A+Guide+To+Immigration+History

toc  Immigration of Pre-Constitution Era >>>> >>>>
 * First technical immigrants who came to America are Native Americans
 * Crossed the Bering Strait during Ice Age
 * Next were Spanish Conquistadores
 * Profited from gullible Native Americans
 * Next were English men
 * English men sought a way to profit due to Law of Primogeniture
 * Sons other than the first one did not receive inheritance.
 * Settlement was one of the viable way to invest
 * Joint-stock company made this possible
 * Roanoke colony was one of the first English Settlement in 1587
 * Failed miserably as the settlers disappeared.
 * Jamestown was the first surviving English settlement that was established in 1607
 * Through John Smith’s rigorous leadership, //lazy// English men worked and survived.
 * Introduction of tobacco as cash crop by John Rolfe helped Jamestown’s economy.
 * Plymouth colony was established in 1620 by English Separatists
 * John Winthrop and other English Puritan followers founded Massachusetts Bay colony in 1630’s.
 * Most of the immigrants to the New World sought for either economic profit or religious freedom.
 * Next, most of the immigrants came in form of indentured servitude or slavery.
 * Indentured servitude from Europe
 * Mixtures of all the Europeans
 *  From....
 *  England
 *  Germany
 *  France (Huguenots)
 *  etc.
 *  *most of them were from Western Europe.
 * Slavery from Africa
 * Middle Passage
 * Africans initially had some rights and were treated in a same way as indentured servants did.
 *  Some were freed after certain period of time

During John Adams' Presidency, Federalists passed several acts in order to keep their reign in Congress and US Presidency against lawful Democratic Republican supporters, who were constituted mainly of farmers and naturalized immigrants.

Both acts were passed in series in 1798.

Alien Act was passed by Federalist party, which had taken the majority of Congress and had John Adams—Federalist—as US President. This act essentially granted the federal government power to deport or imprison any enemy aliens, which at the time were French.

Naturalization Act was passed along with Alien Acts, which essentially extended a time required for aliens to naturalize from five years to 14 years. This act disabled many aliens from acquiring citizenship for immigrants.

There were several factors that discouraged immigration until 1820's.

Napoleonic War & War of 1812 Because of Napoleonic War prohibited any interactions between mainland European regions and British and transatlantic areas, the immigration from 1792 and 1814 dramatically decreased. As a result, until 1814, most of the immigrants were English. However, this is not completely true due to the War of 1812, which again decreased British immigration from 1812 to 1814, when the war ended.

The main component of non-English immigrants was, of course, Africans. Though they did not come to America on their own will, they were indeed immigrants. However, the "immigration" of Africans ceased after 1808, when the importation of African slaves was prohibited, due to prior promise during the Constitutional Convention.

**Alien Laws (1798)**
Federalist Congress raised the residency requirement for citizenship to keep away foreigners from politics. President also held the power to deport 'dangerous' immigrants who threatened the peace.

**Sedition Act (1798)**
Federalist Congress wanted to curb the influence of Democratic Republican, and anyone who spoke bad about government was in prison and had to pay fine. Expired in 1801 by Republican.

**Tammany Hall (established 1789)**
New York political machine, which gained support from immigrants.

**Ancient Order of Hibernians (mid-nineteenth century)**
Irish society to help Irish newcomers in the U.S.

**Know-Nothing party (1850s)**
In response to increased immigrants, Nativist political party was formed, drawing former Whigs. It was especially anti-Catholic, favoring restrictions on further immigrations and restricting votes from immigrants.

**Political Machines**
Politics in major cities were heavily influenced by political machines. Machines provided various support to immigrants to remain in power, making positive reforms in local services and education.

**New Immigrants**
Immigrants from 1880s to 1924, contrast to old immigrants from western Europe. They were mainly from southern and eastern Europe and lived in ethnic urban neighborhoods. They were many non-English speakers, and economically poorer than old immigrants. Nearly 28 million immigrants arrived in the United States from 1870 to 1920 (peak from 1900 to 1910).

**Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)**
Federal legislation prohibiting further Chinese immigration into the U.S., and became the first major legal restriction on immigration.

**Settlement houses**
Middle-class and native-born women mostly ran houses that provided housing, food, education, child care, social connections, and cultural activities. Jane Addam's Hull House and Lillian Wald's Henry Street Settlement are the most famous.

Gentleman's Agreement in 1907
This was an agreement between Japan and United States to regulat the number and background of Japanese immigrants to the United States. Japan agreed to only allow educated and people with interests in business to migrate to the United States, and not allow laborers the freedom to travel. In exchange for this offer, the President of United States, Theodore Roosevelt promised to desegregate California schools.

Literacy Tests in 1917
The federal government, over President Wilson's veto, passed a law in 1917 that required all new immigrants sixteen or older to take the literacy tests. This was commonly called the "Asiatic Barred Zone" prevented all Asian immigrants from entering the country.

**Ku Klux Klan**
Revived during 1920, which was more anti-foreign, anti-Jewish, anti-pacifist, anti-Communist, anti-evolutionist, anti-bootlegger, and anti-internationalist than KKK in Reconstruction. Over 5 million joined by 1925.

**Emergency Quota Act of 1921**
Limited immigration in 1910 to 3 percent of the number of people each country had living in the United States. This act limited the immigration of new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, and cut immigration in 1922 to roughly 40 percents of the immigrants in 1921.

**Immigration Act of 1924**
Same as National Origins Act, establishing quotas for immigration to the America. New immigrants from southern and eastern Europe decreased, and immigration from Asia was virtually shut down.

=1930-1980=

Tydings-McDuffie Act
This provided independence of hte Philippines on July 4, 1949, but stripped away Filipinos of their status as United States citizens. Until around 1965, the immigration laws, strictly limited much of the immigrants from the Philippines. This was until around 1965, where the immigration law was revised.

Japanese During WWII
Many Japanese-Americans were relocated and interned by the United States government starting from 1942, the outbreak of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Around 110,000 Japanese Americans living along the Pacific Coast were interned. This was legally allowed by President Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. Japanese were restricted of immigration to the United States during this time.

War Brides Act of 1945
This allowed foreign-born wives of United States citizens who served in the United States military to immigrate to the United States. Later, around 1946, the extension of the act included all fiances of American soldiers being allowed to immigrate to the United States.

Luce-Cellar Act of 1946
This allowed all Filipinos and Asian Indians, including present-day Pakistanis and Bangladeshis to become naturalized citizens. This act ended discrimination against the two Asian American groups which were once thought as people who are unable to assimilate within the American society.

End of WWII
Immigration laws became less strict after the war which led to a surge of refugees from Europe to United States. Many immigrated for jobs, and from 1941 to 1950, more than 1 million people immigrated to the United States. This was helped by the "Displaced Persons Act" in 1948, which allowed displaced people, or those who experienced hardship, such as abuse, torture, neglect during the war. Around 200,000 displaced people were allowed to immigrate to the United States from Europe in 1948, and another entry of 200,000 in 1950.

Early 1950s
Internal Security Act rejected any foreigner who was Communist or had any relation with Communism that may harm the welfare or safety of United States. Many Koreans were rejected of immigration in the 1950s due to the national orignal quotos in the immigration laws, but in the 1960s, these laws allowed many immigrants to migrate to the United States. In 1952, the McCarran Walter Immigration Act, similarly to the national quota act in 1924, limited the number of immigrants in the United States to only 1/6 of only one percent of the population of United States.

Operation Wetback in 1954 forced thousands of illegal immigrants back to Mexico. The failed Hungarian Revolution in 1956 led to hundreds of thousands of Europeans, mainly the Hungarians to move to the United States. In this decade, around two million new immigrants were present in the United States, with the most arriving from Germany.This was similar after the Cuban revolution, where around 400,000 refugees flowed in from Cuba to the United States.
 * Mid to late 1950s**

Hart Cellar Act of 1965
This law replaced the quotas that had preferences based on family relationships and job skills that many of the United States had limited on. Through this act, many immigrants from countries such as Korea, China, India, Philippines, and Pakistan immigrated to the United States.