APUSH Outline

Flood of Immigrants and the Lure of the City

- Push & pull factors brought millions of new immigrants to the U.S. from 1880-1924.
- Push factors: poverty, overcrowding, religious persecution (Europe)
- Pull factors: opportunity and freedom
- Major cities: New York, Chicago, Boston
- “steerage-class” tickets could be purchased for $20
- “new immigrant” families from Italy, Poland, and Russia gathered as much money as
they could to take the one-way trip to America

A Backlash Against Immigrants

- “new” immigrants were different from “old” immigrants that migrated to the United
States in the 1820s and 1830s
- Europeans were often Catholic, Jewish, or Greek Orthodox Christians, while “old”
immigrants were predominantly English Protestants
- On the West Coast, Chinese immigrants continued to arrive in California, prompting the
passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 to restrict Chinese immigration flooding
American cities.
- Labor unions feared a loss of jobs to an eager immigrant work pool.

Key Terms
Chinese Exclusion Act: The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by
President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers.
nativist: a person who favors those born in his country and is opposed to immigrants,
specifically, a native born American who wants to limit immigration (and outside influence).
They hated minorities, immigrants and Catholics
Our Country (1885): a book in which Reverend Josiah Strong derided cities as a menace to
American morality and social order