Turn of the Century Immigration

The following questions will guide student learning in Lesson 1 of the Lesson Progression:

• 1. Why did immigrants leave their homeland?
• 2. What attracted them to America?
• 3. How were the ports of entry similar and/or different?

Lesson 1

1. Pre-Writing Assignment – students complete a “Reading to Learn” assignment  prior to the lesson.

2. Hook – Students listen to a recording of “America” by Neil Diamond with a discussion to follow about the message and tone of the song.

3. Chart from The Americans  p. 461 – use in class to discuss overall immigrant patterns.

4. Large group discussion of their reaction to the homework reading. List the responses to Essential Questions # 1 and 2 on the board. Make a copy to refer to later.

5. Put students into groups of 6. Each group has three folders – one each on Ellis Island, Angel Island and Charleston, SC (see Activities for lesson 1). Working with a partner from the group, students    
    examine the contents of one of the folders, complete the assignment, and then take turns sharing information with the other group members about each port of entry.

6. As a group, the students create a visual representation to answer Essential Question # 3. Each group presents and explains their visual.

7. Class Discussion with follow up question and answer period.

8. Each student completes the journal assignment topic “What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a nation filled with diverse ethnic groups?

The following questions will guide student learning in Lesson 2 of the Lesson Progression:

• How did immigrants adjust to their new home?
• How did Americans respond to the new immigrants?

Lesson 2

1. Review previous lesson on differences in reception at Ellis Island, Angel Island, and Charleston, SC.

2. Divide class in to small groups of 3 – 4 students:

• Give each group several pictures of urban living and working conditions – slums, ethnic neighborhoods, children in factories, (refer to lesson 2, Primary Sources section in resources). After viewing the pictures, students are to complete the photo evaluation worksheet.
• Distribute copies of “Unguarded Gates”, “The New Colossus”, and excerpts from The Jungle  to each group. Have students follow along as the teacher reads the 2 poems. Students then silently read the excerpts from The Jungle.  Students should mark each of the text as they read, and select the 3 most important words in each selection. Using these 3 words, students write a summary of the theme/message of each work.

3. Generate a class list of the problems facing the immigrants. Compare the list of problems with the list of reasons to come to America created in the previous lesson. Ask the students how they think the immigrants felt about their decision to come to America? Why might they think they made the right/wrong decision?

4. Compare these responses to issues surrounding immigration today. What similarities/differences do they see?

5. Each student will create an original poem, letter, or diary entry in response to one of the following topics:

• Child labor
• Urban living
• American reaction to immigrants
• Tibishi poems from Angel Island

Requirements:

• Poem needs at least 8 lines with 3 poetic devices – personification, metaphor, and simile
• Include references to 3 or more historical facts
• Letter/diary - 250 – 300 words, typed – only one page
• Illustrated

6. As students finish work on their poems, have them prepare 3 questions they would like to discuss on today’s immigration issues during a Socratic Seminar. Topic for seminar: “Is America losing her identity”

Historical Background Notes
Lesson 1

Between 1880 and 1920 the U.S. acted as a huge magnet for immigrations from all directions. Most settled in large cities like San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Boston. Previous immigrants had come to America from western and northern Europe and were often well educated, spoke English and had useful skills. Except for the Irish, most were also protestant. By 1880, the trend of immigration changed. Most coming to America were from southern and eastern Europe and tended to be Catholic or Jewish, poor, unskilled and knowing no English. Their habits and culture were very different from native-born Americans.

America was viewed as the “golden door” to opportunity – hope of a better life. For this new wave of immigrants, life in Europe and Asia was difficult at best. They came seeking to escape famine, land shortage and religious or political persecution. Others, known as “birds of passage”, wanted to come to America temporarily for money with the intention of returning to their homeland. There were some political efforts in the southern states like S. C.  to recruit immigrants for more desirable locations such as Germany and Belgium in an attempt to increase the white labor force for the mills and to sell farm land.

Most immigrants arrived by steamship. Travel across the Atlantic from Europe took approximately one week, while Pacific crossing from Asia took nearly three weeks. The cheapest accommodations were in steerage, the cargo area where conditions were crowded and unsanitary. Upon arrival at the designated port of entry, immigrants faced the question of whether they would be admitted to the U.S. The process at Ellis Island in NYC required a physical exam and government inspection of documents. As the major immigration station in the US at the turn of the century, nearly 20 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island. Immigrants arriving from Asia gained admission at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. Processing at Angel Island was a contrast to Ellis Island. Immigrants faced harsh questioning and lengthy detentions in a rundown, dirty facility. Writings know as Tibishi poems have been found on the detention and barrack walls expressing the immigrant’s anger and disappointment in America. Immigrants coming to the Port of Charleston, S.C., on the other hand, were sponsored with free passage, guaranteed jobs, and a place to stay with local families while in Charleston. A welcoming committee tried very hard to meet all their needs.

Lesson 2

Although life in America was a great improvement in most cases, it had a hard time living up to the dreams and expectations of most immigrants. They were immediately faced with finding a place to live, getting a job in addition to understanding an unfamiliar language and culture. It was difficult to adjust to life in a large industrial city. Their urban living conditions could be classified as slums with all the typical issues and problems associated with that environment. Most took the lowest paid jobs and often whole families including young children worked to earn enough to survive.  Working conditions were unsafe with long hours at little pay. 

Immigrants from each country tended to live in the same neighborhoods. These ethnic neighborhoods were like cities within cities offering new immigrants a chance to hold on to some aspects of their old world. These de facto neighborhoods provided familiar foods, others who spoke their language, and worship services. Often a political boss would offer services and aid in exchange for political support.

After 1886, the immigrants’ first sight of America was often the Statue of Liberty. At the base of the statue were the words written by Emma Lazarus:

“Give me your tired, your poor

Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.”

Not all Americans agreed with this sentiment. Many native-born Americans resented the new immigrants. Industrialists were delighted with the plentiful cheap labor, but American workers were worried by these new arrivals' willingness to work long hours for low wages. American “nativists” believed the new immigrants were a physically and mentally inferior group. Some feared they were radicals who wanted to destroy American democracy. There were some efforts to restrict the influx of immigrants. Congress tried to pass a Literacy bill in 1897 to restrict those immigrants who could not read, but President Cleveland vetoed the bill. Congress did exclude a particular group of people during this period – the Chinese. Because of language and cultural differences, the Chinese appeared to be unwilling to “Americanize”. Asian immigrants, who were victims of severe interrogation and detention on Angel Island, were often left with feelings of anger and disappointment. Tibishi poems on the barracks and detention room walls serve as proof. In 1882, Congress responded to California’s demands by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibiting Chinese workers from entering the U.S for 10 years. Also, the Gentleman’s Agreement with Japan supported both countries' desire to limit the Japanese from leaving their native country and coming to America.

Strengths of lessons:
It would be so nice if I had the time, materials and support to generate units and lessons like this all the time. I spent untold hours working on the 2 lessons, asked several teachers to edit and critique them, and even did both lessons myself. I was very pleased with the outcome. They were well-organized and thought-out. When each lesson was over, I asked the students what they liked and what they would change. They liked the primary pictures (they always do) and the oral history interviews from Ellis Island. They enjoyed the interactive web site on Angel Island but decided the narrator was “gay”. They especially liked the visual representation activity comparing all 3 ports of entry. I’m convinced today’s teens were not allowed to color enough as children. They were enthralled with the information on Charleston. They said it gave them a 3rd perspective on immigration in the US that they had not known before. It led to a great discussion on whether SC was justified in recruiting certain types of people.

Weakness of lessons:
There are several things I will change and modify for next year. The government Year Book of Charleston document by Mayor Rhett was too long – I need to only give excerpts and select the strongest readers for that assignment. Also, Neil Diamond’s song “America” was not a big hit. I will try to find a more contemporary song. I really needed more unscheduled time to allow students to freely discuss and share. The short reflections served their purpose, but it is not a satisfactory substitute for conversation. Unfortunately time restraints keep me from allowing a lot of in-depth discussion and research. End Of Course testing is killing me.

Lesson 1
Completion of worksheets, see Activities for lesson 1–

• Read to Learn - homework
• “America” – poem analysis
•  Reading Graphs

Completion of primary document analysis in group work, see Activities for lesson 1:
 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FocBD06AfvGutNxFIC6J9IGJglEQLaNAAD7W...

• Group visual
• Reflective journal writings
• Participation, see Assessment Rubric lesson 1

Assessment Rubric link lesson 1:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bOJVdtgMkmnd7VFucR8uJrmO1734GiriP6mr...

Lesson 2

• Completion of photo evaluation worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I1eA6bmfhp0TXIIErQ21fj_bjFZgqE3UPp6Q...
• Three Text Response worksheets to “New Colossus”, “Unguarded Gates”, and excerpts from The Jungle: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dTwl5JxYawTQmxBbTijpuP_4QMRLWmHAf0LM...
• Original Poem, see Assessment Rubric lesson 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A8VSTxhkPd-K4pvPg8du6LJbeOYn7QP1y5rR...
• Questions on current immigration issues, see Assessment Rubric lesson 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A8VSTxhkPd-K4pvPg8du6LJbeOYn7QP1y5rR...
• Participation in Socratic Seminar: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rHMiLa-KtewwwJgLi8RScltU4HQ9BwWw4_pw...