American History - Unit 3 ✅

“New” immigrants

Immigrants who arrived from southern and Eastern Europe in increasing numbers until the outbreak of World War I

Steerage

The location on the lower decks of steamships that immigrants traveled in that had no private cabins, were crowded and dirty, and allowed disease to spread at a rapid pace

Ellis Island

An immigration station at New York Harbor that processed immigrants beginning in 1892

Angel Island

A processing center for Chinese immigrants with notably harsh conditions that opened in 1910

Americanization

Programs that helped newcomers learn English and adopt American dress and diet

Melting pot

Referring to what settlement workers and immigrants believed was what America was becoming, with white people of all different nationalities blended to create a single culture

Nativism

A tendency toward preferring native-born, white Americans over “new” immigrants

Chinese Exclusion Act

An act passed by Congress in 1882 that prohibited immigration by Chinese immigrants already in the United States, and forbade the naturalization of Chinese residents

Urbanization

A period in American history where the number of cities and people living in them increased dramatically

Rural-to-urban migrants

People who moved to cities from the country in the 1890s because of the difficulties that came with living on a farm

Skyscrapers

A very tall, continuously habitable building that has many floors, usually designed for offices, apartments, or hotels.

Elisha Otis

The inventor of the safety elevator that would not fall if the lifting rope broke

Mass Transit

Public systems that could carry large numbers of people fairly in expensively that reshaped the nation’s transportation in cities

Suburbs

The cleaner, quieter perimeter of a city that has housing

Frederick Law Olmsted

A landscape engineer who designed Fairmount Park, New York City’s Central Park, and similar parks in other cities

Tenements

Low-cost multifamily housing designed to squeeze in as many families as possible

Cholera

A particularly dangerous illness that reached epidemic proportions several times in the United States in the 1800s, killing thousands

“Old” immigrants

The first wave of immigrants that came from north / west Europe, like England and Ireland

1907 Gentlemen’s Agreement

An agreement between the U.S. and Japan where they agreed to regulate the number of Japanese immigrants, allowing only the business class of educated immigrants to migrate, excluding laborers or unskilled workers

Mass immigration

The fastest growth in immigration in U.S. history happened between 1890 and 1900