The USA1918-1968

USA: Course Outline

This topic is a study of the growing tensions in American society from

1918-1968.

It focuses on immigration, racial divisions, economic difficulties, the growth of federal

powers and the struggle for civil rights.

USA: Course Outline

Learning Intentions

• To understand the history of immigration into the USA since the American Revolutionary War

• Push and Pull Factors of Immigration

• Immigrants Before & After 1890• The idea of the Melting Pot• ‘Open Door’ Policy

In 1800 the population of America was only 2

million

BY 1920 the population of America was over

100 million!

This was caused by a massive flood of immigrants who were attracted by hopes for a better

life

‘Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these the homeless, tempest tossed to me

I life my lamp beside the golden door’

Emma LazarusGive me your tired and poor people,

The crowds of poor people who want a better life

The poor who live in your overcrowded cities

Send the homeless who have suffered from storms and war to me

I promise them a bright new future of freedom and wealth

In 1915 the President of the USA, Woodrow Wilson described America to be…

The motto of the USA is E PLURIBUS UNUM, which is the Latin for OUT OF

MANY COMES ONE.

This expressed the hope that all the differences of nationality, culture and religion would eventually fade away and all immigrants would adopt the

American way of life as loyal citizens of the United States.

“like a melting pot. It is here we will mix the

races together to create a new person - an

American”

Before 1890 most immigrants came from Northern Europe, especially

England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany and Scandinavia

They were often not the

poorest people in their home countries

Many were farmers,

skilled workers or small

businessmen

They usually arrived with a job already

set up or with enough money to start a farm or small business

After 1890, most immigrants came from poorer areas of Europe such as Poland,

Italy, Russia and the Ukraine

Often poor, uneducated peasants

They often arrived without

any money

They were often

unable to speak

English

Many of them were Jews and Catholics

Old Vs New ImmigrantsOld Immigrants- They were

usually…

W.A.S.Ps

White Anglo-

Saxon

Protestant

They thought they were the most important people in America

They thought they had made America

powerful and strong

They owned all of the big

businesses in America and

held many Government

positions

New Immigrants

Could not

speak English

They seldom mixed with other

groups

To outsiders they looked strange and

‘not American’

They came

mostly from

Southern and

Eastern Europe

They were often very poor and

lived in the slums

They often practised a

different religion

Famine

Low wages Poverty

Religious persecution

Overpopulation and overcrowding in cities

and on farm land

Political persecutionTerrible living

and working conditions

PUSH

Why Did Immigrants Leave Their Homes?

Unemployment

The American Dream

After 1850 the USA has a great industrial

revolution

Employment in industries seeking cheap labour e.g.

expanding railroads, factories, mines and the trans-continental

railroad

Better wages

Greater political and religious freedom

Improvements in steamship technology meant that journeys were faster and safer

Greater opportunities promised to them by relatives, friends and recruiting agents

PULL

What Attracted Them To The USA?

From 1892, Immigrants Were Taken To Ellis Island 1 Mile South Of New York Before They

Were Allowed To Enter The USA

The Island of Hope Or Tears

70% of all European immigrants arrived in America through Ellis Island

When they arrived, they were taken in groups of 30 to be ‘processed’

Around 5000 were tested each day to see if they were fit to live in America!

The First Test

x

Each immigrant had a medical exam be a

doctor. He marked on a person’s back with chalk any defect or infectious

diseases

C-Conjunctivitis

H-Heart disease

F-Rash

FT-Feet Problems

-Feeble minded

The Second TestInspectors asked immigrants 29

questions:

Have you any money?Have you any relatives in America?Do you have a job waiting for you?Are you an anarchist?

Only 2% of immigrants were denied entry for

failing these tests

If the inspections were all passed, they were given a landing card.

This made them an American and they would be transported by

ferry to New York

When they arrived in America, the majority of immigrants settled in cities

By The Early 1900s, It Seemed Like American Cities Were Like Giant Jigsaws Of Different Nationalities Of

People...They tended to live with people

from similar backgrounds, culture and languageThese immigrants “enclaves”

became identified by names such as Little Italy, Irishtown

and Chinatown

WAS AMERICA REALLY A MELTING POT?

IRISH

POLISH

GERMAN

ITALIAN

They also tended to cluster in particular jobs

•Hungarians and Italians flocked to the coal mines

•Poles worked in steel mills

•Greeks preferred the textile mills

•Russian and Polish Jews clustered in the sewing

trades

So When Did Attitudes Change Towards

Immigration...

America was proud of it’s ‘open door

policy’

This meant anyone could enter the USA providing they were not ‘feeble minded,’ extremely poor or

had a serious diseaseThe focus of your first essay to analyse WHY attitudes

changed towards immigration

The Dillingham Commission, 1907

They discovered that since the 1880s, immigrants had

mainly come from Southern and

Eastern Europe

The Commission thought these

immigrants were inferior compared to the WASP immigrants who arrived mainly

before 1890They recommend that a literacy test be used to

make it harder for ‘inferior’

immigrants to get into the USA

They had to show they could write a short

passage in English or another language

Many Americans feared

Revolution• The Russian Revolution in

1917• The Red Scare

in 1919

During WWI many German

immigrants supported the

German side and when the USA joined the war

against Germany there was a

danger American society would

split.After WWI there were

few jobs

Immigrants put

pressure on scarce

housing in poorer

areas of the cities

Racism•“America must be kept pure and not

turned into a second rate power by a

second rate people”

They were believed to

be damaging American

culture and bringing in dangerous new ideas

like communismThey were

blamed for

disease and rising

crimeThey were

forcing down

wages by working for less

Immigrant trade

unions were

growing too big and

too powerful

Why Did Attitudes Towards

Immigration Change So Much

After 1918?

The ‘Open Door’ Policy Did Not Apply To Everyone...

Exclusion Act of 1882

Restricts Immigration

1902Chinese immigration

made illegal

1907

The Japanese Government promise to stop the emigration of its citizens to the USA

1921

Congress encourages emigrants from Western Europe as they believe they are more likely to become ‘good’ Americans. The law discouraged immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe

1917Immigration Act of 1917 bans almost all Asians

Immigration Laws in the 1920s: The Open Door Closes!

By the 1920s, the flow of immigrants to the USA was restricted as a quota system was

used.This meant that only so many immigrants from each

country were allowed into the USA

The 1921 Emergency Quota Act allowed only 3% of each nationality living in the USA in 1910 to enter the USA

The 1924 Immigration Act reduced this percentage to 2% enter each year.

The proportion from each country was decided on the size of each national group in the USA at the

time of the 1890 census

Remember! Up to 1890 most immigrants had come from Northern

and Western Europe

The effect of the 1921 and 1924 Immigration

Acts was to discriminate against

people from South Eastern Europe and

allow more immigrants from Northern Europe

to enterA better balance was created in 1928 when they used the 1910 census as the basis for the quotas. This included far more

Southern and Eastern Europeans.

ONLY SEND

ME WASPS!

Now time to start the first essay...