Unit 3 Chapter 3 Regional Development and Interactions (Part 3)

Where did most European immigrants first arrive in the United States? (See Page 49)

Answer explanation

Most of the ships that brought immigrants from Europe first landed in East Coast cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore. But a large number traveled on freighters bound for New Orleans.

In general, how did immigrants to the United States decide where to live? (See Page 49)

Answer explanation

Many immigrants planned from the beginning to move on from the port where they landed. Just where they would move depended on the city they arrived in, the amount of money in their pockets when they arrived, their skills, and especially the locations where others of their nationality had already settled.

Describe the experience of German immigrants to the United States in the years before the Civil War.

(HINT--When did they arrive, where, what did they do after they arrived, and Where did they settle?) (See Page 49)

Answer explanation

Many of the German immigrants who arrived during the decades before the Civil War entered the United States through New Orleans. Many of them came with enough money to buy farmland. Most made their way up the Mississippi River and carved out farms in Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

EVALUATE—Why did many immigrants settle where relatives, friends, and others from their country were already living? (See Page 49)

Answer explanation

it was natural for immigrants to settle where relatives, friends, and others from their country were already living. Living among their own made their adjustment to America a bit easier.

EVALUATE—How did immigration impact the growth of cities in the North? (See Pages 49-50)

What kinds of jobs did unskilled immigrants find in the United States? Which were especially held by women? (See page 50)

Answer explanation

Without skills, they had nothing to sell but their muscle power and their time. They took whatever work they could get, at whatever pay they were offered. Cities had plenty of jobs that needed doing. There were streets to be swept, ships to be loaded and unloaded, stables to be cleaned, garbage and trash to be hauled, ditches to be dug, and heavy loads to be carried. Another kind of job open to immigrant women in the cities was domestic work—that is, working as a maid or a house cleaner.

What were living conditions like for most immigrants in American cities? (See Page 50)

Answer explanation

Living conditions for most immigrants in American cities were simply dreadful. After it rained, the upper floors of many tenements were completely flooded. Also, living areas were crowded. Six people might live in a room the size of a large closet!

How many Chinese people had immigrated to America by 1852? Where did they often enter the country? (See Page 50)

Answer explanation

Chinese people traveled to the West Coast of America, often entering the country through the city of San Francisco.

EVALUATE—What were some pull factors that encouraged Chinese people to immigrate to America? (see Page 51)

Answer explanation

Men often came to work in the gold mines, hoping to become rich. Many immigrants from China were young, without formal education or work experience. The expanding railroads provided an opportunity for these laborers, and more than ten thousand Chinese men worked to build the Central Pacific Railroad in the 1860s.

Who were the nativists, and what was their attitude toward immigrants to

America? (Hint--Read the section about Nativism) (See Pages 51-52)

Answer explanation

Nativists were people who had been born in the United States and feared that immigrants were changing America for the worse. They were no longer confident that these newcomers would become American quickly, or that they would become American at all.