The New Immigration in American History :: American America History

The New Immigration in American History In 1886 the statue of Liberty learn the World, a giftfrom the people of France, was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland. Set at the entrance to New York, the statue was just in time to greet thebiggest migration in global history. Between 1880 and World War I, about 22 million men, women, andchildren entered the United States. More than a million arrived in eachof the years 1905, 1906, 1907, 1910, 1913, and 1914. non everyone had to travel in steerage. Passengers who couldafford the expense paid for first- or second-class quarters. Upon arrivalthese immigrants were examined by courteous officials who boarded theships at anchor. But those in steerage were displace to a holding center fora full physical and mental examination. The facility at Ellis Islandwhich opened in 1892 could process up to 5,000 people a day. On some daysbetween 1905 and 1914 it had to process more than 10,000 immigrants a day. Many a rrivals had left their homelands to escape mobs who attackedthem because of their ethnicity, religion, or politics. The German,Russian, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman (Turkish) empires ruled over moredifferent peoples and nationalities and often cruelly mistreated them. Until 1899, U.S. immigration officials asked arrivals which nationthey had left, not their religion or ancestry. So oppressed people werelisted under the countries from which they fled. Armenians who escapedfrom dud were recorded as Turks, and Jews who had been beaten by mobsin Russia were listed as Russians. This so called new immigration was different in many other waysfrom previous immigration. For the first time, Catholic an Jewishimmigrants outnumbered Protestants, and still other arrivals were Muslims,Buddhists, or Greek or Russian Orthodox church members. Until 1897, 90 percent of all afield immigrants had come fromProtestant northern and western Europe. Many of these nations haddemo cratic traditions and education systems. Even among the poor, manyhad spent a few years in develop or had acquired some industrial skills onthe job, and more than a few spoke English. Many of these men and womensettled in agriculture regions of the Untied States.