immigration. plymouth colony 1620-1691 english settlers – pilgrims – seeking religious freedom...
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Plymouth Colony
• 1620-1691• English settlers – Pilgrims – seeking religious freedom
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." — U.S. Constitution
1619 African Arrival in Virginia
• 20 Africans• Transported in a Dutch ship, stolen from a Spanish ship• Traded for food, left in Jamestown, VA as servants• “Servant” becomes “Slave” in less than a generation – at first justified by religious difference, later by skin color.
The Naturalization Act of 1790
• First law setting rules for granting of US citizenship (Constitution grants that power to Congress)
• All “free white persons” of “good character”• Excludes: American Indians, slaves, free Blacks
and Asians
Potato Famine (Ireland, 1845 – 1851)
• 1 million dead• 1 million emigrated• Population of Ireland decreased 25%• Ireland produced ample food for export – Irish natives couldn’t afford to feed themselves• By 1850, the Irish made up a quarter of the population in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Shift in Immigration
•Old Immigrants (1620 – 1840)• Protestants• England, Germany, the Netherlands•White, fair hair and eyes
•New Immigrants (1840 – 1920)• Irish, Asian, Eastern European, Italian• Looked different• Catholic, Jewish, many different faiths• Led to emergence of “nativist” movements
The Emergency Quota Act (1921)
• First time numerical limits were placed on immigration
• Quotas based on ethnicity
• Each year US would admit no more than 3% of number of residents from that same country already living in the U.S.
• Maintains the existing ethnic mixture
• 1920: 805,228 immigrants
• 1922: 309,556
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
• Eliminated the national origins quotas of the Emergency Quota Act• Created new guidelines•Gave preference to family members• Skilled laborers• Per-country limits• Total immigration limit
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
• Required employers to attest to emplyees’ immigration status
• Illegal to hire/recruit illegal immigrants
• Legalized some seasonal agricultural workers
• Amnesty for 3 million illegal immigrants in the US prior to 1982.