SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
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HISTORY 1302 Theme Three: Emigration & Immigration |
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Associate Professor of History
Phone: 210-921-5058
pmyerspac@hotmail.com
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HISTORY 1302 Theme Three: Emigration & Immigration |
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When Christopher Columbus banged into the western hemisphere on his way to Asia, he unwittingly
set off the biggest mass migration in history. To date, over fifty-five million of these
émigrés have come to the United States of America, the majority from Europe. Why did they leave
their homelands and why did so many come here? What attitudes have Americans held toward the
new arrivals?
In his book, Coming to America, Roger Daniels outlines the push and pull factors of
migration. Push refers to those forces that encourage or force people to leave: drought,
religious persecution, and war. Often it was a lack of land and/or jobs that impelled people
to leave. Pull forces are those factors that draw the immigrant to a particular place.
What pulled people to this country? The United States boasts of being a "free" country- freedom
to practice any religion or no religion at all; freedom of speech and press; freedom to carry a
gun; freedom to send your children to school as long as they can stand it; and most importantly
for many, freedom from continuous oppression. America had jobs; it still does. People often
come here for that reason, and that reason alone.
Daniels also discusses what he calls the three myths of American immigration: Plymouth Rock, the
Statue of Liberty, and the Melting Pot. The Plymouth Rock theory goes something like this: most
immigrants came here seeking refuge from religious persecution in their previous homeland. While
that is true for some immigrants, such as Jews and Catholics, the vast majority who came to
these shores were not motivated by this. The Statue of Liberty theory holds that the
preponderance of the immigrants to this country were poor. In fact, people of all economic
classes migrated here. The Melting pot theory argues that immigrants assimilate into the
dominant American culture (whatever that is), leaving behind their cultural heritage.
According to former New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the melting pot "simply did not
happen." Most ethnic groups struggled, and many still struggle, to maintain personal and
cultural ties to their distant and not-so-distant past.
Nativism: A policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants
Although we are a nation of immigrants, Americans have long held contradictory feelings about our
"open door." There is the tradition of "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free" strain from Emma Lazarus’s poem. But then there is the other mode,
the feeling that screams- "Keep the foreigners out! Keep out their religion, language, and
culture."
In our own time, immigration has reached floodtide proportions. And like the 1920’s, immigration
has taken up a central position on the American social and political agenda.
Anti-immigrant attitudes, which have a long history in this country, have emerged again. During
the 1920’s, the Ku Klux Klan’s virulent anti-foreign , "100 percent Americanism" helped to sway
public attitudes and votes. Immigration quotas were passed by Congress that virtually closed
the door to "undesirable" elements from southern and eastern Europe, and from Asia.
Similarly, many politicians use anti-immigrant rhetoric today.
They want to restrict immigrants in light of the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
They demand more secure borders, higher tariffs on goods from Asia, and encourage the
restriction of student visas from foreign lands.
We as Americans have never been totally secure with ourselves, and thus, we are always changing
our minds about immigrants. We look at foreign lands and their inhabitants as threats to our
preeminence and high standard of living. So, the immigrant, no matter where s/he comes from,
will probably always be viewed with suspicion in the land of immigrants.
America's history is usually written from the point of being a "nation of immigrants." From
"land of our pilgrims' pride" to "give us your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," we
have been indoctrinated to see ourselves as being a people who came to a new world for a better
life. As you analyze the following two maps, consider how immigrant patterns changed between
1820-1879 and 1880-1919? What European nations provided the largest groups of emigrants to
the United States in Map A? Map B? How did these groups differ from each other? When did
Thomas Bailey Aldrich write his poem
Unguarded Gates? Which immigrant groups
did Aldrich target his anger? Why? Which one of these migratory maps created the
greatest amount of concern among Nativists (aka White Anglo-Saxon American Protestants)?
Although xenophobia was the attitude of the day, why were there few restrictions placed on
European immigrants until the 1920's?
Click on the Ellis Island Photo Album
. View all the photos in the
collection. Picture yourself as a newly arriving immigrant to Ellis Island
and write a journal entry based on what you see, hear, taste, smell, and touch. The journal entry
must be one of first impressions. Where country did you emigrate from? Why did you leave your homeland?
What were your expectations of immigrating to America?
( DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE NATURE OF THIS ASSIGNMENT, IT WILL COUNT AS A
DOUBLE ASSIGNMENT. Minimum 200 word essay.)
View the Harper's Weekly site on
The Chinese American Experience and pay particular attention to the cartoons of
Thomas Nast. Do the Nast cartoons tend to support or oppose the rights of
Chinese-Americans and Chinese immigrants? Provide examples.
Did American nationalism and patriotism contribute
to xenophobia toward Asian-American and Asian immigrants?
Read the letters of the
Raczkowski family.
What are the Raczkowsi family immigrant experiences? How might you react to similar circumstances if they occurred in your own life? Are there any immigrant stories in your family that compare to these two families? Did any of your relatives leave behind any letters and/or artifacts that provide you with a glimpse on how they lived?
( DUE TO THE EXTENSIVE NATURE OF THIS ASSIGNMENT, IT WILL COUNT AS A
DOUBLE ASSIGNMENT. Minimum 200 word essay.)
Visit
Beyond the Pale: The History of Jews in Russia. This bilingual (Russian and English)
exhibit provides a detailed account of the rise of anti-semitism in Russia. It includes a excellent
collection of photographs also.
Based on the short stories of
Sholom Aleichem (a Yiddish literature author-
born in Russia in 1859 as Solomon Rabinovitz, he died in New York in 1916),
Fiddler on the Roof
is a story about a family in the small
town of Anatevka in the Ukraine, in 1905 (on the eve of the Russian revolution.) The main character
is the optimistic Tevye (Topol) who is the father of the family (wife and five daughters.) For
as long as he can remember, life has always been governed by certain traditions that will never
be changed.
Or so he thinks. One by one, his daughters (the three eldest: Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava) break
away from tradition (i.e. breaking an agreement for a traditional arranged marriage, marrying with
out his permission, and even marrying outside the faith), each time letting it pass until...well,
now that would be giving out part of the story, wouldn't it! Amongst this is his wife, Golde, who
keeps Tevye down to earth. Tevye faces these problems and still comes out with a smile. Tradition
may be falling apart for him, but his little town Anatevka will hold together just fine. But the time period in which this happens is the time of the
pogroms in Russia. And just a little breeze could blow a fiddler from his roof. Fiddler on
the Roof is a heart warming, tear breaking and awe inspiring story of tradition, family, love,
sorrow and loss.
(G. Jaffe, Resident Fiddler on the Roof Scholar)
What factors contributed to the discrimination against Jews in czarist Russia? (Research this
topic further at
Beyond the Pale: The History of Jews in Russia, since the film does not provide enough
historical background.) What were
pogroms? What led to the Jewish diaspora? What other options did Russia Jews have after being
given the St. Petersburg edict to get out? How did Teyve and Lazar Wolfe view their future home-
America? How does Fiddler on the Roof enlighten you to different reasons for some people immigrating to
turn-of-the-century United
States? How were such newly-arrived individuals treated once they arrived in America?
Ask an older family member (55 and above), what he/she knows about the Revolution?
Were their ancestors involved in Mutual Aid Societies?
Collect some family stories and integrate those stories into an essay
detailing the impact the Revolution had on our current place they call "home."
What factors might lead you to move to an unknown place far away from where you
were born and raised? How might you respond to such a situation?
Author John Phillip Santos, born and raised in San Antonio, wrote
Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation in 1999. Santos's goal was to uncover his roots; to discover his ancestors' past and how they contributed to his being. The following is an excerpt from chapter 1-
Tierra de Viejitas (Land of Little Old Ladies):
I have wondered why she (Aunt Connie) told Madrina all the Santos are dead. Who are we?
Aren't we still unfolding the same great tapestry of a tale begun long, long ago? Aren't my aunts and uncles, cousins, my parents and brothers, all part of the same long dolorous poem that sings of the epoch of ocean-playing caravelas and conquest, of Totonacas and Aztecas, of unimaginable treasures created from jade, silver, and gold? Of gods worshipped and sacrificed to from on top of the pyramids- of thousands upon thousands of Indios baptized for Christ in the saliva of Franciscan monks? We may be latter-day Mexicanos, transplanted into another millenium in El Norte, but we are still connected to the old story, aren't we? The familia walked out of the mountain pueblos of Mexico into the oldest precincts of San Antonio- then finally, into the suburbs of the one-time colonial city, where the memory of our traditions has flickered like a votive flame, taken from the first fire.
It sometimes seems as if Mexicans are to forgetting what the Jews are to remembering. We have made selective forgetting a sacremental obligation. Leave it all in the past, all that you were, and all that you could not be. There is pain enough in the present to go around. Some memories cannot be abandoned. let the past reclaim all the rest, forever, and let stories come to their fitting end.
How are today's immigrants treated as
compared to those who immigrated here 50 or 100 years ago? Why is there a
border patrol today as
compared to earlier times? How would you explain the historical changes regarding immigration over
the past 100 years- especially as it relates to Mexican immigration? And finally, why is there not
a monument commemorating Mexican immigration in the
Rio Grande similar to a
Statue of Liberty in
New York's harbor? Read about the
Immigration Museum of New Americans- Post World War II.
Who Was Shut Out?: Immigration Quotas 1925-1927
In response to growing public opinion against the flow of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe in the years following World War I (1914-1918), the United States Congress passed the Quota Act of 1921, then the even more restrictive Immigration Act of 1924 (the Johnson-Reed Act). Initially, the 1924 law imposed a total quota on immigration of 165,000—less than 20 percent of the pre-World War I average. It based ceilings on the number of immigrants from any particular nation on the percentage of each nationality recorded in the 1890 census.
Analyze the Immigration Quotas for 1925-1927. What nationalities were encouraged to emigrate to the United States? Which nationalities were not? What were some characteristics did the favored nationalities share? What did the Congress and the majority American public fear about those who were shut out? How do such quotas compare to America's contemporary immigration policies? Are there certain groups which are favored? Which ones? Are other groups shunned? Which ones? What did you learn from doing this assignment?
(A) After viewing the first segment of the video Those Who Know Don't Tell, type a
half-page paper on a work experience that you have had that has not obeyed all the laws. What
was your job description? What were you expected to do? Were all those expectations within
a legal working atmosphere? Where did you work? Did the building meet code? What did you notice
on the job that wasn't entirely legitimate? Was there any recourse to report any irregularities?
What would happen if you had done so?
Type a half-page paper on the Butkowskis' work experience. How does the tone of Konstanty
Butkowski's letters change over time? What is Antoni's reaction to the foundry explosion?
What could Konstanty and Antoni have done to prevent such an accident? Who was the
business liable to? What rights did industrial workers have in early 20th century America?
(B) What role did assimilation play in the educational system at the turn-of-the-twentieth-century
America? Compare and contrast the professional educators' expectations of their students
in the films
In the White Man's Image and The Immigrant Experience- The Long,
Long Journey (How does the main character Janek attempt to assimilate?
Is he successful?) What were America's schools attempting to achieve one hundred years ago?
(View the PBS website
Only A Teacher Timeline and scroll to Americanization for more
background.)
How was success measured? Annotate a website that analyzes the history and purposes of American
schools then and now. What is the purpose of public education? To rise above your background?
How has the definition of "American" changed since Janek's time?
(C) Type a one page paper on: Why did your family settle in the San Antonio region? When did your family migrate
to south Texas? There's a strong possibility that one of the reasons your family moved here
was due to the
Mexican Revolution (especially if you are Mexican-American). Link on to the Mexican Revolution
web site. Usually the Mexican Revolution is an eye-opener to most students. This site provides the
basic background on the Revolution. After reading Life's chapter 10- Mexican
Movements into the United States and the web site, ask family members what do they know about
the Mexican Revolution?
Collect some family stories and integrate those stories into an essay
detailing the impact the Revolution had on our current place they call "home."
(D) The Immigrant Experience- The Long,
Long Journey Student-created Questions
Theme #3:
Emigration & Immigration
Ellis Island Photo Album
. From the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation (SOLEIF), these "Ellis Island is a symbol of America's immigrant heritage. Admittance meant a new life, freedom and opportunity. In 1907, a record of 1.2 million immigrants entered the United States. These stereoviews recount the obstacles and the new beginning of millions arriving at the foot of America.
"
Once the European immigrants arrived in the large metropolitan areas, primarily located on the
eastern coast, they had to find housing and they had to find it quickly. For a time, they might
have lived with a cousin or friend who had immigrated a few years before they decided to
re-locate but such a situation often led to overcrowded living conditions.
(see the film
Hester Street to understand how tight the living conditions were at the turn-of-the-twentieth century.)
The website
The Lower Eastside Tenement Museum offers a Virtual Tour of a New York City tenement. Consider that between
1863 and 1935, 7000 tenants lived in 97 Orchard Street. The lives of some of
these residents are the basis of our Virtual Tour. Visit the Gumpertz,
Rogarshevsky, Codino, and Baldizzi apartments. What type of amneties did they have? What did
they consider to be important based on the items located in the apartments? How much privacy did
family members have? If you were given the opportunity to ask these first-generation immigrants
any questions, what might you ask them? And how might they respond?
Read Angel Island: Breaking the Silence. In the early 20th century, America welcomed Chinese immigrants with imprisonment at a dismal outpost. Their unsettling tales are about to be told. How is middle school teacher Katherine Toy exposing her students to this part of American history? If given the opportunity to teach immigration to middle school children, how might you do so? How does the teacher explain the extension of the
Chinese Exclusion Act and other statutory actions to her students?
Watch the film
Fiddler on the Roof. (This is segment from the film's beginning.)
According toTeach With Movies' historical background for Fiddler on the Roof: many Jews lived in poor
farming villages in European Russia in the late 1800's and at the turn of the Century. They were
subject to periodic government sponsored pogroms and dispossessions. Millions emigrated to the
United States in the period 1890-1920. At the end of the 19th century and in the first two
decades of the 20th century, Russia was alive with revolutionary resistance to the Czarist
government. There were many revolutionary groups both communist and capitalist, authoritarian
and democratic. The film character Perchik was a member of one of these groups. In Russia, as
punishment, criminals, including revolutionaries, were sent to Siberia, a wild frozen land with
little civilization. Most never returned.
Why did your family settle in the San Antonio region? When did your family migrate
to south Texas? There's a strong possibility that one of the reasons your family moved here
was due to the
Mexican Revolution (especially if you are Mexican-American). Link on to the
Mexican Revolution.
Usually the Mexican Revolution is an eye-opener to most students. This site provides a
basic background on the Revolution.
What did you learn about the Mexican Revolution before enrolling in this class? How was it
taught in school? What did you learn about the Revolution outside of the classroom? Should the history of the
Mexican Revolution be emphasized to a larger degree in our schools' curriculum? Why/why not?
Robert Runyon's photographs of the Mexican Revolution (1910-20) represent a
generally impartial eyewitness account of events in Northeastern Mexico from 1913 through 1916.
Three hundred fifty unique images in the Runyon Collection document one chapter of the revolution
which Runyon witnessed in Matamoros, Monterrey, Ciudad Victoria, and the Texas border area and
surrounding area.On this site
The Mexican Revolution: Conflict in Matamoros, Robert Runyon photographed the disruption
the Mexican Revolution caused for the people living along the border. After viewing this site,
what factors contributed to the Mexican Revolution and the subsequent diaspora into the United States? What role did the American government and its people play during the Revolution south of the border? If given the opportunity to better understand this period of history, who would you like to interview (famous or commoner) and what might you ask him or
her? Will this period of the past continue to be shrouded in mystery? 
Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation
In the first selection of readings, we read and discussed the impact European and Asian immigration had on the United
States at the turn-of-the-20th century. The latter focus is on Mexican immigration. Unlike the
borders which separate the United States from Europe and Asia (vast oceans), the Rio Grande
border which separates the United States from Mexico is miniscule. The term "a nation of immigrants"
is proclaimed with great pride here in the United States.
Take the following United States Citizenship Test: Do you have what it takes to become a citizen? If you get stuck on any of the questions, take an educated guess. DO NOT RESEARCH THE ANSWERS to get the correct ones! After submitting the exam, see whether or not you have passed becoming aU.S. citizen. How did you do on your exam? What was your percentage? BE HONEST! What does this test reveal about what it takes to become aU.S. citizen? Should all those who reside in the United States be required to know this information or just immigrants? After taking the test and answering the questions, create THREE multiple choice questions- with four choices- that every American and prospective American should know. (Don't reveal the answers to me.)
Type a one page paper answering these questions: