Chapter 20

Section 1The New Immigrants

emigrate

When people leave their homes… immigrate – When people come into a country.

Before 1865Immigrants came from:

northern/western Europe

(Most of these blended in because they spoke English)

Mid 1800sImmigrants came from:

eastern/southern Europe

Few spoke English… had different religious beliefs… They clustered together

After 1900Immigrants came from…Mexico, China, JapanThey too had difficult blending

Ethnic groups

Minorities that spoke different languages or followed different customs from those of most people in a country.

Why did people want to come to

America???*escape economic problems*overcrowding*poverty*persecution*religious freedoms

How did immigrants see America?*land of jobs*plentiful & affordable land*opportunities for a better life

Immigrants came into:

Ellis Island in New York City

orAngel Island in San

Francisco

steerageCramped, noisy quartered on the lower decks of the boats

Ellis Island

Immigration station from 1892-1934 for immigrants from Europe

Angel Island

Immigration center from 1910-1940 forimmigrants from China, Japan, Russia and South Asia

Immigrant Medical Exam

Trachoma – eye exam – very contagious and 2nd leading cause of blindness

Statue of Liberty – New York*7 rays on crown represent 7continents*tablet: July 4, 1776*nose: 4.5 ‘ long

Given to us by France in 1886.

Emma Lazarus…“Give me your tired, your poor,

You huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

This is found at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York City.

Immigrants greatest challenge?

Finding work: unskilled workers who unloaded cargo/dug ditches, steel mills laborers that sometimes worked 7 days a week/12 hrs. a day

sweatshopsgarment factories that were unclean, noisy and crowded

low wages, long hours, hazardous work

assimilateto become a part of society

Nativist MovementSome native born Americans feared:

Immigrants would take their jobsImmigrants’ foreign language & unfamiliar religion would not fit into American society.

Chinese Exclusion Act

Prohibited Chinese immigrants from coming into the U.S. for 10 years in 1882 and again in 1892.

gentlemen’s agreement

An agreement between the U.S. and Japan to limit the Japanese into the U.S., and pledged fair treatment for the ones already in the U.S.