Ancestry Project Due & Chapter Sixteen Reading Questions

Ancestry projects (paper and supporting documents) are due in class on Friday. 

Reminder: From the information you have mined from the Ancestry.com database about an immigrant or immigrant family, you will write a report on what you have found 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.). You must attach a properly formatted list of your sources as well as copies of the documents.
Students will share their research findings informally in class.

For Wednesday'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"?

Chapters Thirteen, Fourteen and Fifteen Reading Questions

Please note the new reading dates below (these may shift):

For Wednesday, 10/23, 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?

For Friday, 10/25, 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?

For next Monday's class (10/28), 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?

Every Day is a Holiday & Midterm Exam

I hope you all enjoyed the documentary, "Every Day is a Holiday." If you missed it, you can find the link to the video below.

Link to Video

The Midterm Exam will be on Wednesday, 10/16. 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 from last year were

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

We can use these questions or create new ones on Monday when we review.

Ancestry Project documents are due in class on Monday, 10/21.

Happy Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day. Here's the article we talked about in class.

Chapters Eleven & Twelve Reading Questions

On Monday we will discuss your oral histories and make plans for the ancestry project. 

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?