The Changing Nature Of European Immigration

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900 The Changing Nature Of European Immigration The rapidly expanding cities' demography were likewise altered by immigrants. Immigration in the United States has always been a driver for change, but in the late nineteenth century it assumed a new form. While the flow of immigrants from northern and western Europe remained mostly steady, the number of immigrants arriving from predominantly southern and eastern European nations began to rise sharply in the 1880s. The first waves of immigration came from northern and western Europe, especially Germany, Great Britain, and the Nordic nations. These immigrants arrived in the nation with some money and frequently settled in the recently populated western regions. By contrast, "push" and "pull" forces like to those influencing African Americans migrating from the South attracted the more recent immigrants from southern and eastern European nations, such as Italy, Greece, and numerous Slavic nations, including Russia. Numerous people were "pushed" out of their nations due to persistent famines, the necessity to flee persecution due to their race, religion, or politics, or the desire to avoid being forced into the armed forces. They were also "drawn" in by the prospect of steady employment that paid well. For whatever reason, these immigrants chose to live in the port towns where they came rather than traveling to the West in search of wealth. They also lacked the knowledge and resources of the previous waves of immigrants. More than eighty percent of New Yorkers will be foreign-born or descended from foreign parents by 1890. Large increases in the foreign population were also seen in other cities, albeit not to the same extent. This was partly because the majority of European immigrants entering the United States entered through Ellis Island in New York City. Between 1900 and 1910, when more than nine million individuals entered the country, immigration reached its highest point. Ellis Island was opened in 1892 by the Bureau of Immigration in New York City, which had become the official port of entry, to help with the processing and administration of this enormous flood of immigrants. Currently, around 50% of all Americans have relatives who came to the United States via Ellis Island at some point in the past. Upon arrival, immigrants were examined by doctors or nurses to check for any indications of infectious illnesses (Figure 19.9). After a quick review of any further documentation, the majority of immigrants were allowed entry into the nation. Approximately 2 percent of the new immigrants were turned away because of a criminal record or health issue. The others, many of whom could not speak English, would enter the nation through the streets of New York, completely dependent on finding somebody who could speak their original tongue. Many immigrants sought out family members, acquaintances, former neighbors, townspeople, and countrymen who had already made their way to American cities in search of solace in a foreign nation and a shared language. Within the main metropolis, this resulted in an increase of ethnic enclaves. Little Italy, Chinatown, and several other settlements sprung created as places where immigrant groups could find whatever to make them feel at home, including ethnic food stores and publications published in their native tongue. Even though these communities gave their residents a feeling of belonging, they made urban traffic worse, especially in the worst slums where immigrants could afford to live. The Dillingham Commission, established by Congress in 1907 to investigate the nature of immigration in America, subsequently verified the demographic change around the turn of the century by reiterating the ethnic identity of immigrants and the prejudice against them that accompanied it. Simply put, the research said that these more recent immigrants behaved and looked differently. Their skin tone was deeper, they spoke languages that most Americans could not understand, and they followed religions that most Americans did not understand, particularly Judaism and Catholicism. Immigrants were distinct even in the goods they sought out at grocery shops and butchers. These observable distinctions made the incoming immigrants easy pickings for prejudice and hostility. It became simple to place the blame on immigrants when housing was insufficient or employment were hard to come by. Similar to African Americans, immigrants in urban areas were held accountable for current issues. There was a reaction as more and more Americans became resentful of the waves of new immigrants. In his best-selling 1885 book Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis, the Reverend Josiah Strong encouraged bigotry and intolerance. He explicitly named undesirable immigrants—those from southern and eastern European nations—as a major danger to the moral fabric of the nation in a revised edition that took into account the 1890 census statistics, and he exhorted all decent Americans to rise to the occasion. In response to his appeal, thousands of Americans founded the American Protective Association, the leading political advocacy organization for laws aimed at reducing immigration into the country. The organization was successful in getting the Chinese Exclusion Act and an English language literacy requirement for immigrants approved by Congress in 1917. The National Origins Act, the Immigration Act of 1924, and the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 were all subsequently based on the political lobbying efforts of the organization.