Lesson Focus Between 1860 and 1915, immigration to America surged. This lesson explores this era's most significant change: the shift from northern and western European immigrants to newcomers from southern and eastern Europe.
Section 1
📘 Changing Patterns of Immigration
Between 1860 and 1915, immigration to America surged. This lesson explores this era's most significant change: the shift from northern and western European immigrants to newcomers from southern and eastern Europe.
Henry Cabot Lodge
Section 2
Early Immigrants Seek Opportunity and Escape Hardship
Economic and political hardships, like the Irish potato famine and failed German revolutions, pushed people from northern and western Europe to leave their homes during the 1840s.
This wave of “Old Immigration” brought millions of Irish, German, and later Chinese immigrants to America seeking jobs and freedom.
While they provided needed labor, their arrival also sparked resentment and discrimination from some native-born Americans, particularly against the Irish Catholics who were seen as culturally different.
Section 3
A New Wave of Immigrants Arrives From Southern and Eastern Europe
After 1885, a different wave of immigrants arrived, driven by severe poverty and religious persecution in southern and eastern European nations like Italy, Russia, and Poland.
This “New Immigration” brought millions of people who were mostly poor, non-Protestant, and culturally distinct from earlier groups. Their labor was crucial for America’s growing industries.
Their arrival dramatically changed the demographics of American cities and created new social challenges and tensions.
Section 4
Newcomers Build Ethnic Communities in American Cities
To cope with a strange new country, new immigrants often settled together in urban neighborhoods with people from their homeland.
They formed distinct ethnic communities like “Little Italy,” where they preserved their languages, customs, and religions by creating their own churches, newspapers, and social clubs.
Pay special attention to how this clustering helped them adapt but also slowed their assimilation, making some native-born Americans question if they could ever truly become “American.”
Section 5
Native-Born Americans React to Immigration with Fear
Rapid industrial change and economic fears caused many native-born Americans to view immigrants with suspicion.
Events like the Haymarket Square riot were wrongly blamed on immigrants, who were associated with radicalism. Workers blamed them for low wages, and groups like the American Protective Association protested the rise of Catholicism.
This hostility turned immigrants into scapegoats for society’s problems, leading to widespread discrimination, prejudice, and sometimes even physical violence.
Section 6
The Government Restricts Immigration from Asia and Europe
Growing anti-immigrant sentiment eventually led to demands for government action to limit immigration.
On the Pacific Coast, intense hostility against Chinese workers resulted in Congress passing a law in 1882 to suspend nearly all immigration from China. In the East, politicians like Senator Henry Cabot Lodge pushed for literacy tests to block immigrants from southern and eastern Europe.
These laws marked a major shift, as the U.S. began to officially restrict immigration based on national origin.
Book overview
Jump across lessons in the current chapter without opening the full course modal.
Continue this chapter
Expand to review the lesson summary and core properties.
Section 1
📘 Changing Patterns of Immigration
Between 1860 and 1915, immigration to America surged. This lesson explores this era's most significant change: the shift from northern and western European immigrants to newcomers from southern and eastern Europe.
Henry Cabot Lodge
Section 2
Early Immigrants Seek Opportunity and Escape Hardship
Economic and political hardships, like the Irish potato famine and failed German revolutions, pushed people from northern and western Europe to leave their homes during the 1840s.
This wave of “Old Immigration” brought millions of Irish, German, and later Chinese immigrants to America seeking jobs and freedom.
While they provided needed labor, their arrival also sparked resentment and discrimination from some native-born Americans, particularly against the Irish Catholics who were seen as culturally different.
Section 3
A New Wave of Immigrants Arrives From Southern and Eastern Europe
After 1885, a different wave of immigrants arrived, driven by severe poverty and religious persecution in southern and eastern European nations like Italy, Russia, and Poland.
This “New Immigration” brought millions of people who were mostly poor, non-Protestant, and culturally distinct from earlier groups. Their labor was crucial for America’s growing industries.
Their arrival dramatically changed the demographics of American cities and created new social challenges and tensions.
Section 4
Newcomers Build Ethnic Communities in American Cities
To cope with a strange new country, new immigrants often settled together in urban neighborhoods with people from their homeland.
They formed distinct ethnic communities like “Little Italy,” where they preserved their languages, customs, and religions by creating their own churches, newspapers, and social clubs.
Pay special attention to how this clustering helped them adapt but also slowed their assimilation, making some native-born Americans question if they could ever truly become “American.”
Section 5
Native-Born Americans React to Immigration with Fear
Rapid industrial change and economic fears caused many native-born Americans to view immigrants with suspicion.
Events like the Haymarket Square riot were wrongly blamed on immigrants, who were associated with radicalism. Workers blamed them for low wages, and groups like the American Protective Association protested the rise of Catholicism.
This hostility turned immigrants into scapegoats for society’s problems, leading to widespread discrimination, prejudice, and sometimes even physical violence.
Section 6
The Government Restricts Immigration from Asia and Europe
Growing anti-immigrant sentiment eventually led to demands for government action to limit immigration.
On the Pacific Coast, intense hostility against Chinese workers resulted in Congress passing a law in 1882 to suspend nearly all immigration from China. In the East, politicians like Senator Henry Cabot Lodge pushed for literacy tests to block immigrants from southern and eastern Europe.
These laws marked a major shift, as the U.S. began to officially restrict immigration based on national origin.
Book overview
Jump across lessons in the current chapter without opening the full course modal.
Continue this chapter