U.S. Immigration 1820-1920

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U.S. Immigration1820-1920
Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses-Inscription on Statue of Liberty
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Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses-Inscription on Statue of Liberty
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In the 1800s, people in many parts of the
world decided to leave their homes and immigrate
to the United States. Fleeing crop failure,
land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine,
many came to the U. S. because it was perceived
as the land of economic opportunity. Others came
seeking personal freedom or relief from political
and religious persecution.VocabularyPush
Factor a reason or force that causes people to
leave their native land. Pull Factor a reason
or force that causes people to choose to move to
a new place. Emigrant person who leaves a
country.Immigrant person who settles in a new
country.Melting Pot a place where cultures
blend together (USA)Salad Bowl integration
of the many different cultures of the U. S.
residents combine like a salad (mix up, but not
blend)
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The Great American Melting Pot" song from
Schoolhouse Rock!

• My grandmother came from Russia
• A satchel on her knee,
• My grandfather had his father's cap
• He brought from Italy.
• They'd heard about a country
• Where life might let them win,
• They paid the fare to America
• And there they melted in.
• Lovely Lady Liberty
• With her book of recipes
• And the finest one she's got
• Is the great American melting pot
• America was founded by the English,
• But also by the Germans, Dutch, and French.
• The principle still sticks
• Our heritage is mixed.
• So any kid could be the president.

• You simply melt right in,
• It doesn't matter what your skin,
• It doesn't matter where you're from,
• Or your religion, you jump right in
• To the great American melting pot
• The great American melting pot.
• Ooh, what a stew, red, white, and blue.
• America was the New World
• And Europe was the Old.
• America was the land of hope,
• Or so the legend told.
• On steamboats by the millions,
• In search of honest pay,
• Those nineteenth century immigrants sailed
• To reach the U.S.A.
• They brought the country's customs,
• Their language and their ways.
• They filled the factories, tilled the soil,
• Helped build the U.S.A.

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Entry Points
Angel Island
Ellis Island
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Immigrants from Europe would travel the
Atlantic and arrive to be processed at Ellis
Island, the main entry point for immigrants into
the United States. For millions, this tiny island
would be their first experience in the United
States
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The journey was made by ship, and was
extremely dangerous. Most ships were overcrowded
and packed as tightly as possible with
immigrants. These ships became breeding grounds
for disease, and many would not live to see the
United States.
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Upon Arrival at either Ellis or Angel
Island, all immigrants had to be processed before
entering the United States. The processing
included inspection for disease, literacy tests
and many others. It was not unusual for it to
take days, or even weeks for an immigrant to be
processed and allowed into the United States.
A long line of immigrants Waiting to be processed
at Ellis Island.
A health inspection of Chinese Immigrants at
Angel Island.
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Country TotalGermany 5,500,000Ireland 4,400,0
00Italy 4,190,000Austria-Hungary 3,700,000Russ
ia 3,250,000England 2,500,000Sweden 1,000,000
Norway 730,000Scotland 570,000France
530,000Greece 350,000Turkey
320,000Denmark 300,000Switzerland
258,000Portugal 210.000Holland
200,000Belgium 140,000Spain
130,000Romania 80,000Wales
75,000Bulgaria 60,000
European Immigration Totals 1820-1920
Immigrants at Ellis Island
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European Immigrants landing on Ellis Island
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Immigrant Life
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Living Conditions
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It was not uncommon for Up to 12 people to live
in a single room apartment.
The majority of these apartments had no
toilets, no running water, no electricity, and
very poor ventilation.
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Many immigrants could not afford housing of any
kind, and were left to find alley-ways, abandoned
buildings, or even street corners to sleep.
An outside view of tenement buildings in New York
City. This sight was common in most large,
eastern cities.
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Urbanization Issues - Housing

• Types of Housing
• Row Houses
• Tenements
• Overcrowding
• Affordable housing very poor
• Deteriorating
• Dangerous
• No water/indoor plumbing
• Very little air or light

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Urbanization - Water

• In the late 1800s, few had indoor plumbing
  water was collected in pails from faucets on the
  street and heat it for bathing
• Needed to improve water quality because of
  cholera and typhoid fever
• Access to safe water (even after the introduction
  of filtration and chlorination at turn of
  century) was limited

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Urbanization - Sanitation

• Horse manure piled up on streets
• Sewage flowed through open gutters
• Factory smoke filled the air
• Garbage was dumped in the streets (no formal
  trash collection)

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Urbanization - Problems

• Corruption in the Government
• Gangs - nativism, violence
• Theft
• Public drunkenness
• No formal police
• No formal fire department

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Urbanization - Fire

• Building materials were flammable
• No fire departments
• No water
• Overcrowding
• Fires occurred in every major city (2 major
  examples)
• Chicago (1871) 24 hours, 300 died, 100,000
  homeless, 3 sq mi destroyed, 200 mil in damages
• San Francisco (1906) 4 days, 1,000 died, 200,000
  left homeless, 5 sq mi destroyed, 500 mil in
  damages

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Map of Angel Island
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A photo of Chinese Immigrants. Asian immigrants
traveled from the Pacific, and were processed at
Angel Island, off the coast of San Francisco.
Many Asian immigrants faced considerably worse
discrimination than Europeans.
Another photo taken inside a tenement building.
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Anti-Immigrant Legislation

• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
• Banned entry to all Chinese except students,
  teachers, merchants, tourists, and government
  officials
• Originally set for 10 yrs, but act continued to
  be extended
• Law was in effect until 1943

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Immigrant Working Conditions
A six year old factory worker.
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Immigrants working in factories, textile mills,
and coal mines had little or NO RIGHTS!

• No minimum wage, wages set by employer
• No employee benefits (no healthcare etc)
• No workers compensation
• No regulations on hours worked
• No regulations on days worked
• No minimum age requirement to work
• No sick days
• No vacation days
• No holidays
• No regulations on dangerous working conditions

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At the turn of the century, there were no
labor laws. Working conditions, hours, wages, and
days worked were determined by the employer.
A turn of the century textile factory
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Factories
Factory work is very different from other types
of labor. The introduction of the factory system
had a profound effect on social relationships and
living conditions. In earlier times workers and
employees had close relationships. By contrast,
the factory owners were considered to have
discharged their obligations to employees with
the payment of wages thus, most owners took an
impersonal attitude toward those who worked in
their factories. This was because no particular
strength or skill was required to operate many of
the new factory machines. Sweatshop place
where workers labor long hours under poor
conditions for very low wages.
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The owners of the early factories often were
more interested in hiring a worker cheaply than
in any other qualification. Thus they employed
many women and children, who could be hired for
lower wages than men. These low-paid employees
had to work for as long as 16 hours a day they
were subjected to pressure, and even physical
punishment, in an effort to make them speed up
production. Since neither the machines nor the
methods of work were designed for safety, many
fatal and maiming accidents resulted.
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Child Labor
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Children were paid only a fraction of what an
adult would get, and sometimes factory owners
would get away with paying them nothing. Orphans
were the ones subject to this slave-like labor.
The factory owners justified their absence of
payroll by saying that they gave the orphans
food, shelter, and clothing, all of which were
far below par.
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Children as young as six would work between 12
and 16 hour days, with breaks totaling less than
an hour. Children caught sleeping on the job were
often beaten.
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Entire families had to work
In order to survive, entire families had to
work. A factory worker usually woke up at 4 am
in order to be on the factory floor by 5 am.
Mornings were often the only time an entire
family could be together. The workday for men,
women, and children was between 12 and 16 hours
per day, and in some cases, particularly in the
steel mills, the work week was seven days. If you
were lucky, you got Sundays off, but you were
expected to work whenever you were needed.
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Immigrant labor would be one of the driving
forces behind the industrial revolution. Without
the efforts and sacrifices of immigrants to this
country of every race, religion, color, and
creed, the United States could never have become
the world power she is today. We all owe a debt
of gratitude to our immigrant ancestors.