Immigration and Cultural Conflict in Gilded Age America
Is America a haven for the poor and oppressed or guided by fluctuating feelings about
race and ethnicity, and fear of foreign political and labor agitation?
The Opening of Ellis Island January 1, 1892
Review of Processing (4:15 minutes)
Historical Context: As it was for earlier immigrants, those who immigrate in the post Civil War era generally are not welcomed by those whose family had already established roots in America. Asians, Eastern and Southern Europeans, and Jews often faced hostility from those who considered themselves culturally superior. Constitution and Immigrants
“For the years 1880 to 1925, analyze both the tensions surrounding the issue of immigration
and the United States Governments response to these tensions”
IMMIGRATION TENSIONS, 1880–1925
Immigrant Timeline Quiz
#1 Immigrants were seen as economic threat and job competitors.
#2 Immigrants had unfamiliar cultures, languages, and religions. Commonly, ethnic characteristics persisted well after arrival with the aid of community groups, organizations, churches, etc.
#3 Immigrants arrived in large numbers and established immigrant/ethnic enclaves in the United States. By 1900 one in three residents on New York were foreign born
"They are coming in such numbers and we are unable adequately to take care of them…It simply amounts to unrestricted and indiscriminate dumping into this country of people of every character and description…If there were in existence a ship that could hold three million human beings, then three million Jews of Poland would board to escape to America."
#4 Immigrants perceived failure to assimilated efforts fueled Americans fears about immigrant loyalties, ties to homelands, seemingly.
#5 Immigrants were associated ills of urbanization because most lived and worked in urban areas during this period. This included labor strikes, riots, Red Scare,
assassinations, alcohol, and crime.
#6 Pseudo-sciences exaggerated links between culture, initial levels of intelligence, “races” (nationalities). Scientific Racism
#7 Overseas United States involvement reinforced Americans’ sense of white superiority and the belief that other, non-WASP groups (new immigrants) were nonwhite an inferior—and likely to retain such (inherited) characteristics. HTS - In the White Man's Image
Anti-French
Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798
Know-Nothing Party, 1840’s
Transcontinental RR, 1869
Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882
Quota Acts of 1921 and 1924
GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO IMMIGRANT TENSIONS
Federalization of Immigration Policy
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. Building on the earlier Page Act of 1875 which banned Chinese women from immigrating to the United States, the Chinese Exclusion Act was the first, and remains the only law to have been implemented, to prevent all members of a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating to the United States.
1891, the federal government, rather than the individual states, regulated immigration into the United States and the Immigration Act of 1891 established a Commissioner of Immigration.
1892 Ellis Island Inspection Station, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for millions of immigrants to The United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954.
1898 US vs Wong Kim Ark
This Supreme Court case established the precedent that any person born in the United States is a citizen by birth (known as birth-right citizenship). Wong Kim Ark was born in the United States and traveled regularly to China to visit family. On returning from one trip, immigration officers barred his entry as an excludable Chinese person. Wong asserted his right to enter as a U.S. citizen but was challenged by the Immigration Bureau, which assumed that no Chinese person could hold U.S. citizenship. The Supreme Court ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment granted birthright citizenship to any person born in the United States, regardless of race or the status of their parents. This decision and birthright citizenship has served as a key means for immigrants of all backgrounds to establish permanent legal standing in the United States.
1907 The Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 was an informal agreement between the United States and the Empire of Japan whereby the United States of America would not impose restriction on Japanese immigration, and Japan would not allow further emigration to the U.S. The goal was to reduce tensions between the two powerful Pacific nations. The agreement was never ratified by Congress, and was ended by the Immigration Act of 1924.
1910 Angel Island Immigration Station, San Francisco Bay, processed approximately 1 million Asian immigrants entering into the US, leading to it sometimes being referred to as "The Ellis Island of the West." Due to the restrictions of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, many Chinese immigrants spent years on the island, waiting for entry. From 1910 to 1940, immigrants entering the United States were detained and interrogated.
1921 Immigration Quota Acts
" History doesn't repeat itself, but at least it rhymes"
Muslim activists aim to reclaim word 'jihad'
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/03/us/myjihad-campaign/index.html
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=3599
http://rebeccaedwards.org/immigration.html
http://txmac5911.tumblr.com/post/13147736650/racist-xenophobic-anti-immigrant-american-art-the
IMMIGRANT CONNECTIONS
WHY IMMIGRANTS CHANGED THEIR NAMES
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/name-change/index.html
New Life in U.S. No Longer Means New Name
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/26/nyregion/26names.html?pagewanted=all
NYPD Closely Monitors Muslims Who Change Their Names
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/26/nypd_closely_monitor_muslims_who_ch.php