San Francisco could elect first Asian American mayor

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/67143.html

Document Analysis #2

Please review the following two documents. The first is Cesar Chavez's speech ending his first fast in 1968. The second is a speech he made more than 20 years later. Do these two documents, which span the bulk of Chavez's career working for the rights of Mexican American farm workers, reflect change / development / evolution / maturation of Chavez's ideas, or do they reflect consistency of Chavez's ideas throughout this long period?

Your paper should be 2-3 pages in length, including Bibliography.

Due Friday, 11/4.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/cesarchavezspeechmexicanamerican&church.htm

http://www.aztlan.net/cesarMLK.htm

The Triumph of Nativism

For Friday, please read chapter 10 and be prepared to answer the following questions:

• What is Nativism and what causes it?
• What and when were the three discreet phases of anti-immigrant activity?
• What was the Know-Nothing party? 
• What does the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution establish? Who's left out?
• Why did the Chinese Exclusion Act pass?
• What prompted the federal government to take over the administration of immigration?
• What do you know about Ellis Island?
• Against whom was most racism directed and why?
• Was the literacy test effective at barring undesirable immigrants?
• How did the depression of 1890 and World War I effect public opinion on immigration?
• How did the quota plan work? who was not subject to it?
• In 1924, what were some of the conflicts and struggles felt by the relatively prosperous nation?
• Was a limit on immigration necessary or desirable?
• Check out today's NY Times op-ed article on modern Nativism.

The Century of Immigration: Chinese, Japanese, and French Canadians

When reading Chapter 9 for Wednesday, please consider the following questions:

• What brought Chinese immigrants to the United States?
• How does Daniels define "immigrant," and what does he consider to be "the false and essentially racist notion" of some scholars?
• What was the "coolie trade"?
• Where did the Chinese settle and how did they finance their migrations?
• How did Chinatowns differ from other American ethnic enclaves?
• What are the Naturalization Act of 1870 and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?
• What is a "paper son"?
• Where did Japanese immigrants settle, and what occupations did they have?
• Why were the Japanese initially treated differently from the Chinese, and how did that affect their demographics?
• What is the "Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907-8"?
• What is a "picture bride marriage," and was it unique to the Japanese?
• Why did Carroll Wright say that French Canadians were the "Chinese of the Eastern States"?
• How was French Canadian migration unique?
• What were French Canadian occupations in Canada, and what were they in the United States?
• Why was French Canadian acculturation so much slower than for any other immigrant group? 

Midterm Study Guide / Short Answer Section

On the midterm, you will be asked to write short answer responses to 5 of the following questions. You will have 25 minutes to complete this section of the exam, so you should spend approximately 5 minutes on each question.

1. Define “ethnicity.” Why is it so difficult to define this term?

2. What does it mean to be an American? On what grounds do some claim that the equation of “American” with “citizen of the United States” is inappropriate?

3. (deleted)

4. What was the “kelp highway” as discussed by Jon Erlandson?

5. Most Africans who came to the North American colonies during the Colonial period did not come voluntarily. Does this mean that we should not call them “immigrants”?

6. We have looked at “push,” “pull” and “means” as factors that help determine why, how and when people immigrate to the United States. Have these factors fundamentally changed over time? Compare the experience of one Colonial Era immigrant group to one or more of the immigrants we heard about during our Oral History presentations.

7. October 12 was Columbus Day. Please watch the short video linked from Larissa’s blog. Why should we, or should we not “reconsider Columbus Day”?

8. (deleted)

9. Is the loss of an ethnic group’s native or home-country language an example of “Anglo conformity”? Cite at least one example to support your answer.

10. With regard to the study of History, why is it important to read or listen to primary source accounts such Olaudah Equiano’s description of his experience of slavery, Ida Wells’ account of lynchings, or Billie Holiday’s performance of “Strange Fruit”?

Welcome Immigrants

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/08/us/ohio-dayton-pro-immigrant/index.html?hpt=hp_t2#

Readings for the Week of October 10

We have read so far about the immigration experiences of some of the many ethnic groups that made up the population of the United States by the early 1900s. Some of these came by choice, as with most European immigrants, and others by force, as with the vast majority of early African immigrants. Still others never, strictly speaking, "came" to the United States but rather were incorporated into its domains through conquest or annexation, as with the Native and Mexican peoples respectively.

Another important aspect of America's ethnic history revolves around the experiences of those groups of people once settled in the United States. How did they grow into their distinctly American identities? How did different ethnic groups relate to one another as they grew into "Americans" over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries? Before moving on with the 20th century in our textbook, let's pause to take a thematic look at the experience of one of those groups, Africans, as they became African Americans. Although the African experience in America has been in some ways as diverse and nuanced as the many African ethnic groups represented here, certain key themes resonate for nearly all who are descendents of the first African immigrants, and particularly so for those who still live in the American South. Among these themes are the legacies of enslavement, racial violence and the long struggle for civil rights.

We've already looked at the Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, a man who experienced slavery in the United States first-hand and wrote about it in 1789 to support the abolitionist movement.

For this week, then, begin by reading this very short bio of Angelina Grimke, a white abolitionist from the American South.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USASgrimke.htm

Then, read Grimke's 1838 speech at Pennsylvania Hall. How does Grimke's double status as a "Southern woman," i.e. as both a Southerner and as a woman, strengthen her message in this speech?
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/grimke.html

Eventually, abolitionist sentiment succeeded in the US, but that did not put an end to racism. Southern blacks, in particular, continued to evolve their identities as Americans in an America partially defined by violence and discrimination, in communities subscribing to Jim Crow Laws where the fear of lynching was real and justified. The Abolitionist movement was over, but the Civil Rights movement was just beginning.

Read this (also very short) bio of Ida B. Wells, a black civil rights leader from the American South.
http://www.idabwells.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=53

Then, read Wells' influential 1893 speech and pamphlet, "Lynch Law." The "crime of outrage" Wells refers to is rape... why do you suppose rape is so prominently related to lynching in the context of the American South?
http://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/wellslynchlaw.html

Finally, watch Billie Holiday perform Strange Fruit, her powerful 1939 song about lynching.
http://dai.ly/edFCOY

Optional: Think lynching is a thing of the past in the American South? Shamefully, it is a practice that has continued to shape the ethnic reality of African-descendent Americans even into the 21st century.

Brandon McClelland 2008
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_5348.shtml

James Byrd 1998
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Byrd_Jr

Anthony Hill 2010
http://www.thegrio.com/news/sc-police-black-man-shot-to-death-body-dragged.php

Century of Immigration: Eastern Europeans

When reading Chapter 8 for Wednesday, please 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?

Century of Immigration: From the Mediterranean

Abject apologies for the delay of this post!
Please consider the following questions for Chapter 7:

• 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 Italian 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 to for a living?
• Why did Armenians emigrate and where did they go?