06: Old &New Immigrants

Tennessee State Standards

US.9 Describe the difference between “old” and “new” immigrants and analyze the assimilation process and consequences for the “new” immigrants and their impact on American society, including ethnic clusters, competition for jobs, rise of nativism, the work of Jane Addams, the documentation of living conditions by Jacob Riis, Chinese Exclusion Acts, and the Gentlemen’s Agreement. (C, E, G).

Lesson 06. (US.9) Old and New Immigrants

a. Old Immigrants

b. New Immigrants

c. The Assimilation Process

d. Ethnic Clusters

e. Helping New Immigrants

f. Rise of Nativism & Competition for Jobs

g. Government Response to Immigration

h. Immigration Journalism

06A. Old Immigrants

The United States has always been a nation of immigrants, and people increasingly arrived in the second half of the 19th century. This period, sometimes referred to as “old immigration”.

“Old immigrants” consisted mostly of people from Northern and Western Europe. Many Irish came to America to escape the Great Famine (or Irish Potato Famine), and to seek economic opportunities not available in Ireland. The Great Famine came about from a series of crop failures and the resulting starvation killed thousands. It set in motion the immigration of more than one million Irish to America. Most settled in the Northeast, where there were a lot of factory jobs.

Around the same time, revolutions against European monarchies occurred in nations such as Germany. Peasants failed to overthrow the monarchy and many people fled to America as a result. Old immigrants endured harsh travel in order to seek economic, political, and religious freedom in the United States.

06B. New Immigrants

A second wave of immigration occurred closer to the 20th century, and is sometimes called new immigration. Millions of people emigrated from Southern and Eastern Europe to escape political and religious persecution, and to seek economic opportunity in the United States.

Southern and Eastern European immigrants triggered hostilities because they typically looked different, did not speak English. Their religion was also often Catholic or Jewish, rather than Protestant. Between 1860 and 1920, 25 million immigrants, mostly from southern and eastern Europe, arrived in New York Harbor.

On April 17, 1907, alone, Ellis Island counted its largest number of immigrants passing through the New York Harbor immigrant station in one day-11,747 people. Between 1892 and 1924, some 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island, often wearing their best traditional clothes to make a good impression on the inspectors.

06C. The Assimilation Process

Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble those of a dominant group. The term is used to refer to both individuals and groups. In the history of the United States groups of people from all over the world have come to America and assimilated into the country. Cultural assimilation may involve either a quick or a gradual change depending on circumstances of the group or the person. Full assimilation occurs when members of a society become indistinguishable from those of the dominant or native group.

Whether it is desirable for a given group to assimilate is often disputed by both members of the group and those of the dominant society. Cultural assimilation does not guarantee social equality and other natural barriers exist when a group or person attempts to assimilate.

06D. Ethnic Clusters

Big Cities and Tenements

Immigrants traveled to America in search of economic, political, and religious freedom. In 1860, over 813,000 people were living in New York City, and 47% of the population was foreign born. By 1910, there were almost five million residents, and more than 40% of the population was foreign born. Immigrants brought their cultures to urban and rural areas alike. Neighborhoods with names like Little Italy, New Israel, and Chinatown took shape in many cities, as immigrants from common backgrounds found cultural solidarity in close quarters.

By 1900, three cities - New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia - each recorded more than one million people, and many of these people were immigrants. The typical place an immigrant lived was a "tenement." Tenements were small, cramped five or six-story apartment buildings that sometimes had no heat, electricity, or running water. Often an entire floor shared one small bathroom. Garbage was thrown down a shaft in the center of the building, or piled up in a fenced-in outdoor space. Wooden tenements often burned down from candle fires. Still, entire families would share two or three rooms as they tried to carve out a life in the city.

E. Helping New Immigrants

Jane Addams and the Hull House

Jane Addams (1860 – 1935) was known as the "mother" of social work. She was a social worker, public philosopher, & sociologist. She was also a leader in the fight for women's suffrage. In an era when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent reformers of the Progressive Era. She helped America address and focus on issues that were of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children and local public health.

She co-founded an early settlement house in the United States in Chicago known as "Hull House." Hull House would later become known as the most famous settlement house in America. A settlement house was like an early community center that was designed specifically to help immigrants transition to American life. Immigrants were fed and taught English at the settlement house. Volunteers from the settlement house would also help immigrants find jobs.

Addams became a role model for middle-class women. She inspired many women to uplift their communities through volunteer work. She is increasingly being recognized by many as the first woman public philosopher in the history of the United States.

In 1920 she was a co-founder of the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States.

F. Nativism & Competition for Jobs

Mushrooming immigrant populations spurred racist attitudes from people who considered themselves "native" Americans. However, most of these "natives" were European Americans who had also immigrated to the United States a few decades prior. "Nativism" caused a rise in hostilities towards immigrants. Many Irish and other European immigrants practiced Catholicism which upset many American-born Protestants.

Immigrants often faced difficulties in their workplaces. Growing labor unions discouraged eastern Europeans from joining, fearing they would introduce radical politics like socialism and anarchism into the union.

Native born people often harassed and attacked Chinese immigrants working on railroads or trying to make a living in cities like San Francisco. Asian immigrants were often described as a "Yellow Peril” who threatened to undermine others' opportunities by working jobs for lower wages. The Chinese were the first community targeted by a government immigration restriction, for example, when the U.S. government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.

06G. Government Response to Immigration

the U.S. government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.

06H. Immigration Journalism

Photographer Jacob Riis documented the miseries of New York tenements in his book, “How the Other Half Lives” (1890).

Jacob Riis Photography

Lesson 6 Key Questions

Explain the difference between New Immigrants and Old Immigrants.

What does the word Assimilation mean?

Explain what Nativism means.

Give an example of an ethnic cluster and explain what it is.

Who was Jacob Riis and what was he most known for?

Who was Jane Addams and what was the name of the settlement house she founded?

What was a settlement house?

Give three examples of something a settlement house would do to help an immigrant transition to America.

Essay: What effect did Industrialization have on Urbanization? Using prior knowledge, your texts, and the information learned here, form your opinion to write a persuasive essay.

Document A: The following document is from the Jacob Riis' book "How the Other Half Lives".

The Women's Trade Union League encouraged all working women to join labor unions. Women also lobbied for the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment which prohibited the sale of alcohol, and became known as Prohibition. Jane Addams and Ellen Starr Gates opened Hull House in 1889, in Chicago. Hull House was the first settlement house in the United States formed to help immigrants and the impoverished "settle into" American culture through education, recreation, and social activities. Lillian Wald similarly founded the Henry Street Settlement in 1893, on New York's Lower East Side, to teach immigrant women about health and hygiene.

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