Multicultural History

1
Immigration

• Multicultural History

2
Off to America

• Millions of immigrants entered the U.S. in the
  late 19th and early 20th centuries
• Causes
• Famine
• Land shortages
• Religious and political persecution
• Some were birds of passage, intending to
  immigrate only temporarily to earn money and
  return home
• Immigration today reflects many of the same
  causes
• Sudan (Darfur)
• Middle East
• Africa
• Mexico
• Europe

3
Europeans

• Arrived at Ellis Island (New York)
• 1870-1920
• Approximately 20 million immigrants flooded the
  U.S.
• Before 1890 most came from western and northern
  Europe
• Ireland, England, Scandinavia, etc.
• After 1890 most came from southern and eastern
  Europe
• Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Balkans, Poland,
  etc.
• Causes
• Rising population in Europe---400 million
• Land and farm scarcity
• Job scarcity
• Religious persecution

4
Chinese and Japanese

• Arrived at Angel Island (San Francisco)
• 1851-1883
• Approximately 300,000 immigrants
• Gold Rush of 1849 ---Chinese came to make their
  fortunes
• Helped build the transcontinental
  railroad-connected the east and west
• After completion of the railroad most turned to
  farming, mining, and domestic services
• 1884
• Approximately 200,000 immigrants
• Hawaiian planters were allowed to recruit
  Japanese workers
• United States annexation of Hawaii in 1898 led to
  an increased number of Japanese immigrants to
  America

5
The West Indies and Mexico

• 1880-1920
• Approximately 260,000 immigrants
• Arrived in eastern and southeast U.S.
• Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands
• Came to the U.S. because jobs were scarce and the
  U.S. was in the middle of an industrial boom
• Early 1900s
• 700,000 immigrants (7 Mexicos entire
  population)
• Mexicans arrived to work on newly created
  farmland and political/social upheavals in Mexico

6
Hardships

• Faced many adjustments to culture
• Trip from Europe took 1 week
• Trip from Asia took nearly 3 weeks
• Many traveled in steerage, the cheapest
  accommodations
• Crammed into small areas with many other
  travelers
• Rarely allowed on deck
• Louse-infested beds
• Shared toilets with many others
• Disease spread quickly and many died

7
Once Admitted to the Country

1. Find a place to live
2. Get a job
3. Get along in daily life without understanding the
   language and culture
4. Search out those who shared common culture,
   religion, language and values
5. Pool money with those people and build churches
   or synagogues and create social clubs
6. Publish newspaper in native language
7. Deal with hatred and prejudice from natives

8
Restrictions on Immigration

• Many natives (born in America) viewed the country
  as a melting pot, where the old language and
  customs are abandoned to blend with American
  culture
• new immigrants did not wish to abandon their
  native customs, enraging the natives
• Nativism-overt favoritism toward American-born
  citizens

9
Anti-Asian Sentiment

• Native-born workers feared Chinese immigrants
  would take jobs, accepting lower wages

10
Urbanization

• Multicultural History

11
Urban Opportunities

• Technological/industrial boom of the 19th century
  led to rapid growth of the cities
• Immigrants settled in cities
• Cheap and convenient places to live
• Offered unskilled laborers steady jobs
• By 1910 immigrants made up more than half the
  total population of 18 major American cities
• Americanization Movement
• Designed to assimilate people of wide-ranging
  cultures into the dominant culture (AMERICAN)
• Schools and volunteers taught immigrants skills
  needed for citizenship

12
Urban Problems

• Housing
• Tenements (multi-family urban dwellings) were
  often over crowded and unsanitary
• Transportation
• Transportation meant to move large numbers of
  people along fixed routes
• Water
• Little to no access to safe water
• Sanitation
• Horse manure
• Sewage
• fowl smoke into the air
• trash
• Crime
• Pickpockets and thieves
• Fire

13
Reform

• Settlement House Movement
• Settlement Houses
• Community centers that provided assistance to
  people
• Educational, cultural, and social services
• Social Gospel
• Salvation through service to the poor and unable
• Jane Addams
• One of the lead reformers at Chicagos Hull House