OLD vs. NEW OLD vs. NEW IMMIGRATION IMMIGRATION
Jan 04, 2016
Coming To AmericaComing To AmericaAMERICA AMERICA
Written by Neil DiamondWritten by Neil Diamond
FarFar We've been traveling farWe've been traveling far Without a homeWithout a home But not But not without a starwithout a star FreeFree Only want to be freeOnly want to be free We huddle We huddle closeclose Hang on to a dreamHang on to a dream On the boats and on the On the boats and on the
planesplanes They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America Never looking back Never looking back againagain They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America Home, don't it Home, don't it
seem so far awayseem so far away Oh, we're traveling light todayOh, we're traveling light today In In the eye of the stormthe eye of the storm In the eye of the stormIn the eye of the storm Home, Home, to a new and a shiny placeto a new and a shiny place Make our bed, and we'll Make our bed, and we'll
say our gracesay our grace Freedom's light burning warmFreedom's light burning warm Freedom's light burning warmFreedom's light burning warm Everywhere around Everywhere around
the worldthe world They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America Every time that Every time that flag's unfurledflag's unfurled They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America Got a Got a
dream to take them theredream to take them there They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America Got a dream they've come to shareGot a dream they've come to share They're coming They're coming
to Americato America They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America They're They're coming to Americacoming to America They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America They're coming to AmericaThey're coming to America Today, today, today, Today, today, today,
today, todaytoday, today My country 'tis of theeMy country 'tis of thee TodayToday Sweet Sweet land of libertyland of liberty TodayToday Of thee I singOf thee I sing TodayToday Of thee I Of thee I
singsing TodayToday
Old Immigrants – before 1865Old Immigrants – before 1865
• Came for Political, Came for Political, Economic and Economic and Social FactorsSocial Factors– Before the Civil Before the Civil
War America had War America had an an open open immigration policyimmigration policy. .
– Anyone could Anyone could come here with come here with no no restrictionsrestrictions. .
– Immigrants at this Immigrants at this time were time were considered the considered the "OLD "OLD IMMIGRANTS.“IMMIGRANTS.“
Old Immigrants : 1607-Old Immigrants : 1607-1850s1850s
• Came from NW EuropeCame from NW Europe
• Mostly Mostly English and GermanEnglish and German
• Some French & DutchSome French & Dutch
• These immigrants were light These immigrants were light skinned and had light eyes and skinned and had light eyes and hairhair
• Protestant ReligionProtestant Religion
Immigration After 1865
After the Civil War, which ended in 1865, Americans began to want to restrict immigration.
Groups called nativists formed to oppose immigration. The Ku Klux Klan and the Know Nothings were nativists groups. Nativist: a group of people who favored native-
born Americans over immigrants.
NATIVISM in USAAnti-Immigrant Sentiment
Competition for JOBSCheap Labor
Fear injection of Immigrant values, ideas, politics into “American” culture
Immigration from 1890 – 1920 A look at the statistics shows
that immigration continued to increase tremendously in the late 1800s.
By the 1900's, it began to drop. The 1921 Emergency Quota Act
(also known as the National Origins Act) further restricted immigration.
The immigrants most affected were different from the Old Immigrants and were called NEW IMMIGRANTS.
New Immigrants1860s – 1920s Came from Eastern &
Southern Europe. These immigrants were
Russians, Polish, Italians, Irish, (Chinese out W.)
Jews from Poland and Russia
Their religions were different from the Old Immigrants (Catholic and Jewish).
They were typically darker in color with darker hair and eyes.
Immigrant Life in America Ellis Island, New York Bay (Across from
Manhattan & next to the Statue of Liberty)
Immigration Act of 1924 “National Origins Act”
(“Quota Act”)
Greatly reduced the number of immigrants to the USA
Unfairly targeted E. European immigrants (Polish, Slavic, Russian)
Typical Immigrant Occupations
Italian & Polish men = building trades Eastern European men = mines & steel mills French Canadians = New England textile mills Jewish men & women & Italian women=
garment industry Greeks & Chinese = opened businesses like
laundries & restaurants All careers required long hours & hard
labor. (They often worked 15 hour days in adverse conditions to pay for family necessities.)