Part Two: The Immigration Journey, The Process of Immigration

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, stages, and concepts of the immigration process and historical movements outlined in the lecture.

Process of Immigration

The journey of an immigrant from their home country all the way to their final destination, consisting of six major steps.

Safe Conducts

Letters of recommendation from local priests or ministers used before passports existed (prior to 1917) confirming that an immigrant was free, held no debt, was not indentured, and was not escaping criminal charges.

Passport

Official governmental travel documentation, derived from the French term for city walls (portes), which was not required in the United States until 1917.

Coyote

A modern term for a smuggler who is paid to transport immigrants across border lines.

American Letters

Personal letters written by immigrants residing in America back to their families in their home countries detailing their positive or negative experiences.

Power of the Returned Immigrant

The strong social influence created when a former migrant returns to their home village after gaining or losing wealth in America, inspiring or deterring others from migrating.

Transit Stage

Step three of the immigration process, divided into three substeps: traveling to a port city, working in the port city to afford passage, and undergoing the transoceanic voyage.

Coffin Ships

Deteriorated transoceanic ships used by poor immigrants (such as Irish and Chinese groups) where high rates of illness, starvation, and disease often resulted in a mortality rate of 25 percent or higher.

Steerage Class

The lowest and cheapest ticket class on a vessel, situated below the waterline without windows, light, or fresh air access, where most poor immigrants were confined during transit.

Ship's Fever

A blanket term for contagious, often fatal deadly diseases that spread rapidly among passengers in crowded ship steerage compartments.

Loan Shark

An individual in port cities who bought debt owed to ship captains by arriving immigrants and collected payment directly upon their arrival.

Assimilation

The cultural process in which an immigrant group completely adopts the dominant host nation's culture, language, religion, dress, and customs while shedding their original culture.

Separation

The practice where an immigrant group completely rejects host country assimilation and creates isolated enclave communities preserving their native language, attire, and traditions.

Integration

A strategy where immigrants publicly adopt the language and practices of the dominant culture for work or school while maintaining their native culture at home.

Othering

The practice of marginalizing or alienating individuals or groups based on perceived differences in physical characteristics, race, or ethnicity.

Formative Wave

The initial wave of European settlement to America (1607–1830), primarily composed of Western Europeans (predominantly English) who viewed themselves as founders rather than immigrants.

Native Americans (Formative Wave usage)

The self-identification label applied to themselves by white English and Western European settlers during the period of 1607 to 1830 to assert that they founded American government and culture.