Survey of Immigration

Bullet Points in Bold are possible exam questions.

Identify different rational provided by those who oppose immigration. Has the rational changed throughout the history of this country?

1649 Maryland passes Act for Religious Tolerance
1654 Jewish Immigrants arrive from Brazil in New Amsterdam, not allowed a synagogue
1682 Welsh, Irish and Quakers settle PA, many because of political and religious reasons. Germans establish Germantown, PA, 6 years later declare slavery contrary to Christian faith.
1700 Welsh and English settlers make up 80% of population, Africans 11%, Dutch 4%
1714 Mass exodus of Scots and Irish (revolutions, rent control)
1716 French settle New Orleans. Spanish establish missions in Texas.
1730 First Jewish congregation in NYC
1768 Florida receives large immigration from Italy and Greece
1770 13 Colonies population is 1,688,254 whites and 459,822 blacks
1788 Constitution ratified. Clauses include slave importation cannot cease for 20 years.
1790 1st US Census: Less than ½ population English. 20% African, 15% Irish, 7% German, (757,208 Africans, 697, 681 are slaves)
1790-1820 fewer than 300,000 immigrants

1798 Alien and Sedition Act: requirements for citizenship, authorizes President to deport aliens dangerous to public safety, during wartime, authorizes gov’t to arrest and jail aliens.

1803 43,000 citizens gained, mostly French. 6,000 self describe as Americans
1807 congress prohibits importation of slaves, earliest date set by constitution.
1810 3rd census: 7.2 million, 1,377,808 black, 1,191,362 slaves
1819 1st immigration law, ship captains must prepare passenger lists, effort to improve travel conditions. 3,000 Irish workers arrive, build Erie Canal.
1820’s 150,000 immigrants arrive during decade (Ireland, Germany, England) Many escaping starvation
1825 Scandinavians settle in Western NY (eventually Midwest/plains states)
1830’s 600,000 immigrate to US
1837 Martin Van Buren, 8th president, 1st to fulfill requirement of birth as US citizen
1845 Potato Famine in Ireland (1.5 million people arrive in next decade)
1851 Highest Irish population immigration during Famine (over 200,000), most settle in eastern cities
1854 13,000 Chinese (previous high was 42)
1860 Abraham Lincoln wins presidency without single southern electoral vote. South Carolina, 5 other states form Confederate States of America. Civil War begins
1879 President Hayes vetoes bill limiting Chinese Immigration. California’s constitution prohibits employing Chinese workers.
1880 US/Chinese Gov’t agree US will regulate but not exclude Chinese laborers.
1880 250,000 Jewish people in US (by 1920, 2.5 million)
1882 President Arthur signs Chinese Exclusion Act (banning Chinese for 10 years, later extended)
1882 789,000 Immigrants enter US
1885 Importation of contract laborers prohibited 1890 Increase in Japanese immigration (25,000 by 1900)
1890 NYC has more Italians than Naples, more Germans than Hamburg and 2xs as many Irish as Dublin.
1892 Ellis Island opens as Immigration Hub
1898 Hawaii annexed, 154,000 people. 29,000 whites, 125,000 classified as ‘other’.
1900 US Census, 75 million people (3.6 million immigrants within last decade, 9 million immigrants come in next decade)
1909 creation of NAACP
1910 Tucson, El Paso, San Antonio, San Diego experience huge population growth through Mexican immigration, resulting from Mexican revolution
1913 Californian Alien Land Law prevents Japanese from owning land
1914 Immigration’s all time one year high. 1,218,480 people
1920 most industrial cities, immigrants compose at least ½ population, 3.5 million Jews in US (25% of NYC population), California law prohibits leasing of farmland by Japanese
1921 Emergency Quota Act. 3% of 1910 immigration statistics from each nation are allowed to immigrate (except Mexico and Latin America). Total immigration established at 375,000 per year
1933 16,000 Mexicans deported for illegal immigration. Call for deportation increases because of job competition during great depression.
1934 Hank Greenburg refuses to play baseball on Yom Kippur
1939 US refuses entry of 937 Jewish refugees by way of Cuba, sent back to Germany

1940 Alien Registration Act (Smith Act) requires all aliens to be registered and fingerprinted. Illegal for aliens to advocate for forceful overthrow of government

1942 Internment of 110,000 Japanese (2/3 are US citizens). Move from West Coast to remote regions, property value lost: $400 million
1947 Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s color barrier
1959 Castro becomes Cuba’s president, 20,000 leave for US
1960 JFK first Catholic to hold office
1962 Cesar Chavez creates National Farm Workers Association. James Meredith attempts to register as first black student at U. Mississippi, resulting rioting
1963 Martin Luther King “I Have a Dream Speech”
1964 Civil Rights Act: attempts to ban discrimination in public places, education and employment
1965 Adaptation of immigration quota system. Limit of 120K visas for Western Hemisphere countries, 170K for all other nations. 20K limit per nation
1967 “long, hot summer” 100 American cities have riots (Newark)
1970 century low, 4.8% of citizens are foreign born. ! Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. Attempts to help Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotians settle. 130,000 Vietnamese are accepted
1976 Supreme Court declares constitutional to order white suburbs to provide low-cost public housing to minorities
1977 Korean immigration reaches 30,000 per year
1978 Estimated 8.2 illegal aliens
1981: Top 6 Immigration countries; Mexico, Philippines, Vietnam, China, Dominican Republic, India
1988 Japanese Americans interned during WWII are given $20,000 each.
1990 80,000 immigrants from El Salvador enter. Jamaica has 17,000 per year throughout decade.
1991 Highest number of immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Soviet Union (after breakup)
1996 163,000 Mexican immigrants, 32,000 from Bosnia, 8,000 from Somalia and 2500 from Iraq
1999 Elian Gonzalez Custody case