Who were the immigrants?
What is a push factor? Provide 1 example.
Factors that cause people to leave home
- war
- famines
- religious persecution
What was Ellis Island?
Where immigrants from Europe are going to be processed before entering the Unite States
Define Nativism
An extreme dislike for foreigners by native born people and a desire to limit immigration or anything that is perceived as foreign
What is an ethnic city? Provide an example of one.
An area of a city where people of the same background live together to keep their culture alive.
Ex. Chinatown, Little Italy
What type of assimilation is this:
The immigrants lose their own identity and become like the dominant culture.
Americanization
What is a pull factor? Provide 1 example.
Something that attracts or draws someone to a new country
- Freedom
- Economic opportunity
- Family
What was Angel Island?
Where immigrants from Asia are going to be processed before entering the United States.
Why are nativists going to fear immigrants? Provide 2 reasons.
Change way of life
Jobs
Being replaced
Catholic vs Protestant
What is a tenement house? Describe 3 of the problems tenants faced while living here.
Cheap, cramped, poorly built housing that immigrants lived in.
Problems:
- Fire hazards
- Cramped living space (disease and lack of airflow)
- Poor ventilation
- No indoor plumbing
- Never cleaned and problems are never fixed
- No lights/electricity
What type of Assimilation is this:
When cultures meet the dominant culture and the immigrant culture changes forming a new and mixed culture
Melting Pot
A person who is forced to leave their home in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disasters.
- If they do not leave they will die.
- They can receive international protection.
Describe the conditions of people at Angel Island.
- Separated by race, gender, ethnicity
- Kept in barracks
- Still went through same exam process
- Only left barracks for meals and 2 periods of exercise
- Most were deported
What was the Immigration Act of 1917?
Implemented literacy tests for immigrants 16+
Barred people from entering who were arriving from “any country not owned by the US adjacent to Asia”
What is a Muckraker? Provide an example of 1 and what they did.
Investigative journalists that expose problems in newspapers/magazines to the public
Seek to expose corruption or scandal in politics or public affairs
Examples:
- Upton Sinclair; The Jungle
- Jacob Riis; How the Other Half Lives
What type of assimilation is this:
When cultures meet and none of them change. They live side by side but each culture is unique and recognizable
Salad Bowl
Define Old Immigrants. Provide 3 defining features.
People who came to America before the Civil War
Primarily from: England, Northern Ireland, and Germany
Protestant faith
More literate and had skilled jobs
Assimilated easier
White, Spoke English, Money to their names
Describe the process that immigrants went through at Ellis Island.
1. Climbed the stairs and were watched for issues
2. 6 Second Medical Inspection
3. Legal Questioning against manifest
4. Stairs of Separation
What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
Ban the immigration of Chinese immigrants for 10 years
Prevent Chinese immigrants already in America from becoming citizens
Chinese residents who left the US had to obtain paperwork to reenter
What did the Tenement House Act do?
Required outward facing windows in every room to ensure lighting and airflow
Mandated indoor plumbing and private toilets
Fireproof stairs and balconies, height maximums
Why did so many people die in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire? Provide 3 reasons.
- Oil on the floor that never got cleaned
- No fire safety measures (12 buckets of water, lousy fire escape)
- Main entrance was locked
- 1 elevator
- Fire rescue ladders and hoses did not reach 8th floor
- No one informed this floor of the fire
Define New Immigrants. Provide 3 defining features.
Arrived during the Gilded Age
Arrived from
Southern and Eastern Europe: Italy, Poland, Russia, The Balkans
China and Japan until exclusion
Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish
Illiterate and unskilled jobs
Many could not speak English and some were not “white” - faced hostility
Describe the difference between 1st and 2nd Class Passengers and Steerage Passengers? (List 3)
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What did the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924 do? How are they slightly different?
Established first numerical limits and quotas on immigration
Restricted number of immigrants from any country to 3% of the foreign born
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Established a national origins quota system to limit immigration
2% of foreign born population from each country
What did the Meat Inspection Act do? What did the Pure Food and Drug Act do?
Meat Inspection:
Federal Inspection of livestock before and after slaughter
Set sanitary standards for shipping companies - cannot mislabel!
USDA can inspect slaughterhouses and packing plants
Pure Food and Drug:
Illegal to sell food and drugs that are contaminated or falsely labeled
Accurately list contents of product
Drug Standards: purity and strength
Provide 3 outcomes of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
Isaac Harris and Max Blanck were brought up on charges of manslaughter- Acquitted
New Yorkers raised money, went on funeral march
Frances Perkins
New York is model for labor laws
Fire escapes, sprinklers, doors open out, inspections
New York State Legislature funded Factory Safety Commission
30 New Laws