Every Day is a Holiday & Midterm Exam

Monday we will review and watch the documentary, "Every Day is a Holiday," together.

Link to Video

The Midterm Exam will be on Friday, 3/2. It will consist of three (3) essay questions that will cover broad themes of immigration and ethnic history. The questions will require you to include evidence from more than one chapter of the textbook. The questions will take 15 minutes to answer on average.

The questions are

• What are the three myths of American immigration, and what are the real "laws" or tendencies?
• Outline key immigration legislation up to World War II, and explain the what, when, and why of it.
• What factors contribute to the cultural persistence of an ethnic group, and what factors lead to loss of cultural identity/assimilation? (give examples)

Ancestry Project documents are due in class on Monday, 3/12. 
Have a great break!

Ancestry Project and Chapters Eleven & Twelve Reading Questions

The Ancestry (immigration documents) Project: You will mine the Ancestry.com database, available on campus at http://ancestrylibrary.proquest.com, for information about an immigrant or immigrant family and write a report on what you find and how it compares to what you have learned from the textbook. The report should be roughly 2,000 words and should include full citations of the records you use from the databases (census, passenger list, death index, etc.), as well as copies of the documents.

A list of your documents, properly formatted, is due in class on March 12th, along with copies of the documents. The complete report is due on Monday, March 19th. Students will share their research findings over the course of the week.

Monday is a holiday! 

For Wednesday, please read Chapter Eleven and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• How did immigration and emigration numbers change in the period 1921-1945 and why?
• The greatest increase in post-World War I immigration came from where?
• What were the three reasons for actual immigration running well over the 150,000 annual quota in the first six years of the National Origins policy?
• How was the LPC (Likely to become a Public Charge) clause used during the Great Depression?
• How did the U.S. government deal with the refugee crisis of World War II? Give examples.
• During World War II, how were "enemy aliens" treated?
• Describe Japanese internment (numbers, duration, location, recent government response, etc.)
• How did the Chinese in America benefit from World War II? What were the demographic consequences?

For Friday, please read Chapter Twelve and be prepare written answers to the following questions:

• Why is 1909 a significant date for Mexican immigration?
• How did the U.S. deal with Mexican immigrants during the Great Depression?
• How many Mexicans were in New Mexico and California when the U.S. annexed the territory?
• Why was statehood delayed?
• Why is all but impossible to get accurate estimates of the number of immigrants from Mexico (long list).
• Why is the relative standard of living in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico important?
• During World War I, who filled the jobs that otherwise might have been filled by European immigrants in places like Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh?
• What was the bracero program, and why was it created?
• What percentage of illegal immigrants are Mexicans today? What messes up the numbers?
• What accounts for the low rate of naturalization for Mexican Americans? For language persistence?
• How did the United Farm Workers movement combine religion and politics?
• What is the status of Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans?
• Why do most Puerto Ricans not want independence?
• Where do most Puerto Ricans live?
• What two related problems to Puerto Ricans face in the United States?
• How are Puerto Ricans more like earlier European immigrants than like Mexican immigrants?
• What common phenomenon do both groups suffer from?

Chapters Nine & Ten Reading Questions

When reading Chapter Nine for Monday, please prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What brought Chinese immigrants to the United States?
• How does Daniels define "immigrant," and what does he consider to be "the false and essentially racist notion" of some scholars?
• What was the "coolie trade"?
• Where did the Chinese settle and how did they finance their migrations?
• How did Chinatowns differ from other American ethnic enclaves?
• What are the Naturalization Act of 1870 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
• What is a "paper son"?
• Where did Japanese immigrants settle, and what occupations did they have?
• Why were the Japanese initially treated differently from the Chinese, and how did that affect their demographics?
• What is the "Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907-8"?
• What is a "picture bride marriage," and was it unique to the Japanese?
• Why did Carroll Wright say that French Canadians were the "Chinese of the Eastern States"?
• How was French Canadian migration unique?
• What were French Canadian occupations in Canada, and what were they in the United States?
• Why was French Canadian acculturation so much slower than for any other immigrant group?

Oral History Projects are Due on Wednesday!

In addition, for Wednesday, please read Chapter Ten and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What is Nativism and what causes it?
• What and when were the three discreet phases of anti-immigrant activity?
• What was the Know-Nothing party?
• What does the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution establish? Who's left out?
• Why did the Chinese Exclusion Act pass?
• What prompted the federal government to take over the administration of immigration?
• What do you know about Ellis Island?
• Against whom was most racism directed and why?
• Was the literacy test effective at barring undesirable immigrants?
• How did the depression of 1890 and World War I effect public opinion on immigration?
• How did the quota plan work? who was not subject to it?
• In 1924, what were some of the conflicts and struggles felt by the relatively prosperous nation?
• Was a limit on immigration necessary or desirable?

Oral History Project and Chapters Seven & Eight Reading Questions

Oral History Research Project (Due in class on Wednesday, 2/14, and on TurnItIn.com)

• Please conduct an Oral History interview of a person who immigrated to the United States.
• Your interviewee must have been old enough at the time to remember details about his or her country of birth.
• Develop a series of specific questions prior to your interview. What do you want to know?
• What can you find out through research before you meet for the interview?
• What can you find out only by experiencing the person’s face-to-face presence?
• During the interview, attempt to find answers to the questions you have developed. After the interview, attempt to fill any gaps that remain.
• Be sure to record your interview in some manner. This recording or transcript of your interview is a primary source document and should not be discarded.
• Write a paper that attempts to answer one or more of your questions using the recording or transcript of your interview as a primary source. 4-6 pages.

 For Monday's class, please read Chapter Seven and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What changes were there in the "means" of immigration in this period? Did conditions improve?
• What was notable about the immigration of Italians in this period?
• Which groups from the Mediterranean had the highest rates of return migration?
• What political event occurred in Italy in the mid-1800's that spurred a lot of emigration?
• Where did Italians go in America, and what were their occupations?
• What was the role of the immigrant banker?
• What was the padroni system?
• Why did so few Italians send their children to Catholic schools?
• What, according to Daniels, is the most controversial aspect of the Italian American experience?
• Who were Sacco and Vanzetti?
• Why is it difficult to determine how many Greeks came to the United States?
• What occupations did Greeks pursue?
• What do the businesses of Greek, Italian, and Chinese immigrants have in common?
• Until recently, what was the religion of the majority of Arab immigrants to the United States?
• What did Arab immigrants do for a living?
• Why did Armenians emigrate and where did they go?

For Wednesday's class, please read Chapter Eight and consider the following questions:

• When did most Eastern European immigrants begin to arrive in the United States?
• Where did they settle, and what did they do for a living?
• What did they do before they emigrated, and why did they go to America?
• How does the 1910 census data indicate how many Poles came to America?
• What role did Polish Nationalism play in the immigrants experience?
• Why did Eastern European Jews emigrate?
• Where did they settle, and what did they do for a living?
• How did the Eastern European Jewish immigrant's experience differ from other immigrants of the same period?
• What was the Triangle Shirt Waist fire of 1911?
• What were the differences/conflicts between Eastern European Jews and other American Jews?
• What does the complex story of the Hungarian family on page 234 illustrate best about immigration?
• What were working conditions in American industry like?