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51 good questions and answers: "The people: settlement ans immigration"

What did Ellis Island used to be and what is it now?

It is an island off New York City. It was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States.
The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.
A 1998 United States Supreme Court decision found most of the island to be part of New Jersey. The island has been closed to the public since Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 with re-opening date at some point in 2014

Give a definition of 'the American Dream'

The American Dream is the idea that the US is a country where everyone can become rich and successful if you work hard

Roughly how many people live in the US?

315 million people

What is the new Colossus. What core characteristics does it reflec?

It's a poem that is written inside the Statue of Liberty in the harbour of New York.The statue is symolizes a warm welcome to all visitors. The poem speaks of America as a refuge for all the poor, oppressed, and less of the world, regardless of their religion, culture or race.

Why did most well-educated middle-class immigrant people wanted to create a "city on a hill"?

to show how English society could be reformed

What is embodied by the sonnet 'The New Colossus'

Amercians' and the immigrants' core idealism, pride and naivety

How many waves of immigrants were there and what were they called?

The first wave - colonial immigration
The second wave - the old immigrants
The Third wave - the new immigrants
The fourth wave - 1965 to the present

Where did the English established their first settlement and why

Jamestown, Virginia, they came for economic gain .1607

What caused the conflict between the Europeans and Native Americans?

European societies very diverse, so could not live together.
Native American cultures were related, similar in broad outlines

Was the settlement of Jamestown a success

No, not until they learnd from the indians how to grow tobacco.

Why are the settlers who established the colonies named founders?

They created the customs, laws and instituitions to which later arrivals had to adjust

Growing tobacco involved intense manual labour what did the English do

They contracted African laborers as indentured servants. They were not slaves but signed a contract to work for the planation owner for 5 to 7years.

What is the Bracero program?

temporary importation of farm labor from Mexico due to wartime labor shortages

What are the waves of immigrants to the USA?

First wave: Spanish and French

What were indentured servants

They were the first laborers brought in from africa to work at the tobacco planatations. They were free men, they signed a contract to work for 5 or 7 years.

What was the second English settlement of the English

Maryland, a safe haven for Catholics, who we persecuted in England. 1630

Name two groups of English settlers who came to America for religieus reasons

First the Pilgrims. They fled England because they were separatists from the Anglican church and persecuted. They established a colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts . Then came the Puritains, who wanted to ' purify' the Church of England. They wanted to found the perfect religious community, 'a city on a hill', as an exemple for England. They were however not tolerant towards dissenters or other religious groups. (1630)

Apart from the English what other nationalities emigrated to America

Dutch, Swedish. The Dutch in New York were most tolerant all kinds of people and religions were present there.

When was the first wave of immigration, colonial immigration.
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1680; newcomers from Scotland, Ireland, (not England and Wales). Most travelled as indentured servants. Their voyage was free, but they would have to work for a boss in America for 4 to 7 years. After that these servants usualy got a small piece of land, a small amount of money and a few tools. (freedom dues). The newcomers where very welcome but expected to adapt to the ways of the colony and to work hard. Newcomers from Germany

What are freedom dues.

Indentured servants in 1680 got a small amount of money and some tools when their term was finished.This was called their freedom dues.They usually settled on the frontier where land was cheapest.

Push and pull factors of the first wave

push: discrimination and poverty in home land pull: religious freedom, , free trip as indentured servants, freedom dues, cheap land at the frontier, a chance to make a good life: the american dream

Why was the integration of the german newcomers less successfull

Not speaking English, the kept to themselves and the families settled close to eachother, developing German towns. The other were jalous of their prosperity, they were too succesful. Benjamin Franklin said: they might Germanize us instead of us Anglicizing them.

Other remarkable groups in the first wave

convicts and poor people, sent off by the English government. Irish, Scots,

What happend to the native americans as more and more newcomers settled during the first wave

They were forced inland. to the Appalachians and beyond.

What happend with all different cultures after independence

most ethnic groups assimilated, time and shared experiences bound the people together. The dominant culture is Anglo-American.

When did the second wave start and what was it called

1820-1890: Europeans where pushed from their homelands by religious persecution, (Jews), political unrest, unemployment, poverty and famine, Pull-factors: enthousiastic success stories from relatives who left for America before, the trip has become safer, faster and less expensive. unlimited supply of land, even land giveaways, work (e.g. railroad company), gold.

It was called the old immigrants (germans, Irish, Britons, Scandinavians, family of immigrants who went earlier) but also Chinese, French Canadians, Dutch, Swiss emigrated to America.because of the many pull factors.

What is the homestead act (1862)

In this act, signed by Lincoln it was stated that any man who farmed a piece of land on the frontier for five years and make a good living of it, became owner of the land.

Where did the immigrants of the second wave settle and what work did they do. What was their advantage.

Northeast in the manufacturing belt, working as mill and factory workers, miners, loggers, building workers, They often met a relative or fellow country men who helped them start off.

What is nativism, what does it mean in the context of the second wave

dislike of people and things foreign; everything, appearance, language, customs that were different from the anglo american model were stereotyped,.ridiculed, discriminated against.

Who where discriminated against the most

First Jews and catholics (mostly Irish) people; later on every non-british immigrant would be considered a threat to the Anglo-American culture. 1882, chinese exclusion act.

Name a measure that was taken to oppose immigration

1882 Chines exclusion act; because of racism and fear of losing jobs or low wages. Labor organizations.

When was the third wave of immigration, name

1890-1930; the new immigrants; a change in the origin of most immigrants namely from southern and eastern europe. Italians, Jews, Poles, Mexicans, Russians etc. These people were much less like the anglo-americans; exotic languages, clothes, religions. Push factors: religious persecution, poverty and no future in homeland, Pull: the American Dream, a better life and future for the entire family. Cheap travel.

What are sojourners or birds of passage

immigrants who just stayed until they had earned enough money and then went back to their home country to buy some land or a business there.

What was also different about the new immigrants

younger, indivduals not in family groups, often with the intention to go back to the home land as soon as possible. Labor was needed in factories in the cities, but was mostly unskilled and poorly paid.

What was a consequence of this huge 3rd wave

overcrowded immigrant ghettos in the cities, epidemics, violence. Nativism grew .

Two opinions with regard to the american population grew

cultural pluralism with loyalty to the same polical idea and civic ideals, or one new people through assimilation, intermarriage.

Why did it take so long for the government to start regulating immigration.

perhaps they felt it was too big a interference for the federal government.

Name a few measures to slow down immigration

Screening of the immigrants, national quota acts and banning of certain groups such as Chinese, Japanese, lunatics, illiterates, political radicals on based on so called eugenics.

What are national quota acts

they are rules to limit immigration on the whole and some nationalities in particular. Quota were imposed on the number of indivduals allowed to settle in America, per country, per year and by manipulating the rules government made sure that the nationalities they liked least would get the fewest visas.

Whatevents influenced immigration after 1930

the great depression, many but not all refugees fleeing for fascist and Nazi regimes where admitted regardless of the quota,

What was in the Immigration Act of 1965

quota for national origins were replaced by hemispheric limits and principles were set for selecting immigrants. Reunifying was the ain principle. second the braindrain: skilled people were preferred. third: refugees.

Where are most immigrants coming from after 1980

Asia and Latin America

When was the fourth wave of immigration

after 1980>hundreds of thousands of familiemembers, refugees have come to the US, as well as many illegal aliens.

What is the socio-economic bottom

tthe poorest and most displaced immigrants, social economic has to do with money and place in society

What is different about this fourth wave

They come from all over the world and the settle all over america, often in large foreign-born settlements. This can give rise to nativism or racism.

What does the debate on illegal immigrants entail.

people think the illegals are have no respect for any law and because they accept low wages and bad working conditions, they may be preferred to American citizens (steal our jobs). On the other hand they are prepared to do the dirty work and the companies are happy if they do not complain about low pay or bad circumstance because then they can keep their costs/prices low. They do not apply for benefits because, being illegal, they would probably be deported.

What is the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

By this law illegal immigrants who have worked in the USA for 4 years can stay and become legal, also temporarily resident farmworkers, employers hiring illegal workers get fined

What is 'the seven states'

those are the states where most immigrants settle now; New York, Ne Jersy. California, Florida, Texas, Illinois and Arizona.

USA Patriot Act of 2002

Why is the government reluctant to do the utmost against illegal immigrants

The economy needs their labor.

What were the 2006 immigrant protest

(Illegal) immigrants gatherd to protest against the a bill that made it a serious felony to be illegal or help someone who is illegal.