Immigration Facts

Focus Question:

How did “New Immigration”

Affect American society?

I. Immigration between 1880 - 1920

A. The Age of the “New” Immigration

1. Between 1880 – 1920

a. Almost 24 million immigrants arrived in the U.S.

b. They came from Southern and Eastern Europe

i. Italy

ii. Croatia

iii. Poland

iv. Greece

v. Czechoslovakia

vi. Hungary

vii. Russia

B. 1882

1. Immigration reaches an all new high

2. 788,992 persons arrive in the U.S.

II. Push Factors for “New” immigrationA. Population of Europe doubled during the 1800s

B. Challenges of industrialization (rise of urbanization and manufacturing)

1. Upset the fragile lifestyle and stability of the peasant class

2. Urbanization refers to a process in which an increasing proportion of an entire population lives in cities and the suburbs of cities

3. Decline in agriculture

4. Low wages

5. Unemployment

6. Disease

7. Forced military conscription

8. Religious persecution (pogroms - An organized, often officially encouraged massacre or persecution of a minority group, especially one conducted against Jews

Quick Review

1. How many immigrants arrived in the U.S. between 1880 – 1920?

2. Categorize the Push Factors for “New” immigration.

a. Cultural/Political

b. Economic

c. Environmental

III. “Land of Liberty”

A. Assimilation is the social process of absorbing on cultural group into harmony with another

B. “New Immigrants” faced difficulty assimilating into American culture

1. Most could not speak English

2. Most were not literate in their own language

3. Distrustful of government

C. Crammed into cities in the Northeast

1. Created small ethnic communities to protect their culture

2. Created newspapers, specialty grocery stores, restaurants, churches, synagogues, and schools

IV. Life of “New Immigrants”

A. Settled into cities along the eastern seaboard

B. Entered low-paying, wage labor jobs

1. Construction

2. Factory labor

3. Sewing

C. Arrived with little or no money

D. Forced into substandard housing in the worst sections of overcrowded cities

V. Problems created by “New immigrants”

A. Sanitation

1. Overflowing sewers

2. Uncollected garbage

B. Overpopulation

1. Overcrowding

2. Crime rate rise

C. Native-born Americans blame “New Immigrants”

1. The unsettling situation in the cities

2. Taking over “their” nation

Quick Review

1. What is assimilation?

2. Why did “New Immigrants” have problems assimilating into American culture?

3. Where did “New Immigrants” settle?

4. Describe the life of “New Immigrants”

5. What problems were caused by the wave of “new” immigration?

6. Why did native-born Americans have a problem with the “New Immigrants”?