“new immigration” lecture 1880-1921
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“New Immigration” Lecture 1880-1921. Turn of the Century Immigration to the U.S. 1910 16% from NW Europe 73% from Eastern and Southern Europe 11% from Rest of the World. 1880 49% from NW Europe 27% from Eastern and Southern Europe 24% from the Rest of the World. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
“New Immigration” Lecture1880-1921
Turn of the Century Immigration to the U.S.1880
•49% from NW Europe•27% from Eastern and Southern Europe•24% from the Rest of the World
1880
Northwestern Europe
Southern and EasternEurope
Rest of the World
1910•16% from NW Europe•73% from Eastern and Southern Europe•11% from Rest of the World
1910
Northwestern Europe
Southern and EasternEurope
Rest of the World
Characteristics of the “New Immigrant”
• From Southern and Eastern Europe• Many young males• Many Catholics and Jews• Mostly unskilled agricultural laborers• Little money or education
• “I once thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that immigrants WERE American history.”
--Oscar Handlin (Journal 1)
Push and Pull Factors
Push Factors (Get OUT!)• Economic decline in Europe1. Effect of Industrial Revolution2. Rising populations, decreasing death rate3. More people + fewer resources = TROUBLE!!• Political and Religious Persecution
in Eastern Europe1. Legal restrictions on Jews 2. Pogroms=violent mob attacks3. Other ethnic minorities
Pull Factors• The Lure of Life in America (Work,
land, and LIES!!)– “That was the time, you see, when America was
known to foreigners as the land where you’d get rich. There’s gold on the sidewalk– all you have to do is pick it up!”-Lithuanian immigrant
Leaving the Homeland
Journal 2
Journey Across the Atlantic
Steerage on the SS Pennland 1893
Steerage Conditions
•Crowded, unsanitary, little food, enclosed! –Journal 3
Arrival in America—AT LAST!!75% go thru Ellis Island (1892-1920)aka “Island of Tears”
--”Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore…I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” –Statue of Liberty inscription
Unloading and Baggage
Time For Inspections
Legal Inspections– Registry Hall
The Final Inspection
Journal Entry 4
Leaving Ellis Island
• Make travel arrangements• Exchange money• Collect baggage• 2/3 going elsewhere; 1/3 stay in NY• Welcome to America…Now what???
Ethnic Enclaves
• 2/3 settle in urban centers (community, familiarity)
• Newspapers, customs, food, churches, clothing
“Here no one goes to bed on an empty stomach because one Pole will save another, if he can.” –Polish immigrant
Living Conditions
5 cents a spot
Tenement Living
60% die before 1st birthday120 rooms for 1231 people
Journal Entry 5
Working Conditions
Immigrants Seek Industrial Jobs
1. High supply/high demand
2. Prefer to agricultural work
3. 80% unskilled workforce
Struggling Families
Americans’ Treatment of Immigrants/Nativism
Motivation For Nativism• Fear, hostility, and suspicion• Prejudices based on race,
ethnicity, religion• Old Immigrants vs. New
Immigrants“The immigrants are an invasion of venomous reptiles…long-haired, wild-eyed bad-smelling, atheistic, reckless foreign wretches, who never did a day’s work in their lives.” –from a newspaper editorial
• Some similarities to today (i.e. jobs)
The ‘Golden Door’ Slams Shut
• Literacy tests to prevent ‘inferior races’
• Call for laws restricting immigration– 1921 Dillingham Bill sets quotas
Journal Entry 7