arrived in the USA?

2. Today we will… Understand some of the problems facing immigrants to the USA Understand the type of welcome they received

3. 1. Ellis Island All immigrants arrived here to be ‘processed’ They waited for hours to be checked by a doctor Immigrants would be marked with chalk if they were ill or ‘feeble minded’ – those ones would be sent back After the medical inspection, pages of forms had to be completed to receive a ‘landing card’ This allowed you into New York

4. Ellis Island

5. Immigrants waiting to be processed at Eliis Island

7. Medical inspections

9. 2. Slum Housing Most immigrants settled in cities where work was New York, Boston, Pittsburgh and Chicago They could only afford the cheapest rents and slums started to develop Overcrowding, poor sanitation etc

10. Slum housing, USA

11. Slum housing, NYC

12. Irish slum tenement, NYC

13. 3. Communities Immigrants moved beside people of similar religion, nationality and culture Names such as ‘Little Italy’, ‘Little Germany’, ‘Irishtown’ and ‘Chinatown’ became common

14. Little Italy, NYC

16. Little Germany, NYC

17. Chinatown, NYC

18. 4. Politics Most immigrants had no idea about US politics Many did not even speak English This meant they were willing to vote for anyone who helped them Sometimes immigrants were bribed for their vote Some immigrants became politically powerful – the Irish in Boston for example (Kennedy family)

19. 5. WASPs White Anglo Saxon Protestants These people were descended from early immigrants to America Mainly from Northern Europe WASPs were the most powerful people in the USA They did not like the new immigrants that came during the 20th century They looked down upon new immigrants and discriminated against them

20. New York WASP women, 1900s

21. Examples of WASPs in film/TV… The Nichols in the OC

22. Charlotte York and Trey MacDougall, SATC

23. Van de Kamps, Desperate Housewives

24. The WASP term typically excludes Catholics, Jews, Slavs, Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians

25. 8 mark essay question Describe the experiences of immigrants to the USA after 1900. (8 marks) Paragraph Plan Introduction 1.Ellis Island 2.Slum Housing 3.Communities 4.Politics 5.Discrimination from WASPs Conclusion