U.S. History II Immigration, 1877-1924
U.S. History II
Immigration, 1877-1924
A Century of Immigration: 1820 - 1920
5,907,893 Germans16.4% of all immigrants25-36% between 1830-
18904,578,941 Irish
12.7% of all immigrants35-45% between 1830-
18604,195,880 Italians
3,000,000 between 1901-1920
2,147,859 Scandinavians
Why They Left – Push Factors
Lack of jobsAgriculture no
longer viableEscaping
persecutionDodging the
draft
Irish Tenants Evicted
Why They Came – Pull Factors
Wages 2-3 times higher in U.S.
Friends & relatives already here
Greater economic, social, & political freedom
Immigrants on board
How They Came – Means
RecruitmentPadronesSteamships“Birds of Passage”
HMS Majestic, White Star Line, 1889
Cabin vs. Steerage Accommodations
Ellis Island, New York
Covered Entrance
Great Hall
Inspection
Hearing Room
Where Immigrants Settled
Urban Immigrants
Ethnic Ghettoes
Never completely homogenous
Dumbbell tenements
Created organizations to preserve cultureChurchesSchoolsBenevolent
associationsSinging clubs Mulberry St., Manhattan
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000
Tenement Sweatshop
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000
Nativist AttacksNativists distinguished between good
“old immigrants” & bad “new immigrants”“old” immigrants hailed as pioneers who
settled as families on the land, assimilated & became citizens
“new” immigrants were single men who worked in factories, lived in slums, & were less intelligent & more degenerate
Immigrants blamed for evils of urban, industrial AmericaConservatives claimed they were labor
radicals – socialists, anarchistsUnions saw them as strikebreakersSocial workers decried their unsanitary
living conditionsAcademics claimed they were racially
inferiorTR warned of danger of “race suicide”
Anti-immigrant cartoon from The Ram’s Horn, 10/31/1896
Immigration Restriction Legislation
Page Act (1875) – prostitutes & convicts excluded from entry
Asian Exclusion:1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act1907 – Gentlemen’s Agreement with Japan1917 – Asiatic Barred Zone created1924 – all “aliens ineligible to citizenship” excluded
Foran Act (1885) – contract labor outlawed (except professionals)
1891 – federal Immigration Bureau createdFederal inspection centers like Ellis Island builtCourts ruled that immigration decisions were
administrative – not subject to due process or judicial review
Restrictive Legislation, continued
1882, 1891, 1903 & 1907 acts excluded those with a variety of physical or mental defects
1917 act imposed literacy test on all immigrants
“Emergency” Quota Act (1921) – quotas set at 3% of 1910 census figures for each nationality
Reed – Johnson National Origins Act (1924)Initial quotas set at 2% of 1890 census
figuresIn 1929 “national origins” quotas took
effect, based on estimates of ethnic heritage of white population