Stages of Immigration

Focus QuestionList five reasons for people to

move from one place to another. Explain which is the best reason to move.

Four Major WavesColonial ImmigrationAntebellum ImmigrationGilded Age ImmigrationModern Immigration

Each wave has similarities and differences

Colonial Immigration1650 through 1800Largely from the British Isles and

AfricaSought freedom and landFaced difficulties

◦Border warfare withNative Americans

◦Carving home fromwilderness

Antebellum Immigration1835-1860Largely from Germany and

Ireland◦Came seeking liberty, land, and work

Faced discrimination and poverty

Gilded Age Immigration1870-1920Largely Southern and Eastern

Europe and AsiaCame seeking work and freedom

◦Faced discrimination, culture shock, poverty

Modern Immigration1970 through todayLargely came from Latin America,

Africa, and AsiaCome largely seeking freedom

and workFace discrimination

Gilded Age Immigration“New Immigrants”Tended to settle in the cities

◦Drawn to the industrial jobs of the period

◦Lacked funds to purchaseland elsewhere

Ellis IslandMajor immigration processing

center on the East Coast12 million from

1892 to 1954Angel Island on

the Pacific

Culture ShockLives of Immigrants turned

around◦Move from the farms to the factory◦Move from the country to

an urban world◦Move away from familiar

customs and languages to a new world

Coping MechanismsSettle in Immigrant

NeighborhoodsForm attachments to “national”

churchesForm ethnic solidarity clubsFind the familiar in the chaos of

the new

Faced DiscriminationRising tensions with “Old

Immigrants” and Native-bornPromoted Immigration restriction

◦Chinese Exclusion Act of 1880◦Alien Land Laws◦“Gentlemen’s Agreement” with

Japan

National Origins Act of 1924Set up immigration quotasSet at 2% of the ethnicity’s

population from 1890◦Designed to limit immigration from

“undesirable” countries◦Promoted by “eugenicists”