A nation of immigrants:
Historical background
X1AN103 - US civilization
Lecture 5
C. Tholas
Introduction
• J.F. Kennedy (1958): “Every American who ever
lived, with the exception of one group, was either an
immigrant himself or a descendant of immigrants”
• E PLURIBUS UNUM
• The US: Promised Land
religious, political, economic motivations
• Immigrants : 13.6% of the U.S. population 77% in
the country legally
OUTLINE
I/ Immigration before the Revolution
a) Early settlements
b) A diverse population coming from Europe
II/ Massive immigration during the 19th century and
early 20th century
a) From Europe
b) From Asia
c) Melting Pot VS Salad Bowl
III/ After the 1965 Immigration Act
a) The 1965 Act: New requirements
b) The 1990 Immigration Act and the Green Card
lottery
Early settlements
• Virginia Settlement : Jamestown (1609) economic
motivations : Gold
• New England Settlements Religious Freedom /
Puritans fleeing England because of religious
persecultions
Asked for a purification of the Church
A diverse population coming from Europe
(17th & 18th centuries)
American colonies: diversity of
population
• New York founded as New
Netherland in 1624
• New France / refuge for
Huguenots
• Great Diversity in the Middle
Colonies : religious and ethnic
diversity
Hector St John Crèvecoeur, Letters from An American Farmer (1782):
“What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an
European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could
point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose
son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different
nations. He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners,
receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and
the new rank he holds”.
Massive immigration from Europe
(19th and early 20th century)
• Industrial revolution from countryside to urban and industrial centers /
overcrowding of Europe
• 1rst wave (till 1880): German, Irish [potatoe famine], Swedish, Norwegian,
Dane immigrants farmers, laborers, accepted by American society
• 2nd wave (after 1880): Italian, Russian, Polish, Austrian Hungarian, Greek,
etc escaping intense poverty and religious persecutions, despised by
earlier immigrants
• Immigration centers 1) Castle Gardens (till 1890) 2) Ellis Island (1892-
1954)
• Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 quota system
Ellis Island
Asian immigration
• Gold Rush + railroad (1850s-1860s) Chinese immigration : 20% of
california’s labor force in 1870
• Strong anti-Asian sentiment; fear of « yellow peril » 1882 Chinese
Exclusion Act
• After 1855, arrival of Japanese, Koreans and Filipinos
• Severe discrimination Pacific Coast race riots in 1907 in SF against
Japanese
• 1907 US-Japan Gentleman's Agreement
• 1924 Johnson Reed Act: “Asiatic Barred Zone”
Melting Pot VS Salad Bowl
• Melting Pot: Assimiliation Americanization programs
from immigrants
Ex: Lessons at Ford Motor Company, classes by Young Men’s
Christian Association
• Salad Bowl : Multiculturalism
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act
• End of quotas emphasis on equal treatement (influence of civil
rights act of 1964)
• Family reunion, professional skills, refugee status.
• 1965 population: 84% white, 11% black, 4% Hispanic and 1%
Asian
• Today population: 62% white, 11% black, 18% hispanic,
Asian 6%
• Creation of the “Preference system”
The 1990 immigration Act
and the Green Card lottery
• Diversity Immigrant Visa program (since 1995) = Green
card lottery to become a permanent resident
• 50,000 people per year selected to receive an immigrant
visa, out of 14 million applicants
• from countries with low numbers of immigrants in the
previous five years
• High school diploma + work experience
