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Immigration in US History Notes
Concepts of Migration in the US
Immigration has been a central theme in US history, with evolving views and narratives. Walt Whitman described the US as a "teeming nation of nations," and John F. Kennedy noted that immigrants have enriched and strengthened American life.
The immigration process involves three phases:
Departure: Leaving the homeland.
Voyage: Often perilous journeys with high mortality rates.
Arrival: Cultural shock, adaptation, and assimilation into the dominant culture.
Diaspora: Originally referred to the displacement of Jews from Palestine but now indicates the scattering of people from their ancestral homeland.
The study of migration involves issues of identity and identity clash, impacting social, political, and urban dynamics. This influx raises fears in Euroamerican ethno-centric mythologies, challenging their social fiber and traditions.
Entities in Action:
The Migrant (Archetypal Stranger): Perceived by the establishment as the foreigner or outsider, acting as a symbolic mirror. Societies define their identity by what they are and what they are not. The "barbarian" is a constructed "Other" defining cultural, moral, and political boundaries.
The Uncanny Other: The migrant is disturbingly close, reminding us of:
Our past as outsiders, immigrants, or exiles.
A future where we could be displaced, powerless, or excluded.
Migrants come in various forms:
Pioneers, conquerors, adventurers, nomads, pirates, slaves, refugees, expatriates.
Internal Migration Movements:
Westward Expansion: Driven by White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) settler colonialism, resulting in the forced displacement of Native American tribes, such as the Trail of Tears.
Driven by gold discovery in Georgia and the desire for more territory.
Gold Rush: Movement towards Alaska and California.
The Great Migration (1910s–1920s): Mass movement of African Americans from the rural South to urban centers in the North and Midwest for economic opportunities and to escape racial violence and segregation.
American writers moved to Europe (especially Paris) in the early 20th century for artistic freedom and cultural stimulation.
Example: James Baldwin, who examined race, sexuality, and identity in both American and European contexts, found relative freedom in Paris to write and live authentically.
Foundational Myths (1600s–1700s)
Settler Ideology:
Plymouth Rock: Symbolic landing site of the Pilgrims in 1620, foundational to the myth of American origins.
Promised Land: Puritans viewed America as a divinely chosen land for religious refuge and moral purpose, echoing biblical imagery.
"A City Upon a Hill": John Winthrop’s 1630 sermon envisioned America as a moral example, a Christian utopia on a "virgin land," often ignoring Indigenous peoples.
Expansion and Violence (1770s–1800s)
The Frontier: Synonymous with westward expansion, fueled by Manifest Destiny. Civilization's advancement was seen as justified, even through violence and dispossession of Native Americans.
Indian Genocide: Systematic displacement, violence, and extermination against Indigenous nations.
Pioneers and the West: Settlers were romanticized as agents of progress, civilizing the "wilderness."
Wilderness ≠ Civilization: This binary justified colonialism, casting Native land and cultures as chaotic and needing transformation.
The Puritans
A Protestant group from England seeking to reform the Church of England, deeming it too Catholic and corrupt.
They believed they were chosen by God to create a pure, moral community.
They sought a "New Jerusalem" in America—a godly society serving as an example.
Contradictions in their vision:
America as a “virgin land,” untouched and waiting to be cultivated.
America as a wild, dangerous land full of “savages” needing to be tamed or removed.
These narratives justified claiming land, displacing Native people, and engaging in violence and forced conversion, all while insisting they were doing God’s work.
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur
Quote: "The American is a new man, who acts upon new principles; he must therefore entertain new ideas, and form new opinions."
Reflects the Melting Pot idea, suggesting America would forge a new identity by blending different peoples and traditions.
The Ideal of the Melting Pot
A culture formed by merging multiple others.
A space for new principles, values, and innovations born from diversity.
A unified American identity emerging from difference.
The Reality and Its Contradictions
Despite inclusive rhetoric, the concept was deeply flawed:
Minority and immigrant groups were expected to assimilate into the dominant white, Anglo-Protestant culture.
Cultural differences were tolerated only if they conformed to mainstream norms.
Black, Indigenous, and non-European groups were often excluded, reinforcing racial and cultural hierarchies.
Whiteness was required for assimilation.
Peak of Immigration in U.S. History (1880–1924)
Approximately 25 million people arrived from Europe via the Atlantic.
Around 500,000 came from Asia via the Pacific.
This reshaped American cities, labor markets, and race-based immigration policy.
The Rise of Federal Immigration Centers
Prior to the 1890s, immigration was handled by state governments.
Growing public concern over health, criminality, and immigrant "quality" led to federalization.
Immigration Act of 1891: Created the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration and established federal responsibility for processing newcomers.
This led to the creation of Ellis Island and Angel Island.
Ellis Island (1892–1954) – Atlantic Gateway
Location: New York Harbor, near the Statue of Liberty.
Purpose: To process European immigrants in a centralized, federally controlled facility.
Process:
Immigrants arrived by ship and were ferried to the island.
They underwent medical inspections and legal interviews.
The entire process took hours to days, but those flagged could be held for weeks.
Legacy: While providing hope, it also meant detention or deportation for those who failed inspections.
Angel Island (1910–1940) – Pacific Gateway
Location: San Francisco Bay.
Purpose: Response to increasing Asian immigration after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Process:
More of a detention and interrogation center.
Immigrants (particularly Chinese) were held for weeks or months under harsh conditions.
Authorities sought to uncover fraudulent entry through intense questioning.
60% were detained for weeks, months and even years
Legacy: Represented racialized enforcement of immigration law and exclusion.
The Dillingham Commission (1907–1911)
Massive federal investigation into immigration trends.
It concluded that newer immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe (as well as Asians) were less assimilable than earlier Anglo-Saxon settlers.
Its report fueled nativist fears and supported restrictive quotas in the 1920s, including the Immigration Act of 1924.
The Commission classified immigrants racially.
Southern Italians were categorized as "Mediterranean" or "Alpine", seen as biologically and culturally inferior.
They were described as "swarthy," "less assimilable," and "prone to criminality".
Southern Italians were seen as racially ambiguous or “in-between”, not fully white by dominant American standards of the time.
Anti-Miscegenation Laws Expand (1880)
The “Mongolian” race (primarily Chinese and other East Asians) was added to anti-miscegenation laws, prohibiting interracial marriage to reinforce white supremacy.
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
The first major federal immigration law targeting a specific ethnic group, banning virtually all immigration from China and setting the groundwork for future exclusionary policies.
U.S. Expansion into the Pacific (1898–1902)
Following the Spanish-American War, the United States acquired:
Hawaii
Philippines
Eastern Samoa
Guam
This complicated ideas of citizenship and race, governing non-white populations and blurring imperialism and immigration boundaries.
Immigration Act (Johnson-Reed Act) (1924)
Established national origins quotas, restricting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and excluding Asians.
Why Deny Citizenship?
The U.S. Supreme Court addressed this in the Insular Cases (1901–1922), ruling that: “The Constitution does not follow the flag.”
Full constitutional rights did not automatically apply in overseas territories.
These "unincorporated territories" were not meant for statehood and could be ruled indefinitely without full democratic inclusion.
Crèvecoeur “Melting Pot”
Quote: «What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the broad lap of our great Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them that great mass of arts, sciences, vigour, and industry which began long since in the east; they will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this country much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born.»
J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur (Letters from an American Farmer, 1782)
Quote: “What then is the American, this new man?”
Introduced the melting pot idea.
Crèvecoeur envisioned America as a unique society where diverse European backgrounds blended, leaving behind old customs and transforming into something new, “melted into a new race of men” shaped by labor, surroundings, and American political systems and values.
This fusion created a distinct, unified American identity unlike Europe's divisions.
Symbolized America’s strength through unity and diversity, emphasizing transformation and reinvention.
Limitations:
His "new race of men" referred only to white Europeans, excluding others.
Implied old identities should be discarded in favor of assimilation.
Over time, the melting pot became a core image in the American national myth, especially during immigration waves, offering a hopeful vision that anyone could become American if willing to conform.
Critics argued it erased differences, pressuring people to abandon their heritage.
Crèvecoeur’s metaphor framed America as a land of reinvention where shared values mattered more than origin.
Emma Lazarus (1849–1887)
A Jewish-American poet, essayist, and translator who advocated for humanitarian causes.
She linked Jewish themes to discussions about democracy, liberty, and social justice.
She supported educational programs for refugees and Jewish self-determination.
Her poem The New Colossus (1883) transformed the meaning of the Statue of Liberty, which reframed the Statue of Liberty from a symbol of political liberty into a beacon of hope and refuge. It envisioned the statue as a compassionate guardian, inviting the world’s downtrodden to seek shelter and opportunity. Lines like “Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” have become deeply ingrained in the American imagination. The poem redefines national greatness not in terms of conquest, but in terms of moral responsibility. It challenged prevailing elitist narratives, which depicted immigrants as threats or burdens.
Exclusion at the Western Gate
Angel Island in San Francisco Bay represented a darker story for Asian immigrants, symbolizing detention, discrimination, and deportation.
Between 1880 and 1924, millions sought better lives but faced harsh conditions, especially from China, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines.
Angel Island (1910 to 1940) served as a processing and detention center, enforcing restrictive immigration laws targeting Asian populations.
Anxiety, isolation, and despair were common. Detainees, especially Chinese, were held for weeks, months, or even years. Conditions were harsh: overcrowded dormitories, minimal privacy, poor food, and limited medical care.
Interrogations were invasive and humiliating, seeking to “verify” identities based on obscure details to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Chinese men who had obtained citizenship claimed to have U.S.-born children (paper sons and daughters).
Immigrants had to memorize elaborate family trees and village histories to pass interrogations.
While the Statue of Liberty welcomed the