today we're looking at immigration to the united states in the late 1800s
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the united states is sometimes called the great american melting pot because with the exception
of native americans the entire population of the united states immigrated here at one point and
all of these different cultures have blended together to create american society today
throughout all of american history there have been people moving to america pulled
here for better economic opportunity religious freedom to live near family
or possibly to escape poor conditions in their own country of origin but immigration to the
united states was at its highest point from the 1870s through the early 1900s it is estimated that
between 1870 to 1900 that over 11 million people immigrated to the united states most immigrants
traveled here from europe with a large majority coming from ireland england and germany which
had been the primary countries of origin of most immigration prior to the civil war however after
1870 there were large numbers of immigrants also coming to america from southern european countries
such as italy and greece furthermore many eastern european immigrants from poland and russia
also made their way to the united states a vast majority nearly 70 percent of all european
immigrants entered america at new york city the typical voyage from europe to america during
the mid to late 1800s was about 10 to 12 weeks at sea but with better technology by the early 1900s
the voyage could be made as quickly as five days from 1855 to 1890 most arrived at fort clinton
also known as the castle garden located at the southern end of manhattan island
castle garden was the first official immigration center in america in 1892 the federal government
established ellis island in new york harbor as the official immigration center for new york city
located no more than a few hundred yards from the recently completed statue of liberty which was
finished in 1886 now new immigrants to america would be greeted by the 300 foot tall symbol
of freedom and prosperity in the first year it was opened ellis island would process over 400
000 immigrants and it's in its first five years of operation over 1.5 million immigrants came
through the island on the 27-acre island newly arrived immigrants would have to wait in long
lines waiting for medical and legal inspections to decide if they were allowed to enter the
country many immigrants remain close to where they departed their boats arriving in america primarily
due to the fact that they lacked any money to move any further inland they would go on to establish
their own neighborhoods such as little italy and new york in fact today new york city is considered
to be one of the most diverse cities in the world with an estimated 800 languages spoken there
some immigrants arrived with more resources and were able to move further inland
and there they established their own communities and towns beyond simply european immigration to
the east coast there were large asian populations that immigrated to the west coast at the same time
many chinese immigrants came to california during the california gold rush but immigration continued
to grow unfortunately during the 1870s there was an economic downturn and competition for work
became fierce many americans began to view asian immigrants as competition to them getting work
in fact in july of 1877 there was a three-day anti-chinese riot in san francisco in which
many chinese homes were destroyed and four people were killed this violence unfortunately
led to congress passing the chinese exclusion act in 1882 which brought chinese immigration
to a halt in america for the next 100 years this nativist movement spread throughout
the u.s in the late 1800s and early 1900s with many people despite having immigrant heritage
themselves arguing that there needed to be more limitations on immigration to the united states
millions of immigrants were drawn to large cities in the u.s that were growing rapidly
during the gilded age as factories were getting larger and larger unfortunately many employers
took advantage of immigrants who were new to the country and hired them paying small unfair wages
most immigrants were paid less than other workers who had lived in america for generations gradually
though new immigrants overcame discrimination and unfair treatment and would go on to help shape
our american identity so with that hopefully you learned something and thanks for watching
you