Irish

Immigrants,
1909
Take a minute
Write brief responses to the following questions
How can immigrants gain access to the services they
need?
What skills do newcomers need?
How might immigrants respond to help from an
outsider?
Coming to America
Late 19
th
century, early 20
th
: millions of immigrants
come to the US
Push factors: famine, land shortages, religious or
political persecution
Pull factors: available land, jobs, money
Birds of passage: temporary immigrants work in the
US and send money home
European Immigrants
1870-1920: 20 million European immigrants arrive in
US
Before 1890: most came from Western/Northern
Europe: Ireland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany
After 1890: Southern and Eastern Europeans come in
mass amounts: Italy, Russia, Poland
Why?
Push factors:
Religious persecution: whole villages of Jews driven out
of Russia by pograms (organized attacks by govt)
Rising populations: pop. Doubled in Europe during
between 1800-1900, leaving no farming land/no food
Not enough jobs
Pogroms
Why?
Pull factors:
Jobs plentiful in America
Spirit of reform and revolution in Europe
Men and women wanted independent lives
Asian Immigrants
1851-1883: 300,000 Chinese arrived on the west coast
Push factors:
High population
Not enough jobs
Pull factors:
Gold rush in California
Railroad jobs
West Indies and Mexico
1880-1920: 260,000 immigrants arrive in Eastern and
Southeastern US from West Indies (Jamaica, Cuba,
Puerto Rico)
Push: jobs were scarce
Pull: US plentiful jobs
West coast: 700,000 Mexicans
Push: political and social problems
Pull: new farmland jobs in Western states
The trip to the US
Steamship passage in steerage (cheapest tickets in the
ships cargo hold)
Crowded together inside
Sleep in louse-infested bunks, share toilets
Disease spread quickly, some immigrants died on
journey over


Steerage
Ellis Island
In New York Harbor, 17 million immigrants went
through here
20% detained for a day or more before being
inspected; only about 2% were denied entry
Pass a physical exam- anyone with TB sent home
Inspectors then checked documents and asked
questions
Prove no criminal records, show ability to work and have
some money on them

Angel Island
Asian Immigrants
San Francisco Bay
Between 1910-1940, about 1 million Chinese
immigrants came through
Harsher conditions than Ellis Island
Tough questioning, long detention in filthy
conditions; frequently denied admittance

Obstacles
Immigrants needed to find a place to live, a job, and
get along in daily life in a new place
Many immigrants sought out people from the same
culture and native language
Built churches/temples, community centers, day care
services within cultural communities
Examples: Little Italy or Chinatown in New York, North
End (Italian) in Boston, Irish in South Boston
Native-born US citizens began to dislike the
immigrants and viewed them as a threat
Immigrant Restrictions
Nativism: favoritism toward native-born Americans,
led to immigrant restrictions
Idea that WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants)
were OK (people from UK, Germany, Scandanavia)
NOT OK: Slavs, Latinos, Asians, Catholics, Jews
Many anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic (Jewish) groups
emerge, attacks
In 1897, Immigration Restriction League influences
congress to pass a literacy test for immigrants
If immigrants could not read 40 words in English OR
their native language they would be refused entry to
US
HOWEVERPresident Cleveland vetoed the bill
Anti-Asian Sentiment
Many nativists in labor organizations, have problem
with Chinese taking railroad jobs
The Chinese must go! became slogan
1882- Chinese Exclusion Act: banned entry to all
Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists
and govt officials
Law not repealed until 1943