Immigration Webquest

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THE IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE

INTRODUCTION

Between 1860 and 1900 Ellis Island became the beginning for many people from Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Poland.

Welcome. You have come through the door to begin a new life in America. It has been a difficult journey. Your life in the United States will be different from the life you left behind. As an immigrant, you came to the United States of America for a reason. It could have been to escape persecution, to improve your life, or to live in freedom.

I. RESEARCHING IMMIGRATION:

For each set of questions below, visit the site listed and answer the questions that follow:

http://www.pbs.org/inthemix/shows/show_teen_immigrants4.html

1. In the space below, draw a pie graph that illustrates what the racial composition of the United States looked like in 1790, when the first U.S. Census was taken:

2. How many immigrants were added to the U.S. population between 1860 and 1880?

3. Which two groups of immigrants did this number include?

4. Which two groups were employed largely in building the railroads?

5. How many more immigrants were added to the U.S. population over the next two decades (1880-1900)?

6. Why did such large numbers of Russians emigrate to the United States during the years leading up to the turn of the 20th

century?

7. During the peak years of immigration in the 20th_{century, how many additional immigrants arrived in the United States?}

Which regions of the world were they from?

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9. Based upon what happened between 1920 and 1940, what do you think the term, ‘nativist’ means?

10. Which event in U.S. history caused net immigration totals to be negative numbers, for the first time?

11. How many immigrants arrived between 1940 and 1960?

12. Assuming that immigration totaled 8 million between 1960 and 1980, how many immigrants arrived from each region listed below, based upon the information given in this source?

Latin America

Asia

Cuba

Vietnam/Laos/Cambodia

13. In the space below, construct a bar graph showing immigration totals during the following time periods:

1840-1860 1860-1880 1880-1900 1900-1920 1920-1940 1940-1960 1960-1980

http://www.genealogy.com/00000389.html?Welcome=1043247931

14. By 1870, roughly what fraction of the American population was foreign-born?

15. Why did the “Know Nothing” movement begin?

16. What are immigration quotas? When were they first set up?

17. An Act of Congress excluded which specific group of immigrants in 1882?

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http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eihist.html

19. Click on “Ellis Island (The History)”

Explain how Ellis Island became the receiving station for immigrants during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

20. Click on “Ellis Island (Virtual Tour)”

Read the quotes and look at the pictures in the virtual tour of Ellis Island, explain one or two things that you learned from these quotes and pictures that you can’t get from reading the history.

21. Click on “Statue of Liberty” (The Creation) (The Symbolism)

a. Why did the French give this gift to the United States? How did it come to reside where it did?

b. Explain the symbolism of the following features on the Statue of Liberty a. Chains

b. Torch c. Tablet d. Crown

22. Click on “Comics”

Look at the cartoons on the webpage, select one and explain the message which the cartoon is trying to convey about immigrants or immigration.

23. Click on “Immigration”: For the following immigrant groups address the following questions: Why and When they arrived Where did they settle? What type of work were

they engaged with?

What were some types of discrimination they

faced?

The Germans

The Italians

The Irish

The Japanese

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http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=1468&display_ord

er=2&mini_id=1459

24. Approximately what percentage of present-day Americans can trace their ancestry back to immigrants who came through Ellis Island?

25. About how many people landed at Ellis Island?

26. What are some of the reasons listed for emigration from the Old World?

27. How many passed through Ellis Island daily between 1900 and 1914?

28. Based upon the information provided, how do you think the National Origins Act of 1924 and the Quota Act of 1921 affected this flow of immigrants?

29. During the 1700’s, what was Ellis Island used for?

30. Name the first federal immigration law (1790) and explain who it entitled to US citizenship.

31. What was Ellis Island used for during the year 1812?

32. What did President Lyndon B. Johnson order concerning Ellis Island in 1965?

33. How did President Lyndon B. Johnson loosen immigration restrictions in 1965?

34. What percentage of the total U.S. population did white people total in 1965?

http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/childlabor/

Explore working conditions and jobs available to the children of immigrants at the following link. Imagine you are the child of an immigrant during the Industrial Era. Decide on what life holds for you in your new home.

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EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT: IMMIGRATION ISSUES

Go to the New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/

 Type “immigration” in the search bar.