Chapter Eight Reading Questions

For Wednesday'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?

Chapter Seven Reading Questions

For Monday's class, please read Chapter Seven and consider 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?

Chapter Six Reading Questions (2 of 2)

For Wednesday's class please read the rest of Chapter Six and consider 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 the Chapter Six just up to page 145 and consider 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

For Wednesday's class, please read chapter 5, and be prepared to answer 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 Paper Assignment

First Document Analysis Paper (due Friday, 9/12):

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. You will probably find the writing and critical thinking rubrics that are posted on the campus portal for this class helpful.

Your document analysis and research papers 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 #:  8436615
Class Enrollment Password: AEHF14

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For Monday, please read chapter 4, and be prepared to answer 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?

Chapter Three Reading Questions

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For Friday's class please read Chapter Three and consider 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?