"In the mainland of the United States, Japanese immigration began much more slowly and took hold much more tentatively than it had in Hawaii. While an initial handful of adventurers left Japan for California in the 1860s, the number of immigrants did not reach the thousands until the 1880s. By 1900 there were still fewer than 25,000 Japanese nationals in the U.S." - Library of Congress
Major events & time periods to cover:
"Gentlemen's Agreement" of 1907
World War II
“The first Mexicans to become part of the United States never crossed any border. Instead, the border crossed them.” – Library of Congress
Major events & time periods to cover:
Mexican Revolution
Current issues
“In 1890 the Irish-born population in America reached its peak at nearly 1.9 million. Add to that the second generation, and Irish America totalled 4.8 million people, 13 per cent of the population. They settled predominantly in urban centres in the northeast quarter of the country and as the west opened up many followed opportunities there.” – Goek, The Irish Times
Major events & time periods to cover:
Potato Famine
Religious discrimination
“By 1832, more than 10,000 immigrants arrived in the U.S. from Germany. By 1854, that number had jumped to nearly 200,000 immigrants.” – Library of Congress
Major events & time periods to cover:
Religious persecution (Jewish communities)
World War I & World War II
“By 1851, 25,000 Chinese immigrants had left their homes and moved to California, a land some came to call gam saan, or ‘gold mountain’.” – Library of Congress
Major events & time periods to cover:
Gold Rush
Chinese Exclusion Act
“We did not come here the way other migrants came. They came to paradise to realize their personal dreams. We were like trees uprooted and planted in a foreign land.” - Phung Minh Tien
Major events & time periods to cover:
Vietnam War & refugees ("boat people")
Current status
“The first Cubans to flee were the wealthiest—affluent professionals and members of the Batista regime who feared reprisals from the new government. More than 200,000 of these “golden exiles” had left Cuba for the U.S. by 1962, when air flights between the two countries were suspended.” – Library of Congress
Major events & time periods to cover:
Cuban revolution
the Cold War
“Between around 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States, half of them between 1900 and 1910 alone—the majority fleeing grinding rural poverty in Southern Italy and Sicily. Today, Americans of Italian ancestry are the nation's fifth-largest ethnic group.” - Destination America, PBS
Major events & time periods to cover:
Immigration Act of 1924
Religious discrimination