Ms. Fuller and Ms. Diana's SS Blog

Check out this site to see what the people running for President in 2008 think about immigration:

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.immigration.html

If this interests you, tune in to the debates on CNN:
- Tonight (11/28) – Republican Candidates (including Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of NYC)
- 12/17 – Democratic Candidates (including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards)
- 1/21 – Democratic Candidates
- 1/30 – Republican Candidates
- 1/31 – Democratic Candidates

These debates can help you hear different perspectives, therefore helping you form you own opinion. They can also sometimes get heated and can be exciting to watch!

The timeline shows the history of immigration to the United States: when various groups of people came, who they were, and why they came.  It has been said that America is a country of immigrants.  Why then do we also have a history of prejudice towards newcomers?  How does this affect our immigration policy (laws)?

Copy and Paste this onto a Word document (create an “8th Grade Social Studies” folder in My Documents or on your desktop and save all of your work there).  Use the timeline below to fill it in.

Use this timeline to fill in your cause and effect chart.

30,000 B.C.
WHO: Paleo-Indians
WHY: While searching for shaggy bison (for food), America’s first settlers walk across the land bridge that connects Asia to
North America.

A.D. 1565
WHO: Spaniards
WHY: Adventurers and explorers seek the New World’s treasures and build the first permanent European settlement in
St. Augustine,Florida.

1607
WHO: Britons
WHY: The British also want the
New World’s riches. They build their first permanent settlement in
Jamestown, Virginia.

1600s
WHO: Africans
WHY: They are kidnapped and forced to work in the British colonies. The slave trade continues until 1808.

1750
WHO: Welsh, Germans, French, Swedes and Finns
WHY: These immigrants want religious freedom. They settle in Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and
Delaware.

1830-1870s
WHO: Germans, Irish, Britons, Canadians and Chinese
WHY: Looking for a better life and freedom, newcomers settle along the Eastern seaboard and in the
Midwest. Large numbers of Irish flee the misery and starvation caused by a famine in
Ireland. Chinese newcomers seek their fortune on the West Coast.

1880-1920
WHO: Italians and Eastern Europeans
WHY: The new arrivals seek wealth and freedom. In 1891 the first federal immigration agency is started. The bureau opens 24 inspection stations, including
Ellis Island in 1892.

1921
WHO: Canadians, Mexicans, Germans and Italians
WHY: Congress passes a law limiting the number of immigrants allowed to enter the
U.S. from specific countries. These limits, based on the existing
U.S. population, are called quotas. They give special treatment to the ethnic groups that already have a large population in the
U.S.

 1952
A new law called the McCarran-Walter Act is passed. The total number of immigrants allowed to enter the
U.S. is set at 154,657 a year. Some nationalities are more welcome than others.

1965 TO THE PRESENT
WHO: Mexicans, Cubans, Asians (Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Koreans), citizens of the former U.S.S.R.
WHY: Quotas by country are ended by the Immigration Act of 1965. The doors open for a new wave of immigrants searching for greater opportunity and freedom.

Essential Question: What should the immigration policy of the United States be?

Remember, as we study immigration historically, politically, and economically, to keep our essential question in mind. 

How does each new thing that you learn strengthen OR change your opinion?

As you discuss the essential question, feel free to ask questions, post appropriate links, or give anecdotes (stories that illustrate your point) that can push the discussion.