Old Immigration & New Immigration : WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?

Old Immigration & New Immigration: WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?By: Amanda Pleasant

What is “Old Immigration?”•1800-1850• Irish, Germans, & Scandinavians•Came from Northwestern Europe

“Oldies”– Why Did They Leave?• Immigrants left for a variety of reasons• Famine, religious persecution, bad economy…

The Irish:• The Irish wanted to immigrate to America to get away from the potato famine...

The Germans:•Many fought in the freedom movement and had to leave to stay out of jail.• “Freedom Fighters”

Scandinavians:•Wanted religious freedom•Needed an escape from bad economy•Converts to Mormonism

How Were “Oldies” Treated?

• Treated fairly well• Some were

prejudiced against immigrants b/c they took away “American” jobs.• Formed the

“Nativist Party”

Some History About Know Nothings:• "Know nothings",

aka, The American Party• Originated in

1849• didn't like

immigrants because they took jobs away from "native" Americans• Didn't like

Catholics b/c they feared they'd be more loyal to the pope than the country.

What is "New Immigration?"• Second Half of the 19th century• Austrians, Hungarians, Bohemians, Poles, Serbs, Italians, Russians, Jews.• Came from southern & eastern Europe

"Newbies"-- why did they leave?

• Austrians, Serbians, Hungarians, & Bohemians left to escape oppression

• Polish wanted to get better jobs

• Italians wanted better opportunities

• Russian/Jews wanted better lives for themselves & their families

How Were "Newbies" Treated?• Immigrants generally weren't treated very well• Had no skills, poor, & dirty•Many Americans thought these immigrants were a waste of space

Straight To The Point: Main DifferencesOld Immigration:• 1st half of 19th

century• "oldies" came from

Northwestern Europe

• Skilled, willing workers, who assimilated well

• Were treated ok simply b/c they had skills to offer, though there was still prejudices

New Immigration:• 2nd half of 19th

century• "Newbies" came

from S. & E. Europe• Unskilled and

illiterate, did not want to assimilate and wanted to keep their traditions

• Were treated badly b/c they were different & many had little to offer

The End...