In the late 19th century, and the early 20th century, many emigrants traveled to the US in search of a better life. They traveled to the US for many reasons. Some left their homes because of famine, shortage of land, or religious or political conflicts. There were some immigrants called "the birds of passage" which meant they traveled to the US just for money and then traveled back to their homeland.Nearly 20 million Europeans had traveled to the East coast of America by 1920. At first, most had come from Western and Northen Europe, but after 1890, many more traveled from Eastern and Southern Europe. They had left because of land shortage, famine, rising population, and shortage in jobs. Some of the Jews were being driven out of Russia by pogroms, which were organized attacks that local authorities often supported. In the US, jobs were supposed to be plentiful, so many young families traveled to the US in search of a new start.
World map to show were the immigrants came fromOn the West coast, many Asian immigrants found their way into America. From 1851 to 1883, only about 300,000 Chinese had arrived. Many were brought by the Gold Rush in 1848. After arriving, they helped build many railroads and started business, but that was put to a stop due to government issues. Many Japanese immigrants found work in Hawaii. Over 30,000 Japanese began working on plantations in Hawaii and other places along the West coast.By 1920, over 260,000 immigrants from Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands. They traveled to the US because of scarce work, and the industrial boom in America seemed promising and sparked interest in many West Indians. Immigrants from Mexico walso came to America for work. By 1910, 700,000 Mexican immigrants had traveled to America.The European immigrants had to passthrough Ellis Island before being considered an American citizen. They had to undergo a series of tests which included health exams to make sure they did not have any contagious diseases. They had to prove they were never convicted of a felony, they had at least $25, and that they were physically able to work. If they failed any of these tests, they were sent home. Only about 2% of the travelers were sent home.
Ellis IslandThe Asian immigrants had to pass through Angel Island. They did not have it as easy as the Europeans. They had to undergo harsh questioning and were kept in dirty cells while waiting for their turn to be questioned.Once admitted into the US, many immigrants had it bad. Many could not find work that offered fair wages, they could not find places to live, they had to learn a new language in order to communicate, and they were treated poorly by the natives. Many natives believed that the immigrants should not recieve work before the people who were born and raised in the US. The natives demanded that the immigrants drop their old languages and customs and take up the American ways. The nativists, as they were called, treated the Chinese immigrants most harshly. They expected them to take jobs no one wanted for lower, unfair wages. They were treated harshly and unfairly. No Chinese travelers were admited unless they were students, teachers, or merchants. Soon, the immigration of ALL Chinese travelers was forbidden completely until 1943. The Asian children were seperated from the white children and taught in seperate schools.The European immigrants learned to cope with the new land and many found success in work and discovery.Personally, I do not think it was fair that the Chinese were treated so cruelly. But that was a different time, people were still racist. If I were an immigrant, I'm not sure if I would have liked the laws and restrictions the natives forced upon us. They were once immigrants too, or at least came from them. I do think that the health restrictions were fair though. Why should we have to take in new diseases? Without immigration, most of our population would not exist.
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