Why do people want to move to the United States from other countries?
What challenges do immigrants face once they are there?
Section 2: A New Wave of Immigration
If YOU were there...
You live with your family on a small farm in Italy in the 1890s. You want to earn some money to help your parents, but there are not many jobs nearby. You have heard that jobs are easy to find in the booming factories of the United States. But you speak no English and know no one in America.
Would you travel to the United States in search of new opportunities?
You live with your family on a small farm in Italy in the 1890s. You want to earn some money to help your parents, but there are not many jobs nearby. You have heard that jobs are easy to find in the booming factories of the United States. But you speak no English and know no one in America.
Would you travel to the United States in search of new opportunities?
Building Background: From the beginning, America has attracted people from many parts of the world. They came for many reasons, including land, religious freedom, and the chance to start new lives. In the late 1800s, jobs created by the rapid growth of the U.S. economy drew millions of new immigrants.
Changing Patterns of Immigration
Millions of immigrants came to the United States from northern Europe in the mid-1800s. They came mainly from Great Britain, Germany, and Ireland. Except for the Irish, who were Roman Catholics, most were Protestants. Many were skilled workers. Others settled in rural areas and became farmers. By the late 1800s immigrants from northern Europe were known as old immigrants. A newer larger wave of immigration - from different parts of the world - was arriving in the United States.
New Immigrants
During the 1880s more than 5 million immigrants arrived in the United States - about the same number of people that had arrived from 1800 to 1860 combined. The majority of these new immigrants were from southern and eastern Europe. Thousands of Czechs, Greeks, Hungarians, Italians, Poles, Russians, and Slovaks came to the United States to find new opportunities and better lives. A young woman from Russia spoke for many of her fellow immigrants when she said she hoped "for all manner of miracles in a strange wonderful land!"
New immigrants came from many different cultural and religious backgrounds. They included Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Jews. Some immigrants were escaping political or religious persecution (or mistreatment) from their home country. They were eager for the opportunities created by the U.S. industrial boom of the late 1800s.
New immigrants came from many different cultural and religious backgrounds. They included Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Jews. Some immigrants were escaping political or religious persecution (or mistreatment) from their home country. They were eager for the opportunities created by the U.S. industrial boom of the late 1800s.
Arriving in a New Land
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Immigrants usually faced a difficult journey by ship to America. Most traveled in steerage - an area below a ship's deck where steering mechanisms were located. Steerage tickets were inexpensive, but the cabins were hot, cramped, and foul-smelling. Unused to the rolling and crashing waves, many passengers were seasick for the entire journey. Some even died of diseases contracted along the way.
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Once in the United States, new arrivals had to go through government-run immigration centers. The busiest center on the East Coast was Ellis Island, which opened in New York Harbor in 1892. Over the next 40 years, millions of European immigrants came through Ellis Island.
At immigration centers, officials interviewed and examined immigrants to decide whether to let them enter the country. People with contagious diseases or legal problems could be turned away. "There was this terrible anxiety that once of us might be rejected," remembered one of the immigrants traveling with his family. "And if one of us was, what would the rest of the family do?" This did not happen very often. Less than 2 percent of the people who arrived at Ellis Island were not allowed into the country.
On the West Coast, many Chinese immigrants entered the United States through Angel Island, which opened near San Francisco in 1910. Because laws limited immigration from China, only people whose fathers were U.S. citizens were allowed into the country. Chinese immigrants were often kept at Angel Island for weeks or months while officials investigated their families. Mexican immigrants also came to the Untied States in large numbers in the late 1800s. The main processing center for immigrants from Mexico was in El Paso, Texas. Most settled in the Southwest. They found work in construction, steel mills, and mines, and on large commercial farms. |
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Adjusting to a New Life
Once they entered the United States, immigrants began the hard work of adjusting to life in a new country. They needed to find homes and jobs. They had to learn a new language and get used to new customs. This was all part of building a new life.
Immigrant Neighborhoods
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Many immigrants moved into neighborhoods with others from the same country. In these neighborhoods, they could speak their native language and eat foods that reminded them of home. Immigrants could also practice the customs that their families had passed down from generation to generation. An Italian immigrant remembered that in his new neighborhood, "cheeses from Italy, sausage, salamis were all hanging in the window."
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In their new neighborhoods, may immigrant groups published newspapers in their own languages. They founded schools, clubs, and places of worship to help keep their customs alive. In New York City, for example, Jewish immigrants founded a theater that gave performances in Yiddish - the language spoken by Jews from central and eastern Europe.
Immigrants often opened local shops and neighborhood banks. Business owners helped new arrivals by offering credit and giving small loans. Such support was important for newcomers because there were few commercial banks in immigrant neighborhoods. In 1904 Italian immigrant Amedeo Peter Giannini started the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. This bank later grew and became the Bank of America.
Some immigrant communities formed benevolent societies. These support organizations offered immigrants help in cases of sickness, unemployment, or death. At the time, few national government agencies gave such support.
Even with neighborhood support, however, immigrants often found city life difficult. Many immigrants lived in tenements - poorly built, overcrowded apartment buildings. One young woman in New York City described the difference between her hopes and reality in the new land:
Immigrants often opened local shops and neighborhood banks. Business owners helped new arrivals by offering credit and giving small loans. Such support was important for newcomers because there were few commercial banks in immigrant neighborhoods. In 1904 Italian immigrant Amedeo Peter Giannini started the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. This bank later grew and became the Bank of America.
Some immigrant communities formed benevolent societies. These support organizations offered immigrants help in cases of sickness, unemployment, or death. At the time, few national government agencies gave such support.
Even with neighborhood support, however, immigrants often found city life difficult. Many immigrants lived in tenements - poorly built, overcrowded apartment buildings. One young woman in New York City described the difference between her hopes and reality in the new land:
"I dreamed of the golden stairs leading to the top of the American palace where father was supposed to live. I went 'home' to an ugly old tenement in the heart of the Lower East Side. There were stairs to climb but they were not golden."
- Miram Shomer Zusner, Yesterday: A Memoir of a Russian Jewish Family
Immigrants worked hard to adjust to their new country. Children often learned American customs more quickly than their parents. In public schools immigrant children learned English from McGuffey's Readers - illustrated text books that taught reading and writing.
Finding Work
Many new immigrants had worked on farms in their homelands. Few could afford to buy land in the United States, however. Instead, they found jobs in cities, where most of the country's manufacturing took place.
Having come from rural areas, few new immigrants were skilled in modern manufacturing or industrial work. They often had no choice but to take low-paying, unskilled jobs in clothing factories, steel mills, or construction. Long hours were common. |
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Not all industrial labor took place in large factories. Some immigrants worked for little pay in small shops or mills located in their own neighborhoods. Often associated with the clothing industry, these workplaces were called sweatshops because of long hours and hot, unhealthy working conditions.
Immigrants with skills that were in demand sometimes found work outside factories and sweatshops. For example, some immigrants worked as bakers, carpenters, masons, or skilled machinists. Others saved or borrowed money to open small businesses such as laundries, barbershops, or street vending carts. New immigrants often opened the same types of businesses that other immigrants from the same country had already succeeded in . They worked hard for long hours to become successful themselves.
Immigrants with skills that were in demand sometimes found work outside factories and sweatshops. For example, some immigrants worked as bakers, carpenters, masons, or skilled machinists. Others saved or borrowed money to open small businesses such as laundries, barbershops, or street vending carts. New immigrants often opened the same types of businesses that other immigrants from the same country had already succeeded in . They worked hard for long hours to become successful themselves.
Opposition to Immigration
Some Americans welcomed new immigrants. Many business leaders, for example, wanted immigrant workers who were willing to work for low pay. In general, however, anti-immigrant feelings grew along with the rise of immigration in the late 1800s. Some labor unions opposed immigration because their members believed immigrants would take jobs away from native born Americans.
Other Americans called nativists also feared that too many new immigrants were being allowed into the country. Many nativists did not like immigrants just because they were different from Americans. They thought that the new immigrants would not learn American customs, which might harm American society.
Some nativists were violent towards immigrants. Others wanted to create laws to stop or limit immigration. For example, in 1880, about 105,000 Chinese immigrants lived in the United States. Two years later, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning Chinese people from immigrating to the United States for ten years. This law marked the first time a nationality was banned from entering the country. Although the law violated treaties with China, Congress continued to renew the law for many years to come. In 1892 another law was passed restricting people who were in jail in other countries, immigrants with certain diseases, and those likely to need public assistance from entering into the country.
Even though there were so many negative feelings towards them, immigrants continued to arrive in large numbers. They worked for low pay in factories and built buildings, highways, and railroads. Their labor helped power the continuing industrial growth of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although they did not always achieve their dreams as quickly as they had hoped, most immigrants were still confident about the future for themselves and their families in the United States. An immigrant from Russia named Abraham Hyman expressed this idea, saying, "Your feeling is that a better time is coming, if not for yourself, for your families, for your children."
SUMMARY: Immigrants helped build the nation's economy and cities, but they met resistance from some native-born Americans. In the next section you will learn about what life was like in urban America.
Other Americans called nativists also feared that too many new immigrants were being allowed into the country. Many nativists did not like immigrants just because they were different from Americans. They thought that the new immigrants would not learn American customs, which might harm American society.
Some nativists were violent towards immigrants. Others wanted to create laws to stop or limit immigration. For example, in 1880, about 105,000 Chinese immigrants lived in the United States. Two years later, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, banning Chinese people from immigrating to the United States for ten years. This law marked the first time a nationality was banned from entering the country. Although the law violated treaties with China, Congress continued to renew the law for many years to come. In 1892 another law was passed restricting people who were in jail in other countries, immigrants with certain diseases, and those likely to need public assistance from entering into the country.
Even though there were so many negative feelings towards them, immigrants continued to arrive in large numbers. They worked for low pay in factories and built buildings, highways, and railroads. Their labor helped power the continuing industrial growth of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although they did not always achieve their dreams as quickly as they had hoped, most immigrants were still confident about the future for themselves and their families in the United States. An immigrant from Russia named Abraham Hyman expressed this idea, saying, "Your feeling is that a better time is coming, if not for yourself, for your families, for your children."
SUMMARY: Immigrants helped build the nation's economy and cities, but they met resistance from some native-born Americans. In the next section you will learn about what life was like in urban America.