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Period: Apr 27, 1492 to
Discovering America
During this time, both North and South America were first discovered and explored. Europeans began exploration by searching for riches and wealth in the land. -
Jamestown
The colony of Jamestown was first settled in America by England. They developed a tobacco plantation system to help keep the colony alive, and made money by selling the product back to England. -
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The Great Migration
During this time, many Europeans began migrating to America. The creation of new colonies in America enticed people, especially since the European economy was so poor. -
The Naturalization Act
This act put in place by John Adams was to stop the immigrants from voting. Adams did not want them to vote due to the chance that most would vote with the Democratic-Republicans. This also increased US citizenship qualifications from 5 years to 14 years. -
Alien Acts
This gave the President the right to deport any immigrants or "aliens" due to suspicious observations. -
Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
This treaty allowed America to obtain the Mexican Cession, allowing Americans more territory to begin moving and settling in the west. -
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California Gold Rush
Once gold was discovered in California, many Americans completely abandoned their jobs and homes in the east, and flooded to California in the hopes of becoming rich. However, the gold rush proved to be a huge dissapointment for many, causing them huge losses. -
Homestead Act
The federal government gave 160 acres of free land to any western settlers looking for land. The land became theirs after they had lived on it and improved it for 5 years, as well as made a profit. It provided many farmers with the push they needed to start their own farms and own their own property. -
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Move West
This was the major movement to the west in America. This movement is fueled by the gaining of the land in the west. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Was passed by congress to stop the immigration of Chinese into America, mainly through Angel Island off the coast of California, This act was supported by labor unions in order to protect their own jobs from being taken by immigrants. -
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New immigrants Arrive
Immigrants from Southeast Europe began to come over, increasing the population of America drastically. As the years progressed, the amount of immigrants entering the country also increased greatly, as the American Dream of making it big off of hard work enticed many who were poor in their home countries. -
Ellis Island Opens
Federal governement built Ellis Isalnd, an immigration facility in the east, to help regulate immigration into the country. This was the first stop for east-coast immigrants before entering America. Simple tests and examinations were performed here, to check the immigrants medical condition, as well as literary and intelligence. Officials also questioned the immigrants on their plans for the future once having entered the country. -
The Gentleman's Agreement
An unwritten agreement between Theodore Roosevelt and the Japanese government. The Japanese government would limit emigration from Japan to America, as long as the Japanese that were already in America were allwoed to go to public schools. -
Angel Island Opens
Angel Island was the Ellis Island of the west coast. While Ellis Island mainly welcomed immigrants from Europe, Angel Island dealt with immigrants coming across the Pacific Ocean. -
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The Great Migration
This was when many African America's moved up north in order to get jobs and better pay. -
Emergency Quota Act
This act limited immigration based on nationality. Whatever 3% of each nationalities population already living in America as of 1910, was the number of new immigrants allowed from that country. -
Immigration Act
This act further advanced the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. The percentage allowed into the country, based off of the number of people from each nationality already living in America, dropped from 3% to 2%. Another huge change was that the population of each nationality already living in America was now taken from the year of 1890. This new guideline was created in order to try and reduce the number of Russian and Polish immigrants, as compared to those of France and England, due to WWI. -
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Dust Bowl Movers
As the Dust Bowl began devastating the lives of more and more Americans, many began searching for an escape. Labelled as "okies", these families gave up on their farms and headed west to California to find new jobs and homes. -
Jewish Refugees Denied Admission
When Hitler's Nazi Germany began to take control, many Jewish people attempted to escape. A passenger ship, the St. Louis, attempted to land off the coast of Cuba, however was denied access to land. The ship waited offshore, desperately attempting to contact the President, however he never responded and they were forced to sail back to Europe. -
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Suburbia
During the 1950s there was a great migration of middle class Americans to the suburbs. People started to have bigger families forcing them to move into home that could fit a family. By the end of the 1950s about 60% of Americans owned homes. However, many of the suburbian communities did not accept African Americans. This lead to Africian Americans moving to cities. -
Immigration Act of 1965
This act abolished the national-origins quota of 1924, causing a surge in immigration of mostly Latin American and Asian descent. This also lead to an exterm amount of illegal immigration, as the Latin American immigrants could easily cross the border on land into America. -
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Summer of Love
During this time period, many young college students ventured to San Francisco to follow the counter-culture revolution. Students came for peace and freedom, or just "to be". Many of them included hippies and anti-war supporters. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
This Act updated the 1965 Immigration Act. It outlawed the hiring of undocumented immigrants, however it offered legal status to any immigrant who lived in the United States for 5 years. -
Proposition 187
In California, this ballot initiative was added due to the increase in conservative influence from congress. It banned illegal immigrants from gaining public rights, such as the welfare programs, and also from using public services (attending public schools). It was quickly overturned, however not before making a clear statement as to how most people felt of the large mass of immigrants(mostly hispanic) piling into the country,
