Coming to America
02.04 Assignment
Think about what life as an immigrant might have been like during the late 1800s or early 1900s. For this assessment, you may write either a newspaper article describing the conditions faced by immigrants or a guide about immigration for people hoping to come to the United States to explain what the process will be like. Your newspaper article or guide should be written to reflect the experiences of Asian or European immigrants in the early 1900s. Be sure to include information from the lesson in your response.
Article
If you choose to write a newspaper article, be sure to include the following in your response:
- Where is the immigrant group you are writing about from?
- What were some of the reasons they immigrated to the United States?
- How was the journey to the United States?
- What was the process like to enter the United States?
- What is life like in the United States?
- What challenges do immigrants face? What immigration laws affect this group?
Immigration Guide
If you choose to write an immigration guide, be sure to include the following information:
- For which home country are you writing the guide?
- What immigration laws may apply to immigrants using your guide?
- What can immigrants expect their journey to be like?
- What can immigrants expect immediately upon arrival?
- What types of jobs are available for people from that home country?
- Where are immigrants from the home country likely to settle? Why?
- What will life be like once the immigrants are settled in the United States?
Your article or guide should be at least one page in length and in no larger than a 12-point font. You may include clip art or images. Be sure to cite your sources.
02.04: Objective
How Did Immigration Change the United States?
This photograph, circa 1905, shows immigrants on the deck of an ocean liner heading to the United States.
Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-58585]
Immigration was a challenge for those seeking work and a new life in the United States. They left behind what was familiar, risked a dangerous trip, and settled where they did not speak the language or know anyone.
The earliest wave of immigrants to the United States arrived in the 1830s and 1840s, as factory jobs became available. The hope for a better life pulled still more immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This second wave of immigration changed the nation socially, culturally, and economically.
In 1880, the U.S. population was about 50 million. Just 20 years later, the population had grown to about 76 million. Some Americans worried that the U.S. economy could not support the newcomers. Others were concerned that the traditional American culture would change dramatically.
In this lesson, you will learn about immigration to the United States and the experiences of immigrants between the late 1800s and early 1900s. You will demonstrate that you have learned this information through a written assessment. You may write a newspaper article or a guide for immigrants coming to the United States.
Sneak a peek at the assignment.
Objective 02.04 Coming to America
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
- identify the different immigrant groups that arrived in the United States during the Industrial Revolution and explain the reasons why they immigrated to the United States
- compare and contrast immigration before and after 1890
- analyze the response of the government, corporations, and society to Eastern and Western immigration
Page 1 of 5
02.04 Coming to America: Immigrant Groups
What Groups Immigrated to the United States?
Immigration ShiftsThe earliest waves of immigrants to the United States came in the 1830s and 1840s. Most industry at that time was located in the Northeast. As a result, most immigrants settled in that region. From about 1820 to 1880, more than nine million immigrants came to the United States. Most arrived from northern and western European countries, including Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. Immigration during this period is often referred to as the “old immigration wave” to the United States.
In addition to Europeans, immigrants from Asia arrived on the West Coast in the early 1850s. During the California Gold Rush, about 25,000 Chinese immigrants came to the United States.
The Second Industrial Revolution, which began after the Civil War, expanded manufacturing to other regions of the United States. Mines and factories needed more workers. Expanding railroads also needed workers. The need for laborers pulled more immigrants from different areas of Europe.
Many immigrants came from southern and eastern European countries such as Greece, Italy, and Russia. They differed in their cultural and religious backgrounds from the previous immigrants. In general, the religious heritage of the first wave of immigrants was similar to the original settlers of America, in that most were Protestant Christians. The new immigrants were mainly Catholics, Jews, or Orthodox Christians. During the 1880s alone, more than five million people left their home countries to start new lives in the United States.
Select the hotspots on the map shown here to find out more about immigration to the United States from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. What do you think immigrants’ lives might have been like?
Page 2 of 5
02.04 Coming to America: Reasons for Immigration
Why Did Immigrants Come to the United States?
Whether they came in the early or late 1800s, similar factors pushed immigrants from their home countries and pulled them toward the United States. These are known as push-pull factors. Immigrants left their homelands to escape war, poverty, or starvation. Some came for greater political or religious freedom. In Germany, for example, a failed revolution in 1848 forced many Germans to flee. In Ireland, potato blight—a disease that rots potatoes—caused a famine in the 1840s. Famine in China during that same time pushed Chinese people from their homeland.
What made people take the long, dangerous journey to the United States? The pull was mainly economic. Immigrants were drawn to the United States in hopes of securing jobs or land. The Midwest, with its abundant open spaces available for farming, drew waves of immigrants, including many Germans. Jobs created by industrialization pulled immigrants to the cities.
Eastern European Immigrants
In this photograph, workers load the furnace at the Homestead Steel Works in Pennsylvania.
Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-66926]
Irish immigrants were drawn to the big eastern cities because of the need for unskilled labor. The cities were also already home to many Irish communities. Many Irish immigrants found work building railroads after the Civil War.
After 1865, that same dream of economic success pulled immigrants from Italy to New York and other cities in the Northeast. Many immigrants from eastern Europe found work in coal mines and steel mills in central and western Pennsylvania. Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe found jobs in the textile and clothing industries in New York City and along the East Coast.
02.04 Coming to America: After Arrival
What Happened After Immigrants Arrived?
Immigrants enter the United States through Ellis Island, New York.
Library of Congress [LC-USZ62-12595]
The overseas journeys for immigrants were very difficult. Most immigrants traveled in steerage—the below-deck area where the ship’s steering mechanisms were housed. Many became ill during the long voyage in cramped and dirty quarters.
In 1892, Ellis Island in New York Harbor became the main entry point for European immigrants. Upon arrival at Ellis Island, doctors inspected immigrants for diseases. Officials interviewed them about their backgrounds. Those with diseases or certain political views were refused entry. By 1924, Ellis Island had processed some 17 million people.
Immigrants from Asia arrived at Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay. By the time Angel Island opened in 1910, however, the Chinese Exclusion Act limited Chinese immigration. Only people whose fathers were U.S. citizens could enter the United States. Proving that they had a father living in the United States was difficult for many newly arrived immigrants. Many bought counterfeit papers that identified them as children of citizens. Angel Island officials often held immigrants at the facility for months before accepting or rejecting their entries.
Immigrants were often kept in holding cells before being allowed to enter the United States.
© 2012 The Associated Press
Immigrants from Japan faced obstacles as well. Many of the first Japanese immigrants came from Hawaii, which was not yet part of the United States. There they had become the main immigrant group brought to work in sugar cane fields. Seeking better economic opportunity, they had come to the United States. However, anti-Japanese feeling was strong among white citizens. In San Francisco, for example, Japanese children were prohibited from attending schools with white children.
Japanese leaders protested the treatment of Japanese immigrants in the United States. In 1907, President Roosevelt and Japanese leaders worked out what is called the Gentlemen’s Agreement. Japan agreed to stop new immigration from Japan. Only people whose families were already in the United States would be allowed to leave Japan. In exchange, the United States agreed to end anti-Japanese laws and discrimination.
Page 4 of 5
02.04 Coming to America: Immigrant Experience
What Was the Immigrant Experience Like?
In this photograph, a group of women work in a dark sweatshop in New York City. Working conditions were often harsh. The youngest girl is around 14 years old.
Library of Congress [LC-DIG-nclc-04457]
Most immigrants came with their families to the United States. Sometimes one member of the family, usually a young father or teenage son, would arrive first. He would then send for his family once he had established a life here. Some young men even returned to their home countries after saving some money from jobs. This separation affected the family structure for many immigrants.
Entry into the United States was often challenging. After being admitted into the country, immigrants had to find jobs and homes. Some immigrants moved to the Midwest to find open land. Many German settlers moved to Texas, where they founded communities like Fredericksburg and farmed or worked in service jobs like baking or sewing.
Most immigrants, however, moved to urban centers. They frequently settled in neighborhoods where immigrants from their home country lived. There, they could maintain some of their customs and traditions and look for support from their community.
Life was often difficult, as jobs had low pay and long hours. Many city dwellers lived in overcrowded, poorly constructed apartment buildings. They worked in dirty and dangerous factories, small shops, or mills called sweatshops, where conditions were very poor. Most immigrants worked in unskilled jobs in the garment industry or construction. A few were able to start their own businesses.
On the West Coast, Chinese immigrants labored first in the gold mines and later as railroad workers. They were given dangerous jobs and paid less than other workers. Though they faced a great deal of prejudice, some eventually opened their own businesses, working as launderers, shoemakers, and in other service industries.
02.04 Coming to America: Response to Immigration
How Were Immigrants Viewed by the U.S. Government and Citizens?
Cartoon entitled “The Proposed Emigrant Dumping Site” from Judge Magazine, March 22, 1890.
© The Granger Collection / Universal Images Group /Image Quest 2012
Initially, the U.S. government and the nation’s citizens welcomed immigrants, who were often willing to work long hours for low wages. Over time, however, some Americans known as nativists began to oppose immigration. Many believed that fewer people should be allowed into the country. They feared that the newcomers would take jobs from American citizens.
Many nativists called for literacy tests for immigrants. Congress passed a literacy test in 1917 to prevent those who could not read English from entering the country.
When Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, it limited total immigration to 164,000 people per year. In July 1927, the number was reduced to 150,000 per year. The act also restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe. It banned Asian immigration completely.
Did You Know?
Immigration remains a topic of debate, even today. Until 1965, the number of immigrants allowed from a specific country was determined by the number of current U.S. residents from that country.
After 1965, U.S. immigration law changed to a system that allowed 170,000 immigrants per year for countries outside the Western Hemisphere. Countries within the Western Hemisphere were limited to 120,000.
This number has since been raised to 675,000 per year. Exceptions are made for close family members of residents and certain refugees. The only limit to this number is that no more than seven percent of the total number of immigrants in a given year can come from a single country.
Most immigrants come from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Many also come from Asia.
Capitalism
The U.S. economy is a capitalist system. As such, private corporations and individuals control most industries and businesses. During the 1800s and early 1900s, many Americans in business believed in the idea of laissez-faire capitalism. Laissez-faire policies stress the idea that businesses should operate without heavy government regulation. Laissez-faire means “allow to do” in French.
Because of this viewpoint, no restrictions were placed on immigration at first. Business owners wanted to make decisions about hiring and wages. New immigrants frequently filled the lower paying, more difficult, or dangerous jobs because they had fewer options. The enormous gap between rich and poor alarmed many people. These people felt that American society had fallen short of its ideals.
Social Darwinism
Page 1 of 1
02.04 Coming to America: Assignment
What Do I Submit?
Think about what life as an immigrant might have been like during the late 1800s or early 1900s. For this assessment, you may write either a newspaper article describing the conditions faced by immigrants or a guide about immigration for people hoping to come to the United States to explain what the process will be like. Your newspaper article or guide should be written to reflect the experiences of Asian or European immigrants in the early 1900s. Be sure to include information from the lesson in your response.
Article
If you choose to write a newspaper article, be sure to include the following in your response:
- Where is the immigrant group you are writing about from?
- What were some of the reasons they immigrated to the United States?
- How was the journey to the United States?
- What was the process like to enter the United States?
- What is life like in the United States?
- What challenges do immigrants face? What immigration laws affect this group?
Immigration Guide
Your article or guide should be at least one page in length and in no larger than a 12-point font. You may include clip art or images. Be sure to cite your sources.
Assignment 02.04 Coming to America
Please view the Grading Rubric before submitting the assessment.
- Complete the reading and activities for this lesson.
- Review your notes for this lesson.
- Complete and submit your written assessment to 02.04 Coming to America.
Image preview for”for this assessment, you may write either a newspaper article describing the conditions faced by immigrants”
APA
438 words