VSI Chapter Seven & Deadlines

Reminder: Immigration Policy Papers are Due Next Wednesday, April 20th!

For Wednesday's class, please read Chapter 7 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction.

VSI Chapter Six

For Monday's class, please read Chapter 6 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction.

VSI Chapter Five

For Friday's class, please read Chapter 5 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction.

VSI Chapter Four

For Wednesday's class, please read Part II, Chapter 4 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction.

VSI Chapter Three Reading Questions & Changes to the Syllabus

Please note the following adjustments to the syllabus:

1. Chapters 3-7 of VSI will each be a session later than indicated; 
2. Read the New Yorker article, "The Measure of America," and write a response paper of 1000 words, due in TurnItIn.com by noon next Friday, 4/15; and 
3. The Final Exam will be replaced by your reports on the candidates' immigration positions (see links on this blog site). The reports will be due in class and in TurnItIn.com by noon on Monday 4/25 and will be followed by in-class debates.

For Monday's class, please read Chapter 3 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• Why did World War II cause America to rethink its immigration policies? (45)
• What was the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952? (46)
• What was the refugee situation at the end of World War II? (46) And why did the U.S. feel the need to do something about it? (47)
• What is the Displaced Persons Act of 1948? (47)
• What is presidential parole power, and how did Eisenhower use it? (47)
• How were Cuban and Vietnamese refugees able to integrate so rapidly? (48)
• What led to the overturning of the quota system? (48-49)
• What did the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act do? (51-52)
• What were the unintended consequences of the law? (53)
• What does the book say studies have shown about the link between immigration and crime? (54)
• What caused the huge rise in illegal immigration from Mexico? (56)
• What attitudes changed and what laws were enacted because of the recession of the 1980s? (62)
• What did George W. Bush do? (63)

VSI Chapter Two Reading Questions & Policy Project

Policy Project, due 4/20

In addition, for Wednesday's class, please read Chapter 2 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What makes it clear that in post-Gold Rush California, arguments against immigration were racist? (27)
• Which Chinese were barred from immigration by the Chinese Exclusion Act and which were not? (28)
• How did Angel Island differ from Ellis Island? (29)
• What did the 1891 Immigration Act do, and what inspired it? (30)
• Why were Japanese immigrants seen as a threat? What action was taken in 1913? (31)
• Who was White? (32)
• What is the principle of derivative citizenship? (34)
• What was different about immigrants after the 1890s? (35-36)
• What were the three main sources calling for greater immigration restriction after 1890? (37-38)
• What did Eugenicists advocate? (39)
• What were the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 based on? (42-43)
• What were other countries doing? (44)

VSI Chapter One Reading Questions

For Monday's class, please read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What binds the American people together if not a common genealogy? (1)
• What are the three great waves of immigration that reconfigured the population? (2)
• For what three reasons may things be different for recent immigrants? (3)
• What do "nativists" and "pluralists" argue about? (4)
• What is the question ultimately? (5) And what is the answer many cannot accept? (6)
• What are the three parts of the book? (12)

• Define "nativism" (15); are there legitimate reasons for restricting immigration? (16)

• What was the principal rationale for a liberal immigration policy for first 150 years of European presence in North America? (18)
• What are the provisions of the Naturalization Law of 1795 and the 14th Amendment? (19)
• What gave rise to reactive nativist policies in the mid-1800s?
• Why 21 year for naturalization? (22)
• Who was barred from entry by legislation passed between 1864 and 1917? (23)

Chapter Seventeen Reading Questions (2 of 2)

For Friday's class, please read Chapter Seventeen from page 422 to 451, and prepare written answers to the questions below.

This is the last of the Daniels book, and it's kind of fun to see what was going on just thirteen years ago, and what he predicted for the future. Was he right? After this we will focus on current issues and make our own predictions about the future of immigration.

• Why was there so much anti-immigrant rhetoric in the IRCA and the sixteen statutes affecting immigration passed during the 1990s? Were they really getting "tough"?
• Did Presidents Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton reduce immigration?
• What replaced the concern about communists?
• Why was the money thrown at the INS during the 1990s largely wasted?
• What has been the corollary of increased border security?
• Do people caught at the border usually get deported?
• What is the INS record on prisoners?
• Why did naturalization increase so much in the 1990s? How much did it cost?
• What did the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform report (aka the Jordan report) not point out as the chief culprit in the illegal immigration dilemma?
• Who supported California Proposition 187? Was it effective? Why was George W. Bush (then the governor of Texas) against it?
• Layout the problems with the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act and the 1998 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.
• What did Pope John Paul II say about immigration?
• How have Germany and Japan dealt with immigration in the past? What do those countries and many other developed countries have to worry about for the future of their economies?
• Why did organized labor completely reverse its policies on immigration?

Chapter Seventeen Reading Questions (1 of 2)

For Wednesday's class, please read Chapter 17 through page 422 and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What has changed and what has stayed the same in American immigration since 1986?
• In the 2000 census, what percentage of the population was foreign born? How does that compare to the historical numbers? (Hint: check the tables in this chapter and in chapter 6.)
• According to the 2000 census, the largest numbers of immigrants came from what regions of the world? Where did most settle? What were their education achievements and income?
• Why is the data so misleading when the census data on immigrants is lumped together?
• What does Daniels say the responsible historian must try to do?
• Who are "nonimmigrant" immigrants?
• Who do experts think comprise the major portion of the illegal immigrants?
• What is the longstanding discrimination against Mexican as opposed to Canadian border crossers?
• Why are the government's estimates of the number of illegal immigrants so unreliable?
• If we accept the government's numbers, what, in Daniel's opinion, are the vast majority of the 1.8% of the U.S. population that is undocumented?

Chapter Sixteen Reading Questions

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

• Why was their a resurgence of Nativism in the late 1970's? Why was "the image of gaining control" so popular?
• What were some recommendations of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy?
• How did the nativism of the 1980's contrast with the nativism of the 1920's?
• What four major provision did the Immigration Reform Act of 1986 contain?
• How many illegal immigrants took advantage of the amnesty program, and who were they?
• What is the "essential hypocrisy" of the law?
• What was the "paradoxical effect" of the law?
• What is "white collar nativism"?
• Who are the exception to the rule that few Western Europeans wish to emigrate?
• Have you seen evidence to support the statement, "Some who celebrate their own immigrant roots the loudest are among those who express fears about present or future immigrant invasions"?

Chapter Fifteen Reading Questions

Reminder: Ancestry Projects are Due on in Class on Monday!

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

• Who are the majority of recent immigrants from Spanish-speaking America and who do their migration patterns most resemble? 
• What became the Cuban American population center, what was their socioeconomic background, and what effect have they had on the part of America where they are concentrated?
• How has the Cuban Refugee program effected race relations?
• What percentage of the Dominican population came to the U.S. on tourist visas?
• Why are conditions so bad in Haiti, and why are Haitians not generally given refugee status in the U.S.?
• With the exception of Costa Rica, what kind of shape are the countries of Central America in and why?
• Why did the president of El Salvador ask the U.S. not to deport Salvadorans?
• What are the three classes of Central America refugees?
• What is the sanctuary movement?
• Why did Soviet Jews go to the head of the immigration line? What's the irony in this?

Chapter Fourteen Reading Questions

For Wednesday, please read Chapter Fourteen and be prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What three things does Daniels say brought about a change in attitude towards Asian immigrants?
• What characteristics have led to Asian Americans being called the model minority?
• What are ABCs and FOBs and who are the "silent" Chinese of San Francisco?
• What are the three distinct increments of Filipino immigration?
• What profession niche do recent Filipino immigrants dominate and why?
• Who were the Koreans who came before the 1965 immigration act?
• What do Indian and Korean immigrants have in common?
• How and why do Vietnamese immigrants differ from other recent Asian immigrants?
• What was the total number of Vietnamese War refugees and their children, and what nationalities are included?
• Compare the population growth of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans since 1965. What accounts for the differences?

Chapter Thirteen Reading Questions

Immigration Documents are Due on Monday!

In addition, for Monday, please read Chapter Thirteen and be prepare written answers to the following questions:

• How did the Cold War effect immigration and immigration policy?
• What was surprising about who was admitted under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948? 
• What did President Truman say was the greatest vice of the quota system and what was he specifically referring to?
• While immigration policy was still focused on Europe, who was really immigrating to the U.S. in larger numbers and why?
• What was revolutionary about the Immigration Act of 1965 and how did it fit with the national mood?
• What were the unanticipated results of the 1965 law?
• What is parole authority and how does it relate to the Refugee Act of 1980.
• How does a refugee differ from an asylee?
• How did American attitudes toward refugees change between WWII and 1980?
• What was the Mariel Crisis and how did it compare with Haiti's boat people?
• What's so interesting about the numbers of legal immigrants and the quota limits?

Midterm Exam

The Midterm Exam will be on Friday, 3/4. 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)

Chapter Twelve Reading Questions

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?

Chapter Eleven Reading Questions

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?

Ancestry Project

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 14th, along with copies of the documents. The complete report is due on Monday, March 21st. Students will share their research findings over the course of the week.

Chapter Ten Reading Questions

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?

"Every Day Is a Holiday"

Friday we will review and watch this documentary together. Don't forget that your oral history project is due right after the break!

Link to Video

Chapter Nine Reading Questions

When reading Chapter Nine for Wednesday, 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?

Chapter Eight Reading Questions & Oral History

For Monday'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?

In addition, your next writing assignment is due in class on Wednesday, February 17th:

Oral History Research Project

• 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.

Chapter Seven Reading Questions & Oral History Project

For Friday'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?

In addition, you have an oral history project due in class on February 17th.

Chapter Six Reading Questions (2 of 2)

For Wednesday's class please read the rest of Chapter Six and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• How did the number of German immigrants compare to the number of Irish immigrants?
• What were the push and pull factors for German immigrants?
• What can you say about German American involvement in American politics?
• Contrast German settlement patterns and occupations to those of the Irish.
• Who was more likely to learn English and adopt American ways, German men or women? Why?
• What caused friction between German Americans and their neighbors? (list three things)
• What caused divisions among German Americans?
• How did German Jews impact the American Jewish community and what you wear?
• Did German Jews enter different occupations than other German immigrants?
• How did German Americans try to maintain their German culture in America? How did it work out?
• Why did Scandinavians immigrate to America?
• Why do we have so much data about Swedes and what does that data tell us about the intelligence of immigrants?
• Are ethnic enclaves a good or bad thing?
• What can you say about Danish migration and the Mormon Church?
• Why does Daniels say that the notion of an "Old Immigration" is bunk?

Chapter Six Reading Questions (1 of 2)

For Monday's class please read Chapter Six just up to page 145 and prepare answers to the following questions:

• Why is Daniels ignoring the old notion of "old" and "new" immigrants, and what the heck is a shibboleth?
• What does he say is the most fundamental difference between immigrants in the colonial period and those after 1820, and what accounts for the change?
• Can you make sense of the tables 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4? What do they tell us about immigration from 1820-1924? (define "decennial")
• Why did the Irish leave Ireland? How many left?
• Why did so many go to New England and particularly Boston? How were they received there?
• What kinds of work did they find? Who did they compete with for the work?
• Why was their status higher in San Francisco?
• How did they transform the Catholic Church in America?
• What is singular about Irish immigrant demographics in the years following the famine?
• How did the Irish Americans adapt to and change American politics?
• What's with this cartoon?

Chapter Five Reading Questions

Reminder: Your Document Analysis Paper is Due on Friday, 1/29

For Wednesday's class, please read chapter 5, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• How do colonizing people come to see themselves?
• Describe the dominance of English culture and institutions.
• How did Christian missionaries deal with Indians?
• Define Anglo-conformity.
• Where was Indian slavery practiced?
• In what northern city was slavery well established, and what happened there in 1741?
• What colonial laws regulated black behavior?
• What produced an extreme cultural arrogance among English-descended colonists?
• Where and why do we find "the first major ethnic crisis in American history"?
• Why were the Quakers and Scotch-Irish in conflict?
• The Constitution shows that the founding fathers expect what of immigrants?
• What is the residence requirement for immigrants who want to naturalize? (Define "naturalize.") Why has it varied?
• What was the spirit of early American nationalism?

Chapter Four Reading Questions & First Writing Assignment

For Monday, please read chapter 4, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What are some of the distinct settlement patterns of different ethnic groups in colonial America?
• Why did Germans leave Germany from the late 1600s to the late 1700s?
• Define "redemptioner," and describe the system and what brought it to an end.
• Why were German immigrants more successful farmers than the Scotch Irish and others?
• Who were the Scotch Irish and why and from where did they emigrate?
• What are myths of the Scotch Irish? (Can you give examples from popular culture?)
• What is notable about the Dutch and their North American colony?
• Who were the Acadians and the Huguenots, and how do their polar experiences illustrate acculturation and assimilation?
• Compare the histories of Spanish Mexicans in Texas, California, and New Mexico.
• Where did the first Jews in North America come from?

First Document Analysis Paper (due Friday, 1/29):

Read Benjamin Franklin's 1751 essay, "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind," and write a three-page (approximately 1,000 word) reaction paper, being careful to cite supporting evidence from the essay and your readings.

All written assignments must be submitted via TurnItIn.com. If you have not used TurnItIn before, you will need to create an account before you can enroll in our class site.

Class ID #: 11424668

Class Enrollment Password: AEHs16

Chapter Three Reading Questions

For Friday's class please read Chapter Three and prepare answers to the following questions:

• For every European who came to the New World, how many Africans came?
• How did the slave trade contribute to the development of capitalism?
• If slavery existed primarily in the southern colonies and states, how did the northern colonies and states profit from it?
• At the end of the colonial period, how many Americans were immigrants from Africa or their descendants? How many Americans today are their descendants?
• What are the limits on our understanding of the African immigrant experience in America?
• What is the Myth of the Negro Past? What is the reality?
• What evidence is there for African cultural transfers in the New World? What's Gullah?
• How many slaves were brought to the New World, and what percentage came to what is now the United States?
• Why were there differences in the treatment of slaves throughout the Americas?
• How is that 50,000 slaves were the first illegal immigrants?

Chapter Two Reading Questions

For Wednesday's class, please read Chapter Two and prepare answers to the following questions:

• In the colonial period (1607-1787), how many came to America and how many of those were free?
• What does the first census of 1790 tell us about colonial immigrants?
• Who went to Virginia and why? How did they do there?
• What role did indentured service play? What are two reasons it was replaced by African slavery?
• Who established the Maryland colony?
• How and why was the immigration and settlement pattern of New England so different from that of Virginia and Maryland?
• Who were Miles Standish and John Winthrop?
• What was the role of Puritans in the "Great Migration" of the 1630s?
• What documents and arrangements were required to immigrate to America from England, and what was the cost and duration of the journey?
• How did English colonial migration set the character of what would become the United States?

Remember to post to your blog by midnight on Wednesday.

Chapter One Reading Questions

For Friday's class please read Chapter One and prepare answers to the following questions:

• What is the distinction between the terms "migration" and "immigration"?
• How did Europeans' attitudes towards others change in the Age of Discovery?
• Why did several hundred thousand Europeans come to the New World in the 16th and 17th centuries?
• How many Native Americans lived in what is now the U.S.A. and Canada in 1492?
• What explains the different policies of Spanish, French, and English colonists regarding native peoples?
• What are the laws or tendencies of migration? Define "push," "pull," and "means."
• What are the three major immigration myths that most Americans believe?
• What main factor reduces a group's rate of return or remigration to the home country?
• In general, what is the demographic make-up of Europeans who migrated to America? If you don't know what "demographic" means, please look it up.

Write out your answers to these questions, and bring them to class on Friday.

In addition, please create a web log (blog) for this class and email me the web address (URL) before midnight on Tuesday, January 19th. Blog posts of about 150 words will be due before midnight on Wednesdays throughout the semester (12 total).