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.

The immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe came to America in the lat 19th and early 20th centuries because the conditions in their own countries were a lot worse than those in America were supposed to be. So, those people obviously wanted to get to a place where work was easier to find and opportunity was plentiful, or at least supposed to be. Also, many people came to escape religious persecution. For example, whole villages of Jews came from Russia due to pogroms. The people in Asia thought that the United States was a land of opportunity and promise. The people from Asia, however usually weren't trying to escape religious persecution.

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

The immigrants had to endure a horrific journey to America on the boats they took to get there. They usually had to get the lowest class of tickets because they were so poor. They often slept in the bottom of the ship in close conditions with the other immigrants, sharing toilets, and sleeping on lice infested beds. This promoted the spread of disease. Once the immigrants got off the boats, they had to go through an immigration station. This took five hours minimum, but people often were detained to wait their turn. In the immigration station, a doctor examined them for disease, and the had other tests to pass. If they failed any of these they were sent back to the country they came from. However less than two percent of immigrants were turned back.