immigration to USA - COMPLETE Flashcards
when did america’s open door policy on immigration end?
1920
where were many immigrants taken before being allowed to enter the USA? (from 1892)
ellis island
how did some immigrants travel to america?
by sailing into ports in boston, miami, new orleans etc
how many americans can trace their roots to ellis island?
over 40%
how many people passed through ellis island?
over 12 million
what is a six second physical?
the first test an immigrant had to pass before being granted citizenship.
if the doctor marked any 1 of 17 chalk marks on a person’s back they failed the test and were not allowed to become citizens.
roughly 2/10 people received a mark for things ranging from pregnancy to heart issues.
what was the second test immigrants needed to pass?
inspectors asked immigrants 29 questions; have you any money; have you any relatives in america; is there a job waiting for you here.
how many people were denied entry for failing immigration tests?
roughly 2% of immigrants - over 1000 people a month during peak immigration people - 240,000 in total
aside from those who failed the tests, who else was rejected?
criminals
what happened to those who passed the immigration tests?
they were given a landing card (citizenship) and taken by ferry to new york
when was immigration at its lowest?
in the 1820s
when was immigration at its highest?
1900s (1900-1910)
what happened to immigration during the great depression?
it decreased (4.3 million in 1920s to only 700k in 1930s)
when was the old immigration period?
1820s-1880s
when was the new immigration period?
1880-1920s
who were the old immigrants?
mostly white anglo saxon protestants (wasps) from northern europe (uk, germany)
who were the new immigrants?
mostly poor and illiterate people from eastern and southern europe (italy, poland); lots of catholics and jewish people
what happened to the population of new york in the 1880s?
by 1890 there were more irish immigrants in new york than dublin
when were the first calls to end free immigration made?
the 19th century
which group began calling for immigration control in 1884?
the immigration restriction league
what did the immigration restriction league say?
america was in danger of “being swamped by lesser breeds”
what was passed in 1882?
the chinese exclusion act
what happened in 1848/9?
many chinese immigrants came to america during the gold rush
what happened to chinese immigrants after the gold rush?
many stayed and worked on the railways in the USA
when was the chinese exclusion act (1882) repealed?
1943
who did the USA ban from immigrating in 1917?
all asian immigrants except those from japan and the philippines
a literacy test was also introduced for adult immigrants
who influenced early changes to immigration policy?
the immigrant restriction league (IRL) who associated immigration with poverty, crime and disease
why did irl propose a literacy test?
to prevent “detrimental immigration”
what was the california alien land law of 1913?
legislation which prevented “aliens ineligible for citizenship” (asians) from owning land or property, but permitted 3 year leases
this affected chinese, indian, japanese and korean immigrant farmers in california
which quotas were introduced in 1921?
only 350,000 immigrants were permitted a year
80% of them must be WASPS/from northern europe
how were immigration quotas changed in 1924?
oriental immigration was banned
the limit decreased to 150,000
now 85% must be WASPS
🚨 NEW TOPIC 🚨
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changing attitudes towards immigration
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NEW CAUSE OF CHANGING ATTITUDES
social fears
what were the concerns of WASPS regarding the impact of immigrants on society?
- city slums
- crime
- disease
- poverty
- drunkenness
- political influence
what happened to the population of New York, Chicago and Detroit?
by 1850 immigrants made up almost half of their combined populations
how much of new york’s population was made up of immigrants, or their descendants, by 1890?
four fifths/80%
what happened to immigration during ww2?
it increased as millions tried to escape the war and economic depression
what were some other concerns of the old immigrants?
that new cultures and religions would threaten the “american” way of life
what did many new immigrants do with their cultures and languages?
they maintained them
what did old immigrants do when their community began to fill with new immigrants?
they moved out
what caused these new immigrant areas to deteriorate?
no enforcement of sanitation codes and no investment
where did the majority of (old and new) immigrants settle?
boston, philadelphia, chicago, new york
what was considered proof of the bad influence of immigrants?
soaring crime statistics in neighbourhoods with a high concentration of immigrants
over 17,000 arrests were made in new york in 1858. how many of these were immigrants? of that, how many were irish?
almost 15,000 foreigners (14,638)
over 10,000 irish (10,477)
however, what did crime statistics also show?
that the crime rates of wasps and new immigrants were roughly the same
which nationality had the highest crime rate for the following: robbery violent crime minor crime sexual offences other
americans italians italians english austrians
who were america’s first slum dwellers and where did they live?
irish immigrants
they crammed into lofts, cellars, tenements, old warehouses and one-roomed shacks in squalid neighbourhoods like boston’s north end and new york’s five points
what did these irish slums become known for?
epidemics and high morality rates
what did a boston investigate committee report in 1849?
that in irish neighbourhoods life expectancy did not exceed age 14
how many paupers in massachusetts were foreigners?
2/3. also, most of them were irish
who was overrepresented in poor relief?
by 1850, it was foreign born citizens
whose culture involved the consumption of lots of alcohol, and who did this offend?
the german and italian culture of drinking offended puritanical wasps
NEW CAUSE OF CHANGING ATTITUDES
racism and prejudice
in the 1820s, what happened to sabbaths?
drunken irish people ignored them in favour of fighting, drinking and swearing
when did the kkk die out, when did it reform and who reformed it?
1870s
1915, in georgia
reformed under william j simmons
how many members did the kkk have at its peak?
1 in 8 american male WASPS (21-65) were members at its peak
how many black men were lynched in the 1920s?
roughly 460
between 1880-1919, how many black people were lynched each week?
an estimated average of 2 people a week in the US
NEW CAUSE OF CHANGING ATTITUDES
the effects of WW1 and economic reasons
what happened to the US economy in 1914?
it was boosted with the outbreak of ww1
what contributed to this boost?
- need for increased production
- stimulated a number of old industries like petroleum and steel
- helped created new industries like plastic and rayon production
- wheat production
- munitions factories
who did the economic boom create jobs for?
women, immigrants and black people
what caused high unemployment in the usa after ww1?
- decreased demand for food
- closing of munitions factories
- decline in industrial production
- soldiers returning to the workforce
what was the unemployment rate by 1921?
11.7% - an increase from 5.2%
what did unemployment do to change attitudes towards immigrants?
high competition for jobs increased hostility towards immigrants of eastern european and asian origin
what did wasps believe about new immigrants regarding employment?
that they deprived them of work and drove down wages
what was the basic survival wage for a worker, agreed by the US labour unions in 1916?
$745 a year
what was the average pay received by italian and hungarian immigrants?
$400 a year
what did employers do to striking employees?
fired them and hired immigrants to replace them
what percentage of lynching victims were black?
90%
how many women were lynched before 1918?
over 50
what did a us labour union report in 1918 give as the reason for their failure to improve wages and conditions for workers?
“the bosses employed italians and poles to break the strikes”
what types of jobs were illiterate immigrants prepared to take?
dirty and dangerous jobs in mines or factories that nobody else wanted
what were the conditions like for these workers?
16 hour days in sweat shop conditions, no holidays, no injury/illness/death compensation for them or their families
in 1913 how many were killed or injured in factories?
25,000 fatalities and 700,000 injuries
NEW CAUSE OF CHANGING ATTITUDES
fear of revolution
why were americans worried about russian immigrants?
they feared they would cause a revolution after tsar nicholas and his family were killed in 1918
how many communists were there in america in 1920?
over 150,000, only 0.1% of the american population
what else spurred fears of a revolution?
a series of strikes
what was the seattle shipyard strike?
- jan 21st 1919
- 35,000 shipyard workers went on strike
- feb 6, 60,000 now striking
- no violence or arrests but strikers were still labelled Reds and accused of inciting revolution
what was the boston police strike?
- sep 9 1919
- boston police force go on strike
- some looting and vandalism, but papers exaggerated stories of massive riots and federal troops firing machine guns on a mob
- policemen branded “agents of lenin”
- on sep 13, police commissioner edwin curtis announces sacking of strikers and hiring of entirely new police force
what happened to president mckinley?
he was assassinated by a polish immigrant
what happened to sacco and vanzetti, two italian immigrants?
- arrested and charged for a robbery and double homicide that took place in april 1920
- both men admitted to being anarchists but neither spoke much english
- the trial began in may 1921 and both men were sentenced to the electric chair in july
- despite international campaigns both men were executed in august 1927
- in 1977, 50 years after their execution, the governor of massachusetts granted them a formal pardon and accepted that an unfair trial had taken place
what evidence did the prosecution have?
- 61 witnesses
- the men ‘acted guilty’ when arrested, lied too police somewhat (but did not speak much english)
- vanzetti had a previous conviction for armed robbery in december 1919
- both men carrying loaded guns when arrested containing bullets the same size as those used in the robbery
what evidence did the defence have?
- several other men confessed to the murders
- 107 alibis were offered for sacco + vanzetti
- HUGE disagreement among witnesses over what the men were wearing
- guns were carried for protection
- both spoke very little english and were confused during questioning, so lied because they felt victimised for being foreigners and anarchists
how did the judge sum up the trial?
by saying vanzetti might be innocent but was still an enemy of the USA, then calling the men “anarchist bastards”
