Us Immigration History Free Essays

Terms United Irishmen- were harassed by British, support French revolution US supported Britain against the French War Brides act: Servicemen could bring their spouses from foreign lands into the U. S. (non-quota immigrants) 1980 Refugee Policy-Central Americans (Salvadorians and Guatemalans) came under this policy while others were coming in as non refugees. We will write a custom essay sample on Us Immigration History or any similar topic only for you Order Now Immigration Reform and Control Act (I. R. C. A)-does 3 things Raises the immigration ceiling for the whole world. More slots to distribute Grants amnesty to undocumented residents that could prove that they were living here since 1982 Fined people who employed undocumented workers Forced Repatriation- in 1934, Mexican and citizens of the Philippines are repatriated. Gentlemen’s Agreement- In 1907, an agreement was established between Japan and US where Japan would stop labor emigration and the US would limit immigrant restrictions against them (such as ending segregation in schools in San Francisco). Happened after the Russo-Japanese war. Indentured Servitude: Debt bondage that was used in the colonial period in which one person would cover the travel cost into the colonies and in return they would work off the debt and upon completion would be given some land. his was the major way in which people got others to work the land for them and it was the system that was in place before slavery became popular. Assimilation- Basically, conformity into the US culture. Migrant- someone who has moved across one national frontier Emigration- wants to recreate a place where they came from i. e. New England, New York, New Mexico, New Spain, New Amsterdam Sojourners- someone who comes to America without the intention of staying here. In other words they come to make dough, but then leave. Italians and Greeks. Ravenstein’s Law- long migration occurs into urban areas, Rural dwellers are more migratory than urban dwellers, migration is mostly due to economic reasons Transnationalism- Primarily focuses on exchanges, connections and practices across borders. It as if be â€Å"neither here nor there† since a migrant lives a multi sited life where exchanges and interactions across borders are a regular part migrants’ realities and activities- Ex. Immigrants from Mexico can be living in the U. S but have continuous connections with their families in Mexico. League of Nations- Internal Security Act- In 1950, this gave the president power to incarcerate persons in peacetime. It applied to citizens as well as aliens. It was passed over President Truman’s veto. It also required communists to register with the government. 1940 Smith Act- set penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U. S. government. Required all non-citizen adults to register with the government. Visas could be refused to those deemed a danger to public safety. This was directed at Nazi sympathizers and radicals. 986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)- Raised the immigration ceiling to 540,000 a year. It also attempted to deal with immigrants already present, granting amnesty for unauthorized immigrants who could prove they had resided in the U. S. since a certain date. It also included stiff sanctions for employers of undocumented immigrants such as charging them fines. It was not successful due to a strong labor demand and lack of enforcement. Know Nothi ng Party- Nativist group active in the mid 19th century. They were concerned with political corruption and immigrant involvement in political machines. Rather than seeking to restrict immigration, the Know Nothing Party wanted to make it more difficult for immigrants to naturalize or hold high offices. They proposed a requirement of a 21 year period for naturalization. They were also anti-Catholic. LPC- â€Å"likely to become a public charge†. Clause of the Immigration Act of 1882 (transmuted in 1892). Aspect of nativism. Originally applied to persons who were obviously unable and/or unlikely to be able to support themselves. During the Great Depression it was interpreted more strictly. 1917 Immigration Act- Passed over President Wilson’s veto. Required a literacy test for admission. This tightened restrictions on radicals. It also created the Asiatic Barred Zone (everything except the Philippines and Japan) from which immigration is barred. It reflected fears as well as the relationship of the U. S. to other nations/foreign policy. Foraker Act 1900- Under this act, Puerto Ricans were nationals, not U. S. citizens like contemporary FIlipinos. Immigration Restriction League- Formed in 1894 by a group of young Harvard graduates. It became the most influential single pressure group arguing for a fundamental change in American immigration policy. According to one of its founders, Prescott F. Hall, the question for Americans to decide was whether they wanted their country â€Å"to be peopled by British, German and Scandinavian stock, historically free, energetic, progressive, or by Slav, Latin, and Asiatic races [referring to Jews rather than Chinese or Japanese] historically downtrodden, atavistic and stagnant†. The league and its chief political spokesman, Henry Cabot Lodge pushed for literacy tests as the best way to improve the quality of the incoming immigrants. Agricultural Labor Relations Act- 1975 California. Established collective bargaining for farmworkers. This helped protect the rights of employees. 1921 Quota Act- limited annual immigration to 3% of foreign born of each nationality in the US in the year 1910. It imposed an annual ceiling of 350,000 quota admissions: 55% from Northern and Western Europe, 45% from other countries (nearly all Southern and Eastern European). It introduced new collective measures to allow non-quota or unlimited admissions of immediate relatives of US citizens and immigrants from the Western Hemisphere. 924 Johnson Reed Act (Second Quota Act) – Limited immigration further, to 2% of the number of each nationality group who lived in the US in 1890. It lowered the total annual ceiling of quota immigrants to 165,000, increased the share of Northern and Western European potential immigrants to 86% (142,000), and decreased the share from Southern and Eastern Europe to 11% (18,000). It barred Asian immigration entirely (effective for Japanese and for forei gn born wives and children of US citizens of Chinese ancestry). Filipinos could still come outside the quota system because they were American â€Å"nationals†. 1934 Philippines Independence Act- Provided for Philippine’s independence on July 4, 1946. Filipinos lost their status as US nationals and were restricted to a token quota of 50 per year. 1942 Executive Order 9066- Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt. It authorized the US army to imprison 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of them US citizens and the rest ineligible for citizenship on racial grounds. 1942-64 Bracero Program- for Mexican laborers outside usual immigration controls. It was due to a labor shortage during WWII. Under the program, the US guaranteed that Mexican workers would receive specified minimum wages and certain living and working conditions, although many complaints were filed against employers who did not meet those standards. The WWII program had about 200,000 braceros in the US. Its peak year was 1959 when 450,000 braceros entered. It was an important landmark in the history of Latin American migration to the US. The notion was that Mexicans would be temporary workers or guest workers. While many returned home, many others became permanent residents. 1952 McCarran-Walter Act- passed over President Truman’s veto, reaffirming the national origins quota system and setting the total annual immigration limit to one-sixth of one percent of the population of the continental US in 1920. It exempted spouses and children of US citizens and people born in the Western Hemisphere from quotas. It also created a system of preferences within the quotas for persons with needed occupations. It ended racial limits to immigration and naturalization, giving Japan a token quota of 100. 954 Operation â€Å"Wetback†- It removed one million Mexican immigrants from the Southwest amid numerous civil rights violations. It was staged by the INS, who reported that it had deported or expelled 3. 8 million Mexicans. 1965 Hart-Cellar act- abolished the national origins quota system. It created an Eastern Hemisphere system of equal visa limits per country of 20,000 annually. It placed the first limits on Western Hemisphere immigration. The hold total limited admissions to 290,000 per year: 170,000 from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere. It also established an admission class not subject to limitation. It revised the occupation-first, family-reunion-second preference system to put family reunion first and occupations second. AIPAC- American Israel Public Affairs Committee, formed in 1963. This was an effective pro-Israel lobby. They established a close relationship with both parties in the US. United Irish- Mainly middle class Protestants. They wanted an end to British rule/aristocracy. They were strong believers in the French Revolution. Repatriation- sending someone back to their country of origin. The forced repatriation of Mexicans and Filipinos occurred in 1934. Angel Island- An island located in the San Francisco Bay. It was used as an immigration station from 1910-1940. Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, many Chinese were interrogated and detained on the island, some for years. Triangle Shirt-Waist Factory- This was a shop belonging to Eastern European Jews in New York City. A fire occurred in 1911, in which 146 workers, almost all young women, were burned to death or died leaping from high windows. This reflected the subpar conditions of many factories. It helped lead to the relatively early organization of garment workers in unions. AFL/CIO- American Federation of Labor. It was a union group founded in 1886. Mostly Irish men. Organized almost exclusively among skilled workers. In 1955 the AFL merged with Congress of Industrial Organizations to form the AFL-CIO. Puerto Rico + Gonzales Case-Isabel Gonzales traveled to New York from Puerto Rico where she was detained as an alien immigrant. January of 1904, the court ruled that under immigration law Gonzales was not a alien therefore could not be denied entry. The court however declined to state if she was a U. S. citizen. The importance of this case is the question if habitants of new island territories of the U. S. were considered citizens. Their citizenship remained ambiguous and Puerto Rican became known as â€Å"non citizen† nationals Immigration Act 1882-LPC Clause- Page Law- 1875, barred entry to Chinese and Japanese prostitutes, felons, and contract laborers. Spanish American War (1898)- Puerto Rico was annexed by the US in the aftermath of the war. Cuba was also liberated from Spain along with Philippines. Little Italy Chinatown Federal Immigration Law 1891- statute that showed concern for both the physical and mental condition of prospective immigrants. It barred the immigration of â€Å"all idiots, insane persons, paupers or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome or contagious disease, persons who have been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, and polygamists†. Mexican Immigration Industrialization/ Urbanization- early 1800s-early 1900s. These were great changes in this century. People moved from the country to the city. Nativism- anti-immigrant activity. It occurred in 3 phases: anti-Catholic [1830s-1850s], anti-Asian[1870s-mid 1900s], and anti-all immigrants[1880s-? ]. Nativist attitudes have always been present. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Immigration Act of 1924 are examples of nativist influence on immigration policy. Ethnicity vs. Race- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)- Mexican American civil rights organization. Founded in the 1920s. Thind vs US- U. S. Supreme Court case in which the decision finding was that no person of East Indian origin could become a naturalized American. (1923) British Passenger Acts- attempted to deflect immigration from the British Isles to Canada rather than the US by making it much more expensive to travel to the latter. Canada bound ships were more easily accessible and convenient for Irish immigrants. Great Famine 1846-a period of starvation and disease from 1845-1852. Over 1 million people died and a drastic number migrated elsewhere. the famine created a diaspora as Ireland’s population decreased by as much as 25%. the cause of the famine was a potato disease known as potato blight. Manifest Destiny 1839- idea that the US should expand its influence. This ideology resulted in more aggressive land grabbing and in the homestead act that gave people land for free as long as they improved the land. n other parts of the world, it led to colonization of the philippines via the Spanish-American War and to the inclusion of Texas via the Mexican American War. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo- 1848 treaty at the end of the Mexican-American War that made Mexico pay the US as well as giving up the southwest states (California, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado). the treaty had included a right t o give Mexicans American Citizenship if they were within the lost territories but that was never enacted. Foreign Miners Tax 1850- This was a tax on gold that forced Chinese to pay 3 dollars a month when they were only making approximately six. If an immigrant couldn’t pay the tax, the tax collectors were allowed to take possessions equalling the amount owed, however most tax collectors took advantage of the fact that foreigners did not speak english well, and over taxed them. Texas Independence 1836- Cultural Pluralism- the preservation of one’s culture even within another society. This term applies to Chinatown and Little Italy. Pueblo Revolt 1680- Century of Migration- 1830’s-1920’s we are a nation of immigrants. During this time over 50 million immigrants came to the US leaving only 1. 7% of the population of Native people. i enrolled in this class about immigration nd learned about coming to the us nation the chinese were hated, the Italians were debated while the Irish came early and became integrated the irish were in politics and became racist dicks the chinese worked for small fee’s which is why the white men wanted them to flee while italians came, in order to play the game, but living in the US was not their aim. thats my song on immigration. Essays 4. Write an essay discussing the significance of nativism in US history. What were the forces giving rise to nativism at different moments in history and how did nativism affect immigrants and American society and politics more generally? Nativist attitudes have always been present in American society. Nativism, or anti-immigrant activity influenced the treatment of immigrants as well as legislation. It occurred in 3 phases: anti-Catholic [1830s-1850s], anti-Asian [1870s-mid 1900s], and anti-all immigrants [1880s-mid 1900s]. Generally nativism has been more prevalent during times when Americans have been divided and lacking confidence in the future. Influxes of immigrants have contributed it nativism as well. Nativism also rose during war when immigrants’ loyalty was questioned. nti-Catholic— Relatively large numbers of Irish and German Catholic immigrants, many of them desperately poor, began to arrive in the late 1820s and early 1830s. The costs of maintaining the poor were mounting. With growing Irish and German Catholic immigration, Catholics and Catholicism were seen as an internal threat of republican principles and of the republic itself. In eastern cities this sentiment often turned violent. Much of this violence was directed at convents and churches. 1840s and 50s the Know Nothing Party emerged, calling for a change in naturalization laws. They proposed a 21 year period for naturalization and wanted to bar immigrants from holding any but minor local offices. Nativism grew in the pre-Civil War years because there was uncertainty about the future of the nation. Some felt Catholics contributed to crime and radicalism. During the Depression there was competition for labor. anti-Asian– 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act suspended the immigration of laborers. This was to promote the interests of white workingmen in California and elsewhere in the West who experienced competition with Chinese laborers. Racial prejudice was also a large factor. Japan and the Gentleman’s Agreement, Executive Order during WWII. anti-all immigrants–from the end of the 19th century into the beginning of the 20th there was a large immigrant population. an 1891 statute barred the immigration of â€Å"all idiots, insane persons, paupers, or persons likely to become a public charge, persons suffering from a loathsome or contagious disease, persons who have been convicted of a felony or other infamous crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or polygamists†. Many Americans at that time felt their way of life was threatened by the â€Å"immigrant invasion†. 1924 Quota prop 187 stopped funding unregistered citizens, however it was ruled unconstitutional. people were afraid that immigrants were coming for a â€Å"free ride†, but really most immigrants were coming for jobs. Was a key legislative piece in the development of similar propositions in other states that have since barred access to immigrants. recession and depression drove nativist movements. Nativism was affected by immigrants in many ways. The main reason i can think of is fiscal reasons. Many immigrants came to the US and took jobs away from those already established. Most immigrants were also willing to work for cheaper wages which would create an anti-immigrant view. Irish were willing to do the hard â€Å"dirty† work for cheap wages. Chinese were willing to do jobs for wages less than the people already doing there jobs. This along with other issues like lack of assimilation. People who immigrated and chose not to assimilate excluded themselves from the US community. Essay #1 Racialization is the act of classifying a group of people as a race when they were not previously viewed this way. These groups include, but are not limited to Jews, Chinese, Irish, Germans, Scandanavians, more specifically, Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes, Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Poles, and Hungarians. The way i see it, instead of classifying these groups as Asian, European, or Middle Eastern, they are viewed on a much more specific level, targeting the exact area they originated from. Now that there is a brief background on what racialization is, we will look at specific examples of where racialization was seen. The first place racialization was evident was in labor. To begin, the Irish were classified as hard working immigrants. The Irish seemed to always be stuck with the monotonous jobs such as digging trenches, or building sky scrapers. They were considered hard working people who would work from sun up to sun down and give 100%. In the early 1900’s the Irish dominated the unskilled labor section. Another racialized group was the Chinese people. Chinese people came to the Western US and brought skilled and unskilled labor. The Chinese were willing to work for low wages and were able to live on a less amount of necessities than their rival workers. The next place where racialization was blatantly evident was in communities. To begin with, Italians came to the US and remained in tightly knit Italian communities, choosing not to assimilate. Jews also came and although they did not necessarily create their own communities, their presence was evident in whatever community they lived in, and instead of being viewed as white, middle eastern, or whatever general class they may have fallen into, they were seen specifically as Jews. Chinese influence also had a huge role in the creation of Chinatown on the west coast in San Francisco. Chinatown was formed in 1850 and had a very tight community, however, it was also a tourist attraction. Many groups went from a general classification to a specific region they were known for coming from. The word that i hate to use but must is stereotypical. Racialization was a stereotype placed on specific races and it created almost an impermeable barrier to the rest of the nation once that stereotype had been placed upon a race. Irish were expected to be involved in politics, or unskilled labor. Chinese were expected to live in Chinese communities and work at a dry cleaning shop or in the mines, searching for old. Racialization was almost an anti-assimilation view as it seemed to prohibit naturalization in the US. It classified races to specific groups, and in some cases, if these groups became too powerful, the government would strike them down as seen in the Chinese Exclusion Act. Racialization played a huge role in keeping records of immigrants, as well as, creating immigratio n policies meant to target certain immigrant groups. NOTE: This essay can be filled with a ton more evidence of basically any act or law passed to discriminate a race. The fact that races were viewed as such singular groups is what made them easy to prey upon. One thing i didn’t bring up was race in religion which, if that is your cup of tea, you might wanna elaborate on. Essay #2 The main forces behind immigration policy have always been around nativist interest i. e. Self interests of the American people. If we look a political party and two policies then dissect them, we can see the policies demonstrate self interest by the US. Bracero Program, operation wetback, know nothing party Bracero program-for Mexican laborers outside usual immigration controls. It was due to a labor shortage during WWII. US guaranteed that Mexican workers would receive specified minimum wages and certain living and working conditions, although many complaints were filed against employers who did not meet those standards. The WWII program had about 200,000 braceros in the US. Its peak year was 1959 when 450,000 braceros entered. It was an important landmark in the history of Latin American migration to the US. The notion was that Mexicans would be temporary workers or guest workers. While many returned home, many others became permanent residents. They welcomed the labor only because they could not create enough goods to feed the war machine so they opened up to mexico so that they could attain unskilled workers that could work in agriculture and factories to help the war while simply treating them as if they were going to be sojourners and nothing else. It was an economic move for them initially since the increased workers would bring back production levels and money. Operation Wetback- a massive immigration operation that was meant to send back a large quantity of immigrant workers mostly Mexican. By the end of it, over 3. million were sent back to their country of origin. This was a massive attempt to remove the mexican laborers that had settled starting in 1946. This occurred as more and more soldiers returned from the war and job displacement began to occur. At this point, with the steady flow of migration into the states, it no longer suited them to continue to extend the Bracero program. It can be traced back to a nativ ist notion that the braceros were taking jobs away and with substantial numbers coming in that they created a threat to society. Know nothing Party- Nativist group active in the mid 19th century. They were concerned with political corruption and immigrant involvement in political machines. Rather than seeking to restrict immigration, the Know Nothing Party wanted to make it more difficult for immigrants to naturalize or hold high offices. They proposed a requirement of a 21 year period for naturalization. They were also anti-Catholic. This was largely meant to hold the Irish from â€Å"corrupting† the US way of life. The people disliked the Irish for being catholic since they believed they would always be loyal to the pope and on top of this the Irish would do any job which some people would not even do. How to cite Us Immigration History, Papers