Immigration to the United States in the Mid-19th

Century

Why do people immigrate?

Are they pushed out by something?

Or are they pulled in by something?

What pulls people to immigrate to another country?

JobsFreedoms (political)Freedoms (religious)Family already thereNew startAdventure

What pushes people to immigrate to another country?

Religious persecutionWarDon’t like the political system or leaderFamine (not enough food)Poverty – lack of opportunity (no jobs)

Pull Factors: Why did people want to come to America?

Cheap labor needed for:

• factory work• building railroads• building canals

Push Factors: Why did people leave their European homelands?

Instability in Europe:• revolutions (esp. Germany)• famine (esp. Ireland)

Which do you think results in MORE immigration:

push or pull?

Think, Pair, Share:

Immigration to the United States, 1820s-1840s

Write a sentence that explains the chart.

Immigration to the United States, 1821-1860

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Great Britain

Ireland

GermanyAll Other

Write a sentence or two that explain the chart.

Potato Famine in Ireland¾ crops (wheat, barley, rye) grown

to sell to the British

¼ crops grown for the Irish to eat (potatoes)

Irish Population

1844 8,400,000

1851 6,600,000

Good luck in America!

New Cultures Clash!Established Americans New Immigrants

Most were Protestant Most were Roman Catholic

Middle-class Americans were likely to drink only in private, if at all.

Working-class men would go to taverns after work to gather and drink socially.

Immigrants Face Hostility and Discrimination

Anti-Catholicism

Reasons for Immigrant Tensions

1. Irish immigrants were very poor – WHY?

2. Many took jobs for less money than established Americans – WHY?

3. Irish were often hired as strike-breakers – WHY?

4. Irish men replaced “mill girls” – WHY?

5. Fear of Immigrant Voters

Rise of Nativism

"Riot at Hoboken, May 1, 1851"