Chinese Exclusion Act

Chester A. Arthur

signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law in 1882

Jacob Riis

A Danish immigrant, he became a reporter who pointed out the terrible conditions of the tenement houses of the big cities where immigrants lived during the late 1800s. He wrote How The Other Half Lives in 1890.

Nativism

A policy of favoring native-born individuals over foreign-born ones

Ghetto

A poor densely populated city district occupied by a minority ethnic group linked together by economic hardship and social restrictions

Nationalism

A strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country

Ellis Island

An immigrant receiving station that opened in 1892, where immigrants were given a medical examination and only allowed in if they were healthy

Melting Pot Theory

Analogy of American Immigration in which the ingredients in the pot (people of different cultures, races and religions) are combined so as to develop a multi-ethnic society.

Emma Lazarus

Granddaughter of German Jews; wrote "The New Colossus"; wanted immigrants to come to America; glad to accept them and welcome them into the country

Immigration

Migration to a new location

Segregation

Separation of people based on racial, ethnic, or other differences

Central Pacific Railroad Company

The Central Pacific Railroad was a rail route between California and Utah built eastwards from the West Coast in the 1860s, to complete the western part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It later became part of the Union Pacific Railroad

Gentleman's Agreement with Japan

The Gentlemen's Agreement between the United States and Japan in 1907-1908 represented an effort by President Theodore Roosevelt to calm growing tension between the two countries over the immigration of Japanese workers. A treaty with Japan in 1894 had assured free immigration, but as the number of Japanese workers in California increased, they were met with growing hostility.

Magnuson Act of 1943

The Magnuson Act, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943, was an immigration legislation proposed by U.S. Representative Warren G. Magnuson of Washington and signed into law on December 17, 1943 in the United States

Angel Island

The immigration station on the west coast where Asian immigrants, mostly Chinese gained admission to the U.S. at San Francisco Bay. Between 1910 and 1940 50k Chinese immigrants entered through Angel Island. Questioning and conditions at Angel Island were much harsher than Ellis Island in New York.

Geary Act

This law prevented Chinese citizens from coming to American, but let the ones that were already here stay.

xenophobia

a fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers

Statue of Liberty

a large statue symbolizing hope and freedom on Liberty Island in New York Harbor

Gold Rush

a period from 1848 to 1856 when thousands of people came to California in order to search for gold.

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

law that suspended Chinese immigration into America. The ban was supposed to last 10 years, but it was expanded several times and was essentially in effect until WWII. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law that restricted immigration into the United States of an ethnic working group. Extreme example of nativism of period

Muckrackers were

magazine writers who exposed the political and economic evils of the day

Page Act of 1875

the first restrictive federal immigration law and prohibited the entry of immigrants considered "undesirable."

Assimilation

the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another