IMMIGRATION BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR

THE “OLD” IMMIGRANTS

WHO ARE THE “OLD” IMMIGRANTS?

• MORE THAN 3 MILLION IMMIGRANTS CAME FROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE.
• THESE COUNTRIES INCLUDE: MOSTLY IRELAND, AND GERMANY – BUT ALSO ENGLAND AND THE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES.
• THEY CAME BETWEEN 1840 AND 1860 – BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR.

WHY DID THEY COME AND WHERE? – THE IRISH

• THE IRISH CAME MOSTLY BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC REASONS.
• IN THE MID 1840’S IN IRELAND THEY WERE SUFFERING FROM POTATO BLIGHT – THIS WAS A DISEASE THAT CAUSED POTATOES TO ROT – THIS LEFT FAMILIES TO STARVE AND SPREAD DISEASE.
• MORE THAN 1 MILLION IRISH CAME TO AMERICA DURING THIS TIME
• IRISH WERE MOSTLY CATHOLIC
• THESE IRISH IMMIGRANTS WERE POOR AND CAME TO THE LARGE EAST COAST CITIES LIKE BOSTON, NYC AND PITTSBURG, AND GOT UNSKILLED JOBS IN FACTORIES OR BUILDING CANALS AND RAILROADS
• THEY RECEIVED LESS PAY THEN AMERICAN WORKERS AND WERE TREATED HORRIBLY

WHY DID THEY COME AND WHERE? – THE GERMANS

• THE GERMANS CAME MOSTLY BECAUSE OF POLITICAL REASONS
• IN 1848 SOME GERMANS STARTED A REVOLUTION AND IT FAILED – A LOT OF GERMANS THEN FLED TO THE US TO ESCAPE PERSECUTION FROM THIS.
• THIS MEANT THAT MOST GERMANS WERE WORKING CLASS AND NOT AS POOR AS THE IRISH THAT CAME
• GERMANS WERE CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT, JEWS AND OTHER RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS
• GERMANS BECAME MOSTLY FARMERS IN RURAL AREAS IN MID-WESTERN STATES BECAUSE THEY HAD MONEY TO BUY LAND AND HAD SKILLS
• BUT A LOT WERE STILL FORCED TO TAKE LOW PAYING JOBS IN CITIES LIKE TAILORS, SEAMSTRESSES, BRICKLAYERS, SERVANTS, CLERKS, CABINETMAKERS, BAKERS, AND FOOD MERCHANTS.

PUSH VS PULL FACTORS

PUSH FACTORS

• YOU ARE FORCED OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY
• STARVATION
• POVERTY
• LACK OF POLITICAL FREEDOM

PULL FACTORS

• YOU WANT TO LEAVE YOUR COUNTRY AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE BECAUSE THAT PLACE IS BETTER
• MORE JOBS
• GREATER FREEDOM AND EQUALITY
• ABUNDANT/CHEAPER LAND

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ANTI-IMMIGRATION MOVEMENT

• MANY NATIVE BORN AMERICANS FEARED LOSING THEIR JOBS TO IMMIGRANTS WHO MIGHT BE WILLING TO WORK FOR LOWER PAY.
• SOME IN AMERICA ALSO FELT THREATENED BY THESE NEW IMMIGRANTS NEW CULTURES AND RELIGIONS.
• EXAMPLE THE LARGE AMOUNT OF CATHOLICS THAT ARRIVED, THREATENED PROTESTANT COMMUNITIES.
• THIS GAVE WAY TO THE NATIVIST MOVEMENT
• NATIVISTS ARE AMERICANS WHO OPPOSED IMMIGRATION

KNOW-NOTHINGS

• IN THE 1840’S AND 1850’S THE NATIVISTS BECAME POLITICALLY ACTIVE – THEY CREATED THEIR OWN POLITICAL PARTY – THE KNOW-NOTHING PARTY
• THEY SUPPORTED MEASURES THAT MADE IT DIFFICULT FOR ANY FOREIGNERS TO BECOME CITIZENS OR HOLD OFFICE. – THIS INCLUDED CATHOLIC AS WELL.
• THEY WANTED IMMIGRANTS TO LIVE IN THE US FOR 21 YEARS BEFORE BECOMING CITIZENS

CITIES GROW

• BECAUSE OF THE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS AND THE JOBS BEING MOSTLY ALL IN THE LARGE CITIES, CITIES GREW RAPIDLY DURING THIS TIME
• BY THE MID 11800S, 3/4THS OF ALL OF THE COUNTRY’S MANUFACTURING JOBS WERE LOCATED IN THE NORTH EAST AND MID ATLANTIC STATES
• THIS GAVE RISE TO THE MIDDLE CLASS – THIS WAS THE SOCIAL GROUP BETWEEN THE WEALTHY AND THE POOR
• MERCHANTS, MANUFACTURERS, PROFESSIONALS, AND MASTER CRAFTSMAN WERE ALL MIDDLE CLASS

URBAN PROBLEMS

• BECAUSE CITIES GREW SO FAST DURING THIS TIME, THEY FACED MANY PROBLEMS
• PUBLIC AND PRIVATE TRANSPORTATION WAS LIMITED SO MOST PEOPLE HAD TO WALK TO WORK
• THERE WAS A LACK OF SAFE HOUSING – BUILDINGS HAD TO BE BUILT VERY QUICKLY TO ACCOMMODATE THE IMMIGRANTS MOVING TO THE CITIES VERY QUICKLY SO TENEMENTS WERE BUILT
• TENEMENTS WERE POORLY DESIGNED APARTMENT BUILDINGS THAT HOUSED LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE – THEY WERE OFTEN DIRTY, OVERCROWDED, AND UNSAFE

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URBAN PROBLEMS CONT’D

• THERE WAS HARDLY ANY PUBLIC SERVICES AS WELL –
• NO RUNNING WATER, OR NO CLEAN WATER. NO PUBLIC HEALTH REGULATIONS OR ANY WAY TO GET RID OF GARBAGE AND HUMAN AND ANIMAL WASTE.
• UNDER ALL OF THESE CONDITIONS DISEASE SPREAD RAPIDLY
• NYC HAD CHOLERA EPIDEMICS IN 1832 AND ANOTHER ONE IN 1849 THAT KILLED THOUSANDS
• CRIME WAS A HUGE PROBLEM AS WELL – THESE LARGE CITIES HAD NO PERMANENT ORGANIZED POLICE FORCE YET
• FIRE WAS ANOTHER PROBLEM – THERE WAS ONLY VOLUNTEER FIRE FIGHTER UNITS THAT USED HAND PUMPS AND BUCKETS

QUESTIONS???