the usa 1918-1968. usa: course outline this topic is a study of the growing tensions in american...
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The USA1918-1968
USA: Course Outline
This topic is a study of the growing tensions in American society from
1918-1968.
It focuses on immigration, racial divisions, economic difficulties, the growth of federal
powers and the struggle for civil rights.
USA: Course Outline
Learning Intentions
• To understand the history of immigration into the USA since the American Revolutionary War
• Push and Pull Factors of Immigration
• Immigrants Before & After 1890• The idea of the Melting Pot• ‘Open Door’ Policy
In 1800 the population of America was only 2
million
BY 1920 the population of America was over
100 million!
This was caused by a massive flood of immigrants who were attracted by hopes for a better
life
‘Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these the homeless, tempest tossed to me
I life my lamp beside the golden door’
Emma LazarusGive me your tired and poor people,
The crowds of poor people who want a better life
The poor who live in your overcrowded cities
Send the homeless who have suffered from storms and war to me
I promise them a bright new future of freedom and wealth
In 1915 the President of the USA, Woodrow Wilson described America to be…
The motto of the USA is E PLURIBUS UNUM, which is the Latin for OUT OF
MANY COMES ONE.
This expressed the hope that all the differences of nationality, culture and religion would eventually fade away and all immigrants would adopt the
American way of life as loyal citizens of the United States.
“like a melting pot. It is here we will mix the
races together to create a new person - an
American”
Before 1890 most immigrants came from Northern Europe, especially
England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Scandinavia
They were often not the
poorest people in their home countries
Many were farmers,
skilled workers or small
businessmen
They usually arrived with a job already
set up or with enough money to start a farm or small business
After 1890, most immigrants came from poorer areas of Europe such as Poland,
Italy, Russia and the Ukraine
Often poor, uneducated peasants
They often arrived without
any money
They were often
unable to speak
English
Many of them were Jews and Catholics
Old Vs New ImmigrantsOld Immigrants- They were
usually…
W.A.S.Ps
White Anglo-
Saxon
Protestant
They thought they were the most important people in America
They thought they had made America
powerful and strong
They owned all of the big
businesses in America and
held many Government
positions
New Immigrants
Could not
speak English
They seldom mixed with other
groups
To outsiders they looked strange and
‘not American’
They came
mostly from
Southern and
Eastern Europe
They were often very poor and
lived in the slums
They often practised a
different religion
Famine
Low wages Poverty
Religious persecution
Overpopulation and overcrowding in cities
and on farm land
Political persecutionTerrible living
and working conditions
PUSH
Why Did Immigrants Leave Their Homes?
Unemployment
The American Dream
After 1850 the USA has a great industrial
revolution
Employment in industries seeking cheap labour e.g.
expanding railroads, factories, mines and the trans-continental
railroad
Better wages
Greater political and religious freedom
Improvements in steamship technology meant that journeys were faster and safer
Greater opportunities promised to them by relatives, friends and recruiting agents
PULL
What Attracted Them To The USA?
From 1892, Immigrants Were Taken To Ellis Island 1 Mile South Of New York Before They
Were Allowed To Enter The USA
The Island of Hope Or Tears
70% of all European immigrants arrived in America through Ellis Island
When they arrived, they were taken in groups of 30 to be ‘processed’
Around 5000 were tested each day to see if they were fit to live in America!
The First Test
x
Each immigrant had a medical exam be a
doctor. He marked on a person’s back with chalk any defect or infectious
diseases
C-Conjunctivitis
H-Heart disease
F-Rash
FT-Feet Problems
-Feeble minded
The Second TestInspectors asked immigrants 29
questions:
Have you any money?Have you any relatives in America?Do you have a job waiting for you?Are you an anarchist?
Only 2% of immigrants were denied entry for
failing these tests
If the inspections were all passed, they were given a landing card.
This made them an American and they would be transported by
ferry to New York
When they arrived in America, the majority of immigrants settled in cities
By The Early 1900s, It Seemed Like American Cities Were Like Giant Jigsaws Of Different Nationalities Of
People...They tended to live with people
from similar backgrounds, culture and languageThese immigrants “enclaves”
became identified by names such as Little Italy, Irishtown
and Chinatown
WAS AMERICA REALLY A MELTING POT?
IRISH
POLISH
GERMAN
ITALIAN
They also tended to cluster in particular jobs
•Hungarians and Italians flocked to the coal mines
•Poles worked in steel mills
•Greeks preferred the textile mills
•Russian and Polish Jews clustered in the sewing
trades
So When Did Attitudes Change Towards
Immigration...
America was proud of it’s ‘open door
policy’
This meant anyone could enter the USA providing they were not ‘feeble minded,’ extremely poor or
had a serious diseaseThe focus of your first essay to analyse WHY attitudes
changed towards immigration
The Dillingham Commission, 1907
They discovered that since the 1880s, immigrants had
mainly come from Southern and
Eastern Europe
The Commission thought these
immigrants were inferior compared to the WASP immigrants who arrived mainly
before 1890They recommend that a literacy test be used to
make it harder for ‘inferior’
immigrants to get into the USA
They had to show they could write a short
passage in English or another language
Many Americans feared
Revolution• The Russian Revolution in
1917• The Red Scare
in 1919
During WWI many German
immigrants supported the
German side and when the USA joined the war
against Germany there was a
danger American society would
split.After WWI there were
few jobs
Immigrants put
pressure on scarce
housing in poorer
areas of the cities
Racism•“America must be kept pure and not
turned into a second rate power by a
second rate people”
They were believed to
be damaging American
culture and bringing in dangerous new ideas
like communismThey were
blamed for
disease and rising
crimeThey were
forcing down
wages by working for less
Immigrant trade
unions were
growing too big and
too powerful
Why Did Attitudes Towards
Immigration Change So Much
After 1918?
The ‘Open Door’ Policy Did Not Apply To Everyone...
Exclusion Act of 1882
Restricts Immigration
1902Chinese immigration
made illegal
1907
The Japanese Government promise to stop the emigration of its citizens to the USA
1921
Congress encourages emigrants from Western Europe as they believe they are more likely to become ‘good’ Americans. The law discouraged immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe
1917Immigration Act of 1917 bans almost all Asians
Immigration Laws in the 1920s: The Open Door Closes!
By the 1920s, the flow of immigrants to the USA was restricted as a quota system was
used.This meant that only so many immigrants from each
country were allowed into the USA
The 1921 Emergency Quota Act allowed only 3% of each nationality living in the USA in 1910 to enter the USA
The 1924 Immigration Act reduced this percentage to 2% enter each year.
The proportion from each country was decided on the size of each national group in the USA at the
time of the 1890 census
Remember! Up to 1890 most immigrants had come from Northern
and Western Europe
The effect of the 1921 and 1924 Immigration
Acts was to discriminate against
people from South Eastern Europe and
allow more immigrants from Northern Europe
to enterA better balance was created in 1928 when they used the 1910 census as the basis for the quotas. This included far more
Southern and Eastern Europeans.
ONLY SEND
ME WASPS!
Now time to start the first essay...