Immigration

1. Describe the causes of the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

• Southern and Eastern Europeans-Many immigrants left to avoid religious persecution. Others came to America to escape the rapidly increasing European population. Within a century the population doubled causing their to be a land shortage for farming. This left the farmers and laborers to fight for the already few industrial jobs. To these people jobs seemed to be plentiful in America.
• Chinese- Many came to the country in hopes of striking gold after they heard of the California gold rush. After they were done working on many of the nation's railroads, the Chinese turned to farming, mining, and domestic service. Some even became businessmen.
• Koreans- The book does not mention anything about Korea but there are numerous possible reasons for people to emigrate. Some reasons might be because there was political turmoil or jobs were scarce.
• Japanese-Once Hawaii joined the United States, Japanese immigration greatly increased. Before the Japanese were being recruited by Hawaiian planters. Many voyaged to America when they heard the wages were quite high there.

2. Describe the journey immigrants endured and their experiences at United States immigration stations.

The most common way to reach America was by steamship. depending on where your departing location was, a journey could last from approximately one to three weeks. This wouldn't be so bad if most of the immigrants didn't not have to travel in the cheapest accommodation, the steerage. Very little often were they allowed to go on the ship's deck. This left them in their quarters for most of the time without fresh air or exercise. Often were the bunks louse-infested and the toilets were to be shared by many. Disease was easily and quickly spreadable. Some passengers died before they arrived to America.

All were filled with excitement at the sight of America but it was soon silenced by the anxiety of being unsure if they would be admitted or not into the country. They first had to pass the inspection at the immigration stations. About 20 percent of immigrants were detained for a day or more before being inspected but only 2 percent were denied entry into the country. The processing of immigrants was not a quick process. Immigrants were first required to pass a physical examination by doctors. This made sure no diseases were brought along with passengers into the country. Those who passed then were sent to be inquired by a government inspector. He also checked documents making sure they met the legal requirements to enter. This process occurred in Ellis Island, New York.

For immigrants entering the United Stated through the west coast it was similar story. They were inspected in Angel Island. Although, there was a major difference in how the immigrants were processed. They were faced with harsh questioning and detained for many hours in dirty, old buildings until they heard of whether they were accepted or rejected.