AMCIV 2 2009IMMIGRATION PATTERNS AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION

VARIOUS WAYS TO DESCRIBE AMERICA A nation of nations  Society of Immigrants  A nation of people with a fresh memory

of old traditions, who dare to explore new frontiers

”America is a mistake, a giant mistake” (Freud)

CIVILIZATION vs. WILDERNESS

METAPHORS DESCRIBING AMERICAN CULTURE Melting pot: loss of original culture WASP Salad bowl: ethnic enclaves live side by

side Symphony: : polivocality Rainbow: : Many colors Kaleidoscope

THE STORY OF AMERICANS

A story of immigration and diversity Celebration of diversity and cultural

heritage

NATIVE AMERICANS

Arrived 28,000 B.C At the time of Columbian landfall: 1,5

million At first relatively friendly relations, Pocahontas, helps John Smith, 1608,

First Thanksgiving 1621 Worsening of relations: encroachment on

territory, religious expansionism, undermining Indian culture

NATIVE AMERICANS

Jamestown Massacre, 1622 Openchancanaugh

1676: Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion Indian is the archetypical enemy Declaration of Independence ”Merciless

savages” 1838: Trail of Tears 1876: Battle of Little Big Horn Custer’s Last

Stand 1890: Wounded Knee massacre, Indian:

vanishing American

NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE Place names: Massachussetts, Michigan,

Mississippi, Idaho Corn, tomato, potato, tobacco Canoes, snowshoes, moccassins Guerilla warfare, fighting tactics,

skirmishes

THE GOLDEN DOOR

First great wave of immigration between 1840-1860: Old Immigration, Irish, Germans,

New Immigration: Non-WASP, Eastern, Central Europe, 1880-1924

Symbolic processing point: Ellis Island Statue of Liberty: „give me your tired, your

poor, huddled masses yearning to breath free”

Reaction: nativism, 1924: Johnson-Reed Immigration Bill rejection of immigrants

FOUNDATIONS OF CULTURE

Bible: City upon a hill—John Winthrop’s speech (1630) mission concept,

Roman heritage: latin expressions E pluribus unum One out of many Novus ordo seclorum: New order for the

world English background, but Thomas Paine:

Europe, and not England is the parent country of America

Virtuous Republic

UNWILLING IMMIGRANTS

1619: First Africans arrive 1619-1808 Importation of slaves 1865: Elimination of slavery 1896-1954: Segregation: legally

justified separation of the races Plessy v. Ferguson 1896: separate but

equal Brown v. Board of Education 1954

separate but equal has no place

CIVIL RIGHTS

1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott 1963: Martin Luther King I have a Dream 1964: Civil Rights Act 1965: Voting Rights Act the revolution of rising

expectations, Malcolm X Affirmative Action-positive discrimination,

compensatory policy for past suffering, preferential treatment for minorities, women in housing, employment, and education ,Bakke v. U.C. Davis

NATIVISM: Not all welcome?

Rejection of immigrants William Bradford: mixed multitude,

bestiality Benjamin Franklin: palatine boors 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act 1907: Gentlemen’s Agreement 1915 Ku Klux Klan against immigrants William Simmons: America is a garbage

can

NEW IMMIGRATION PATTERNS 1945: Main source: Latin America,

Southeast Asia 1978: Elimination of hemispheric quotas,

opening the door wider 1990: Revised immigration law:

admitting 675,000 immigrants each year Diversity visas for countries with few

immigrants (Bangladesh, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago)

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Approximately 5 million people 1986: Simpson-Mazzoli bill: amnesty to

illegal aliens Strong penalties for businesses hiring

illegal immigrants

CRUCIAL TERMS

Explain the following: Frontier, polivocality, diversity Encroachment, archetypal, vanishing Nativism, heritage, segregation Compensatory policy