Transcript Immigration 1865-1914

Immigration 1865-1914
Honors US History
Immigration prior to 1865

The majority of immigration in the US
before the Civil War was from the British
Isles. Predominantly British and Irish
people.
1865-1880’s
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Germans
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Huge numbers of Germans moved to the United States
looking for a better life.
1881-1885: One million Germans moved to the US;
primarily in the Midwest.
Western Europeans
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After 1870, steam powered ships were used to make the
voyage across the Atlantic.
A flood of immigrants came to the US.
Nearly 25 million Europeans made the voyage. Italians,
Greeks, Hungarians, Poles, and others speaking Slavic
languages constituted the bulk of this migration.
1875 – The First Immigration Law

Page Act of 1875 (AKA
The Chinese
Exclusionary Act)
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The law excluded three
types of people
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Asian Convicts
Asian Contract
Laborers (Slaves sort
of)
Asian Prostitutes
1880 - 1910’s
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Scandinavian's
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1.5 million Norwegian and Swedish immigrants
escaping religious persecution come to the US.
Italians
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1880-1920 over two million Italians move into
the US. 1/3 return to Italy after about 5
years.
Ellis Island 1892-1954
Ellis Island
Today, over 100 million American’s can
trace their ancestry back to people who
first arrived at Ellis Island.
 By 1907, Ellis Island was processing
nearly a million immigrants per year.
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Ellis Island
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1904
1904
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Processing New
Immigrants to
the US.
Immigration Act of 1924
Established to limit immigration.
 Set quota's for certain ethnicities
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Quota’s were based on the 1920 census.
It was racist, excluding specific nationalities.
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Ie: British immigration dropped 19%, Italian
immigration dropped more than 90%.
What about now?
Arizona Immigration Law?
 Fear of Terrorists
 Drug Smuggling
 Undocumented workers
 Refugees
 Naturalization Process
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