IMMIGRANTS

IN AMERICA

1865-1915

MILLIONS OF IMMIGRANTS MOVED TO THE UNITED STATES IN THE LATE 1800’S & EARLY 1900’S.

DO NOW: SENSORY FIGURE

BASED ON PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Does your sensory figure correlate to the emotions and

sensations immigrants would have felt arriving at Ellis

Island? Use “I” statements to illustrate the push and pull

factors and the feelings/emotions people may have had upon

arriving to Ellis Island.

WALK THE WALLS

Explore five more primary source

documents in order to learn more

about the Confino family.

Use graphic organizer in notebook to

keep notes.

DEBRIEFING

O What information were you able to gather from your

exploration of these primary source documents?

O How did these primary source documents fit

together to tell a story?

O How does the Confino family’s immigration story

begin?

O What was their life in America like?

O What questions do we still have about their story?

How could we find the answers to those questions?

BACKGROUND OF IMMIGRATION

IN THE TURN OF THE 20TH

CENTURY

“OLD IMMIGRANTS”

Most immigrants

before 1880:

Protestants from

Northern Europe

U.S. culture at that

time reflected the

traditions and

beliefs of northern

Europe.

“NEW IMMIGRANTS”

• Southern and Eastern

Europeans

• Jews – Russia, Poland

• Catholics – French

Canadians, Italians,

Germans, Armenians

• Unskilled

• Settled in cities

WHY?

Push Factors

Pull Factors

PUSH FACTORS

Things that cause people to want to leave a country, or push

them out.

• Religious Persecution, War, Poor/unstable economy,

starvation/famine

PULL

FACTORS

Things that attract people to move to a place, or pulls them

in.

• Land, Employment, Religious or Political Freedom.

PULL FACTORS

(CONT’D)

Homestead Act of 1862- Made Western

farmland inexpensive.

R.R.’s offered assistance with fares. They

needed customers in the West who would

buy their goods.

Many Japanese and Germans settled the

new, western territories to farm. Chinese

worked on railroads…worked with

explosives to clear ground (Sierra Nevada

Mountains) in order to build railroad track.

WHO WERE THEY?

The crowded steerage

deck usually contained a

diverse group of people.

Many were poor farmers

whose fathers’ or

grandfathers’ land had

been divided so often

that the plots were no

longer large enough to

support even single

families.

WHO WERE THEY? (CONT’D)

Others were

schoolmasters

unable to find work or

artisans looking for

greater opportunities.

Many were young

men and women

willing to risk

traveling to an

unknown land in

hopes of finding a

brighter future.

THE TRIP

3 Classes of Travel: 1st, 2nd, Steerage

Many traveled in poor conditions “steerage”

Many people became sick because of tight living

quarters. Disease spread easily.

ARRIVAL

Ellis Island in the East (New York City)- This is where most

people from Europe arrived.

Angel Island in the West (San Francisco)- This is were most

people from Asia arrived.

ELLIS ISLAND

*In 1890, Congress

designated low-laying,

three- acre Ellis Island in

Upper New York Bay as an

immigration station. By the

end of 1910, six million

immigrants had come

through Ellis Island.

http://blog.eogn.com/.a/6a00d8341c767353ef0168ea48948d970c-popup

IMMIGRATION

STATIONS

Once immigrants arrived in the U.S.,

they went through immigration

stations, such as Ellis Island in New

York Harbor. Government workers

questioned them about where they

planned to work & live. Doctors also

examined them to make sure they

didn’t have any diseases. Almost all

European immigrants were allowed to

enter the U.S. initially.

WAITING

*Long lines of immigrants

were tagged according to what

language they spoke and

marked with chalk according

to the medical ailments they

suspected of having and they

waited for the inspectors to

decide their fate.

With the huge numbers of immigrants, inspectors had just 2 minutes to complete the process and many immigrants had their last names changed by the inspectors because they didn’t have the time or patience to struggle with the foreign spellings.

Only one third of the immigrants who came to the United States through Ellis Island stayed in New York City. Most scattered across the country.

Immigrants were given tags to pin to their hats or coats. The tags showed railroad conductors what lines the immigrants were traveling and what connections to make to reach their destinations.

New immigrants arriving at Ellis Island. At

Ellis they were "processed" before they were

allowed to continue their journey to find a

new home.

Where Did They Settle?

CITIES

The arrival of large numbers of

immigrants radically changed the face

of the nation’s cities.

Before the Civil War, cities were

compact.

Between 1865 and 1900 the percentage

of Americans living in the cities

doubled.

Cities grew upward. Prior to the Civil

War, buildings were built only to five

stories.

CITIES CONT.

“Noise, traffic jams, slums, air pollution, and sanitation and health problems became commonplace. Mass transit, in the form of trolleys, cable cars, and subways, was built, and skyscrapers began to dominate city skylines. New communities, known as suburbs, began to be built just beyond the city. Commuters, those who lived in the suburbs and traveled in and out of the city for work, began to increase in number”.

memory.loc.gov

URBAN LIVING

CONDITIONS

Immigrants often lived in buildings abandoned by middle-class residents and converted into multifamily units.

These tenements soon became identified as “slums”.

Many families would cram into spaces only meant for a few.

Many immigrants tended to settle with others from the same country creating the ethnic neighborhoods and sections that can still be found in many big cities today.

TENEMENT HOUSING

Tenement housing in New York City.

IN THE TENEMENTS

*

WHAT WAS IT LIKE HERE FOR

THEM?

Some native-born Americans feared and resented the new immigrants.

Their languages, religions, and customs seemed strange.

They also competed for jobs.

Desperate for jobs, immigrants often accepted lower wages and worse working conditions.

The majority of immigrants settled in the big cities where factory jobs were available. By 1900, 4 out of every 5 people in New York City were immigrants or children of immigrants.

KEEPING THE CULTURE ALIVE

Seeking familiar surroundings, immigrants tended to

live and work with people from their native country.

Although their children attended public schools and

quickly learned English, immigrant parents continued

to use their native tongue

Whether nicknamed Little Italy, Little Bohemia, or

Chinatown, immigrant neighborhoods were rich with

Old World languages, from the words printed in the

newspaper or heard on the streets.

These neighborhoods were terribly overcrowded,

unfortunately contributing to poverty, crime, and

disease.

Section

WHEN THEY ARRIVED…

WHERE DID THEY LIVE?

TENEMENT

BUILDINGS

Many immigrants lived in

crowded tenement buildings.

Families shared living space and

decent lighting & fresh air were

scarce.

People congregated outside,

made heavy use of the fire

escapes, and slept in summer on

fire escapes, roofs, and

sidewalks to get air

*

BACK OF A

TENEMENT

OVERHEAD OF

TENEMENT LAYOUT

ALLEY

BETWEEN

TENEMENTS

“FIVE CENTS A SPOT” ROOMS

Many

immigrants

had no home

and slept in 5

cents a spot

rooms where

people paid

for a small

space to

spend the

night.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR THEM

HERE?

Some native-born Americans feared and resented the new immigrants. Their languages, religions, and customs seemed strange. They also competed for jobs. Desperate for jobs, immigrants often accepted lower wages and worse working conditions.

LEGITIMATE VS. IMPOSTERS

Conflicts between old and new

immigrant groups common.

Earlier groups considered

themselves to be legitimate

U.S. citizens.

Established groups viewed new

immigrants imposters or

trespassers.

EXCLUDED FROM THE “MELTING

POT”

“Melting Pot”: immigrants assimilated into culture through education and acculturation.

Many immigrant groups maintained their ethnic identity.

Does not correspond with reality of U.S. experience.

Melting pot did not take into account immigrants and ethnic groups who did not easily blend into the culture.

Asians, African Americans, Native Americans, and others were excluded from this process of fusion and amalgamation.

LAWS AGAINST

IMMIGRATION

1882 Congress passed Chinese Exclusion Act

• Almost all Chinese immigrants were kept out of

America.

• Did not allow for naturalization of Chinese

residents.

• Limited civil rights for the Chinese already living

in U.S.

1921 & 1924 Congress passed laws that lowered the

number of Europeans & Asians

All immigrants faced prejudice upon arrival

IMMIGRANTS HELPED THE U.S. BECOME ONE

OF THE RICHEST AND FASTEST-GROWING

COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD. THEY BUILT

RAILROADS, DUG MINES, AND WORKED IN

FACTORIES. THE SUCCESS OF AMERICA AS A

WORLD SUPERPOWER RESTS ON THEIR HARD

WORK.

You are an immigrant who is moving to America in

the year 1900. Imagine if Facebook were around at

that time (silly concept, I know, but we’ll just

pretend for today). Of course updating your status

about your move is important so that you keep

family and friends updated. Be sure to include:

•Your name,

•Where you’re moving to and from (remember the

map),

•Why you are moving (think of push and/or pull

factors).

•Any emotions: Sad? Happy? Nervous? Do you even

want to move?

Why or why not?

What’s on Your Mind?

Classroom Experience

Historical Reality

• WHAT WERE THE MOST DIFFICULT OR

CHALLENGING PARTS OF THE EXPERIENCE FOR

YOU?

• BASED ON THE EXPERIENCES OF ACTUAL

IMMIGRANTS THAT YOU READ ABOUT (ON STUDENT

HANDOUT D), WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS SIMILAR

ABOUT YOUR CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE AND WHAT

IT WAS REALLY LIKE FOR IMMIGRANTS AT ELLIS

ISLAND?

• WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS SIGNIFICANTLY

DIFFERENT ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AND THEIRS?

• WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE PURPOSE OF THIS

ACTIVITY?

DEBRIEFING