Transcript American Immigration Past and Present

“I agree that these people are a matter of great concern to us. I
fear that one day great troubles may occur. The ones who come
here are usually the most stupid of their nation. Few understand
our language. Their priests and religious leaders seem to have
little influence over them. They are not used to freedom and do
not know how to use it properly. It has been reported that young
men do not believe they are true men until they have shown
their manhood by beating their mothers.
And now they are coming to our country in great numbers. Few of
their children know English. They bring in much of their own
reading from their homeland and print newspapers in their own
language. In some parts of our state, ads, street signs, and
even some legal documents are in their own language and
allowed in courts.
Unless the stream of these people can be turned away from our
country to other countries, they will soon outnumber us so that
we will not be able to save our language or our government.
However, I am not in favor of keeping them out entirely. All that
seems necessary is to distribute them more evenly among us
and set up more schools that teach English. In this way, we will
preserve the true heritage of our country.”
What group of people is being
described in this passage?
Who is making the speech?
When was this speech made?
Benjamin Franklin made this speech
He refers to early German immigrants
American Immigration Past and
Present
Throughout its history, America has
served as the destination point for
a steady flow of immigrants.
Colonial America
During the colonial era most immigrants came from
northern European countries.
German immigrants were among the
first Europeans in North America. They
helped establish England’s Jamestown
settlement in 1608 and the Dutch
colony of New Amsterdam--now New
York--in 1620. Many European powers
forced their subjects to follow an official
state religion. Therefore, when William
Penn toured Germany in 1677,
spreading the word of a new kind of
religious freedom in the American
colonies, he found a receptive
audience. Many Germans, especially
Protestants, were persuaded to join him
in his colony of Pennsylvania.
Forced Immigration
The story of African immigration is unique among immigrant
groups. Unlike other immigrants, most Africans came to
North America against their will, caught up in the brutal
system of slavery.
However in every colony there was always a population of
African Americans living in freedom. Some were freed
slaves or the descendents of freed slaves, some had
escaped, some had bought their own freedom, and
some lived in territories or states that had abolished
slavery.
Immigrants numbers declined
with the onset of the
Revolutionary War during the
1770s.
Immigration 1790-1820
Six years after the United States won the War of Independence,
the first Census counted 3.9 million people. The English were
the largest ethnic group. Nearly 20% were of African heritage.
Census takers didn't count Native Americans.
In 1790 Congress passed the first Naturalization Act, which
stipulated that "… any alien, being a free white person, may be
admitted to become a citizen of the United States...."
In the early years of the republic, immigration was light. The War
of 1812 between the United States and Britain slowed
immigration even further.
When the war ended, immigration from Great Britain, Ireland and
Western Europe resumed at a record pace. Major port cities of
this era - New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston were overwhelmed with newcomers.
1820-1880
The Industrial Revolution has begun, the slave trade is
nearing its end, and America is pushing westward.
Thousands of immigrants find work on the trans-continental
railroad, settling in towns along the way. Word of the
California Gold Rush has spread around the world, drawing
immigrants from both Asia and Europe.
Although many new immigrants came in pursuit of a dream,
nearly all the Irish immigrants from the 1840's and 1850's
came to escape a nightmare - a devastating famine back
home. The Great Hunger would leave 1.5 million dead, and
just as many would flee to America.
As in the past, the immigrants of this period were welcome
neighbors while the economy was strong. During the
Civil War both the Union and Confederate armies relied
on their strength. But during hard times, the immigrants
were cast out and accused of stealing jobs from
American workers.
But it was the pro-immigrant voices of this era that would
be most influential. The Republican platform of 1864
stated, "Foreign immigration which in the past has added
so much to the wealth, resources, and increase of power
to the nation … should be fostered and encouraged."
1880-1930
After the Civil War, America's growing industrial economy
required the addition of many more workers, and this need
was filled once again by immigrants arriving from Europe.
By the 1880's, steam power had shortened the journey to
America dramatically and immigrants poured in from around
the world.
While earlier immigrants had come mainly from northern
European countries such as England, Germany, and the
Scandinavian countries, by the 1880s most new immigrants
were arriving from southern and eastern European countries
such as Italy, Poland and Russia. The door was wide open
for Europeans.
The experience for Asian immigrants in this period was
quite different. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese
Exclusion Act, severely restricting immigration from
China for the next 10 years, which was then extended to
be indefinitely. This was the first major restriction on
immigration to the United States.
For the first time in American history, immigration into the
United States was denied on the basis of race and class.
Why the Chinese?
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Chinese immigration to America was influenced by both the "pull" of
California's Gold Rush and the "push" created by China's impoverished
conditions.
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The Chinese did not find instant wealth. However, America's expansion
to the West and the economic boom of the Gold Rush era did provide
employment possibilities for the Chinese. They quickly became an
inexpensive but formidable work force.

By the early 1870s, the Gold Rush was over. Tens of thousands of East
Coast laborers faced an economy in decline and fierce competition for
jobs. The Chinese, once welcomed for their work ethic and valuable
contribution, were now blamed for lowering wages, employment
opportunities, and working conditions of all laborers.

Long-held racial, cultural, and religious prejudices were unleashed on the
so-called "heathen Chinee." Inclined to maintain the customs, rituals,
beliefs, and lifestyle of their homeland, the Chinese were accused of
being unable or unwilling to assimilate into American society.
After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, American
attitudes toward immigration began to shift. Nationalism
and suspicion of all foreigners were on the rise, and
immigrants' loyalties were often called into question. A
series of laws were passed to limit the flow of
immigrants.
With the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, immigration
declined dramatically.
1930-1965
The Great Depression has begun, leaving few with the
means or incentive to come to the United States. Many
recent immigrants return to their native lands, including
hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, many against their will.
The restrictive immigration policies of the 1920s persist.
In the late 1930s, with the Second World War accelerating in
Europe, a new kind of immigrant began to challenge the
quota system, and the American conscience. A small
number of refugees fleeing Nazi persecution arrived under
the quota system, but most were turned away.
At the turn of the century a great 25 year surge of immigration
began, in which more than 100,000 Japanese nationals
arrived in the U.S., mostly in California.
The Japanese were quite successful in their business
endeavors and have produced at least one American-made
millionaire.
By the early years of the century, organized campaigns had
already arisen to exclude Japanese immigrants from U.S.
life. repeating many of the same slanders as had been used
against Chinese immigrants in the decades before.
By 1930, half of the Japanese in the United States U.S.-born
second generation. These citizens were more likely to speak
English than Japanese, more likely to practice Christianity
than Buddhism, and more likely to prefer "American" food,
sports, music, and social mores than those of Japanese
tradition.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl
Harbor, bringing the U.S. into the Second World War.
Hours after the attack, U.S. security personnel began
rounding up and arresting prominent Japanese Americans
as security risks. By the end of the war in 1945, 125,000
people, half of them children, had spent time in what even
Roosevelt admitted were concentration camps.
This large-scale imprisonment of U.S. citizens solely on the
basis of their ancestry was met with almost universal
approval. No serious explanations were offered as to why
no large-scale internment of German or Italian Americans
ever took place. No Japanese American was ever
convicted of any act of sabotage during World War II.
1965-2000
By the early 1960s, calls for immigration reform were growing
louder. In 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed the Hart-Cellar Act
into law. Gone was the quota system favoring Western
Europe, replaced by one offering hope to immigrants from
all the continents. The face of America was truly about to
change.
Within 5 years, Asian immigration would more than quadruple.
This trend was magnified even further by the surge in
refugees from the war in South East Asia and Cuba, as a
result of Cold War conflicts during the 70’s and 80’s.
In 1978, the United States government set a single annual
world quota of 290,000, and this ceiling was raised again in
1990 to 700,000.
In a policy that continues to this day, the government has
given preferences to professionals like doctors, nurses,
scientists, and hi-tech specialists, creating what is often
called the "Brain Drain."
Immigrants can enter the country by air, by sea, and by
land routes through Canada and Mexico, making it
easier than ever to enter the country illegally. In 1986,
the government gave amnesty to more than 3 million
aliens through the Immigration Reform Act.
However, during the recession years of the early 90s, there
was a resurgence of anti-immigrant feeling. Yet
immigrants have arrived at a pace that at times has
exceeded one million new arrivals per year, and have
settled in all parts of the country
Compare the immigrants of 1930-1965 to the
immigrants of 1965-2000.
What differences do you see?
Immigration rates through the 1990s have soared, leaving today's
generation with lingering questions:
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
Does America have a duty to keep its doors open to the world?
Can immigrants keep their own culture and language, and still be
called Americans?
The debates will certainly continue, as new immigrants arrive on our
shores daily, bringing with them their own histories, traditions, and
ideas, all of which broaden and enrich our sense of what it means to
be an American.