Immigration - what is it?
Immigration in America began the moment the first explorers set foot in the new world and began colonizing. As our nation matured, the idea of American citizenship developed into what it is today.
At the turn of the 20th century, a wave of immigration swept America and changed the face of its population, industry, and culture. The labor demands of a thriving industrial economy helped drive immigration to record levels. Most newcomers were from southern and eastern Europe, although a significant number of Chinese immigrants came to build the transcontinental railroad. Many immigrants were skilled tradesmen, which caused resentment and protest among native-born tradesmen and other nativists. Others were unskilled workers who supported America's flourishing manufacturing industry, helped build its transportation system, and settled its Great Plains. Immigrants—some 25 million between 1860 and 1920—mostly arrived by boat through New York Harbor. After 1886, they were greeted by the Statue of Liberty and, after 1892, examined at the Ellis Island immigration center. Most who stayed settled in New York or other cities, in urban neighborhoods organized by ethnic groups. As these groups were integrated into the larger culture, modern American society was forever transformed (Source: http://www.icivics.org/web-quests/immigration, http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/researchstarters/immigration/) Skim through this article about the statue of liberty to find some facts about the famous statue: Statue of Liberty |
Immigrant: A person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.
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Push and Pull Factors
When people migrate, they don’t just leave one place and magically arrive somewhere else. Often, migrants are pushed out of their native lands and pulled toward a new place. This idea is called the push-pull factor
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Push factors are the facts of life that make a person want to leave. Don’t have a job? Treated badly by your government? Lose all of your crops in a drought? These problems can lead someone to look for a better life in another country.
Pull factors are what attract migrants to come and live in one country over another. America’s popularity as an immigrant destination is due to our democratic government, industry, and general security. |
Go to the following website and complete the activity. You do NOT need to print the page when you are done.
http://www.campsilos.org/excursions/grout/one/pushpull.htm
http://www.campsilos.org/excursions/grout/one/pushpull.htm
Quotas on Immigration
America’s first immigrants were primarily Protestant, English farmers. Later, German, Irish-Catholic, Italian, Russian, Jewish, and Chinese immigrants began to enter the country in greater numbers. The changing nature of immigrant populations caused concern. Differences in language, religion and culture created anxiety for some and resulted in a variety of immigration restrictions over the history of our nation.
Congress did not try to regulate immigration until 1882 when they passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. By 1920, this law blocked over 30 separate groups including, convicts, lunatics, immoral persons, and illiterates, as well as people of certain nationalities. Immigration laws passed between 1920 and 1929 assigned each country in Europe a quota to limit the number of immigrants entering the US annually. (Source: http://www.icivics.org/web-quests/immigration) How many came? Use the information on the link below to create a line graph of the number of immigrants who came to America. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/pdfs/by_decade/decade_table.pdf |
Ellis Island
Ellis Island welcomed 17 million immigrants to the United States, most of which were from Europe. Processing at Ellis Island could take anywhere between 5 hours and 2 days. Immigrants were inspected first by doctors to check for health and possible diseases that could be brought into the country. They then were sent to a government inspector who checked their paperwork and asked questions to ensure the immigrant had no felonies (major crimes), some money (at least $25) and was able to work.
Many people have heard that many immigrants had their names changed during this process at Ellis Island in order to make it more "American". This is not true, however. Once the immigrant arrived in Ellis Island, he would be questioned about his identity and his paperwork would be examined. However, all Ellis Island inspectors operated under rules that did not allow them to change the identifying information for any immigrant unless it was requested by the immigrant or unless the interrogation demonstrated that the original information was in error. Inspectors were usually foreign-born immigrants themselves and spoke several languages so communication problems were nearly non-existent. Ellis Island would even call in temporary interpreters when necessary, to help translate for immigrants speaking the most obscure languages. This is not to say that the surnames of many immigrants were not changed at some point after their arrival in America. Millions of immigrants had their names changed by schoolteachers or clerks who couldn't spell or pronounce the original surname. Many immigrants also voluntarily changed their names, especially upon naturalization, in an attempt to fit better into American culture. (source: Kimberly Powell, Geneology guide, About.com) Take the Tour of Ellis Island - be sure to click "start tour" and then go through each room. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/index.htm Go to the Statue of Liberty Torch Cam - this is a live cam set up in New York Harbor to see the view of and from the Statue of Liberty at any point in time. You are seeing the LIVE FEED. http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/statueofliberty/?cam=liberty_hd |
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Angel Island
Asian immigrants usually entered the US through the West Coast. The largest immigration center was in San Francisco, called "Angel Island". Regulation on Asian immigrants were much more strict than on European immigrants.
"Paper Sons" At Angel Island, Chinese immigrants were measured by a stricter standard than others. After passing medical exams, they faced an additional hurdle: a grueling interrogation by a Board of Special Inquiry. Chinese non-citizen laborers residing on the U.S. were not permitted to bring over their wives, parents and children as the Japanese were. Only American-born Chinese were allowed to send for their children. Keenly feeling the injustice of discriminatory legislation, many Chinese attempted to circumvent the immigration law by falsely claiming that their parent was or an American citizen. The trade in false documents escalated after San Francisco's Great Earthquake and Fire destroyed the city's municipal records in 1906. Chinese residents made claims that they had been born in the U.S. and because the fire had destroyed their evidence, their claims could not be disproven. Some of these claims were legitimate, but a thriving trade soon sprang up for them to bring over cousins, other family members, or anyone (related or unrelated) who would pay money for fraudulent (fake) documents, allowing them to enter the U.S. These people who entered the U.S. under fake documents were known as "paper sons" and "paper daughters". American citizens could bring over any children they had on subsequent trips to China. In effect, some Chinese attempted to circumvent a racist and unjust Exclusion Act by selling immigration "slots" to would-be entrants who were not really their children. Immigration inspectors developed grueling interrogations to detect paper sons. Over the course of hours or even days, they would be quizzed in detail on their family history, their homes and their villages. Meanwhile, the sponsoring relative would be asked the same questions. Presumably, only genuine families would be able to supply matching answers to questions like these: -What is your living room floor made of? -Where is the rice bin kept? -Where is your village's temple? -How many houses are in your village lane? -What are the names of the neighbors who live in your village lane and what are their occupations? -What direction does your house in China face? -How many windows does your house in China have? As resourceful as the examiners were, the applicants and their relatives were often more so. Both "paper" and legitimate fathers sent letters or “coaching books” to China filled with details which the prospective immigrant spent months committing to memory. Ironically, since many Chinese living in America had not seen their home villages for years, it was easy for a legitimate relationship to trip up over a question like, "What type of bedding did your father sleep in?" Any discrepancies prolonged the questioning or threw the entire case into doubt, putting the applicant and his family at risk of deportation. The applicant had the right to appeal, however and only 2% of those who appealed their cases were actually deported. Nevertheless, some were incarcerated at Angel Island for as long as two years while their appeals dragged on. (Source: Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation 2004) |
Treatment of Immigrants
Many immigrants were not welcomed into the United States. Immigrants were encouraged to assimilate to "mainstream" American culture and give up their language, culture, and ethnic heritage.
Immigration laws were also unfair to some ethnic groups. Asian immigrants were denied entry to the country at a much higher rate than European immigrants. Even within Asia, Japanese immigrants were more often accepted than Chinese immigrants because of deals made by leaders in government. The Chinese Exclusion Act is the best example of restrictions on the number of immigrants that could come from a particular country.
Nativism, in general, refers to a policy or belief that protects or favors the interest of the native population of a country over the interests of immigrants. In the United States, greatest nativist sentiment coincided with the great waves of 19th-century European immigration on the East Coast and, to a lesser extent, with the arrival of Chinese immigrants on the West Coast.
Nineteenth-century nativism in the United States contained a strong anti-Catholic strain, since many of the newly arrived immigrants hailed from predominantly Roman Catholic countries. Although both religion and ethnicity helped identify targets of nativist bias, its motivations were often economic. The large waves of immigrants, many of whom were skilled tradesman, provided a large pool of inexpensive labor that threatened the well-being of native artisans and other workers.
The most prominent American nativist organization of the 19th century was the Know-Nothing party, which flourished originally in the 1840s and experienced a revival in the 1880s. The Ku Klux Klan was also notable for its nativist sentiment.
(Source: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/nativism)
Immigration laws were also unfair to some ethnic groups. Asian immigrants were denied entry to the country at a much higher rate than European immigrants. Even within Asia, Japanese immigrants were more often accepted than Chinese immigrants because of deals made by leaders in government. The Chinese Exclusion Act is the best example of restrictions on the number of immigrants that could come from a particular country.
Nativism, in general, refers to a policy or belief that protects or favors the interest of the native population of a country over the interests of immigrants. In the United States, greatest nativist sentiment coincided with the great waves of 19th-century European immigration on the East Coast and, to a lesser extent, with the arrival of Chinese immigrants on the West Coast.
Nineteenth-century nativism in the United States contained a strong anti-Catholic strain, since many of the newly arrived immigrants hailed from predominantly Roman Catholic countries. Although both religion and ethnicity helped identify targets of nativist bias, its motivations were often economic. The large waves of immigrants, many of whom were skilled tradesman, provided a large pool of inexpensive labor that threatened the well-being of native artisans and other workers.
The most prominent American nativist organization of the 19th century was the Know-Nothing party, which flourished originally in the 1840s and experienced a revival in the 1880s. The Ku Klux Klan was also notable for its nativist sentiment.
(Source: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/nativism)
America: A Melting Pot?
At the turn of the century it was believed that America was a "melting pot". This means that people from all different backgrounds came together and melted into one american identity. The problem with this is it means people would be giving up their cultural heritage and traditions. Many people today like to think of America as a "salad bowl" instead of a melting pot because while people of different backgrounds mix together, they each retain their own individuality. |
Becoming a Citizen
If you were born in the United States or on US territory (like a foreign military base) OR if a parent was a US citizen you are considered a natural-born citizen.
Citizen: member of a nation with full rights and responsibilities under law Naturalized Citizen: someone who becomes a citizen through a process other than birth Illegal Alien: non-citizen who is in another country without permission Legal Permanent Resident: alien admitted to the US to live and work permanently, holds a Green Card Could you do it? Try to answer some of the actual questions that appear on the citizenship test. Follow the link below, scroll down to choose Ohio and attempt to answer 5 questions. http://www.800citizen.org/us_citizenship_test/ |
To become a citizen, or to be naturalized, a person must meet certain requirements:
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