Historical Understandings for Becoming American:
- Debates over immigration centered on the tension between the need for labor and anxiety over immigrants’ political, racial, and cultural qualifications for citizenship
- Immigrants used a variety of strategies to survive in new circumstances and challenge discrimination
EXPLORING LEGENDS OF IMMIGRATION AND ENCOUNTER: MANHATTAN ISLAND
November 1, 2007 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Reading: “A certain Island Named Manathans,” from Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America (2004)
Scholar Talk: “Encountering New Netherlands: Dutch, English, African, and Native American Peoples,” David Jaffee (City College of New York/Bard Graduate Center)
Primary Documents and Activities:
A Dutch Official Reports on the Purchase of Manhattan
New Amsterdam Grants “Half Freedom” to Slaves
Laws Affecting Africans and African-Americans in Manhattan, 1640-1722
Purchase of the Site of New York
MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY IRISH IMMIGRATION
December 13, 2007 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Scholar Talk: “Irish Americans & the Meaning of Race in the Mid-Nineteenth Century,” Kevin Kenny (Boston College)
Primary Documents and Activities:
The Five Points Neighborhood Census: Immigrant Slum or Land of Opportunity? (Activity + Documents)
Role Play: The New York City Draft Riots (Activity + Documents)
Role Play: Reformers vs. Residents in the Five Points (Activity + Documents)
Uncovering the Five Points: Evidence from a NYC Immigrant Neighborhood
A Protestant Nation is Threatened on the Shores of the “American River Ganges”
Thomas Nast Considers “The Chinese Question”
“The Most Recently Discovered Wild Beast”: A London Newspaper Depicts Irish-Americans
Harper’s Weekly Offers a Typical View of “Paddy”
Thomas Nast Depicts “The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things”
A St. Patrick’s Day “Riot,” As Portrayed by Thomas Nast
Physiognomy and Ethnic Stereotyping in the Nineteenth Century
GOLD MOUNTAIN AND ANGEL ISLAND: THE CHINESE IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
February 15, 2008 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Primary Documents and Activities:
Clips from Becoming American: The Chinese Experience
Becoming American DVD Active Viewing Worksheet
An English-Chinese Phrase Book
Worksheet for An English-Chinese Phrase Book
Tables Show Chinese Labor Distribution and Wage Discrepancies in Late 19th Century San Francisco
The Poetry of Chinese Immigration (Activity + Documents)
Creating A Visitor’s Guide to San Francisco’s Chinatown (Activity + Documents)
IMMIGRATION: ELLIS ISLAND
April 8, 2008 at The Graduate Center, CUNY
Scholar Talk: “Immigration and Conceptions of ‘Fit’ Citizenship, 1790-1924,” Matthew Jacobson (Yale University).
Primary Documents and Activities:
The Immigrant. Is he an acquisition or a detriment?
“The Immigrant” Cartoon Worksheet
The Commissioner-General of Immigration Describes “New” Immigration
President Cleveland Vetoes a Law Restricting Immigration, 1897
Selected Timeline of Federal Immigration Laws in the U.S., 1790-1965
Excerpt from the Naturalization Act of 1790
Creating Active Viewing Strategies for ELL Classrooms: Heaven Will Protect the Working Girl Viewer’s Guide
