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Digital History>Teachers>Modules> Topic
Learn About Immigration
Around the turn
of the twentieth century, mass immigration from eastern and southern Europe
dramatically altered the population's ethnic and religious composition. Unlike
earlier immigrants, who had come from Britain, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and
Scandinavia, the “new immigrants” came increasingly from Hungary, Italy, Poland,
and Russia. The newcomers were often Catholic or Jewish and two-thirds of them
settled in cities.
Today,
Americans are highly conscious of the impact of immigration. Since 1965,
when the United States eliminated quotas that restricted the number
of people who could come from certain parts of the world, the
face of the nation has changed visibly. The recent movement of millions
of migrants to the United States has had profound political and social
repercussions, spurring intense public debate over such issues as bilingual
education and immigration restriction. But this influx of people is
only the most recent example of a long history of immigration to the
United States. In a single decade—1900 to 1910--8.8 million
immigrants entered the United States.
Photographs
and Films of Immigration
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/timeline/
progress/immigrnt/photos.html
To
learn more
Handouts and fact sheets:
Immigration
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us29.cfm
Recommended
lesson plan:
The
Statue of Liberty:Bringing the 'New Colossus' to America
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=351
Quizzes:
Test
your knowledge about immigration.
Recommended books:
Roger
Daniels, Coming to America: A History of Immigration and Ethnicity
in American Life
A comprehensive history of immigration including extensive discussion
of the experiences of a wide range of ethnic groups.
 Recommended
film:
Hester
Street
A
powerful portrait of Jewish immigrant life in New York at the end
of the 19th century.
A learning guide to the film Hester Street
http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/hester-street.html
learn
more film
 Recommended
Website:
Ancestors
in the Americas
http://www.cetel.org/
The companion site to the PBS series exploring the history and legacy
of Asians in the Americas, including historical documents and film clips.
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