Asian American History and the Making of the U.S. Immigration System

Map Studies

Study this map: “How the origins of America’s immigrants have changed since 1850.”¹⁷ This map is by the PEW Research Center and displays the top country of birth among immigrants by state from 1850 to 2022.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/22/how-the-origins-of-americas-immigrants-have-changed-since-1850/

How to discuss this map with your students: Ask the students what they notice about this map?  What changes stand out?  What are the differences between the East coast vs. the West coast?  Can you observe what ethnic group is most prominent in what time frame?  In more recent years, what is the dominant ethnic immigration group? Why?  Review how United States immigration laws influenced the changes over time.

Study this next map: “Immigration and Naturalization.”¹⁸ source – David Rumsey Map Collection

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~344543~90112522:7--Immigration-and-Naturalization

The work titled "7. Immigration and Naturalization" is a wall map produced by A.J. Nystrom & Co. in 1962, as part of the "Citizenship for Democracy Charts" series. It was created by Stanley Dimond and Miles Beamer, published as educational material for classroom use. The publisher, A.J. Nystrom & Co., has been known for producing educational maps and globes since its founding in 1903.  The visual style is straightforward and functional, typical of mid-20th-century educational materials. It employs bold colors, particularly red, to highlight key data points and illustrations. The subject matter focuses on immigration to the United States, depicting reasons for immigration, origins of immigrants, and the process of naturalization. - Illustrations and Themes: The top section contains illustrations representing various reasons why people immigrated to the United States, such as religious and political freedom, adventure, free or cheap land, freedom of enterprise, and better pay. - Graphs and Data: A central bar graph titled "They Came Year After Year," illustrates immigration to the United States by decades, providing a visual representation of immigration trends over time. Another graph, "They Came From Everywhere," breaks down immigration numbers by geographical region, emphasizing the diverse origins of immigrants. - Naturalization Process: The chart includes a section on the steps in the naturalization of foreign-born individuals, depicted through a series of illustrations and brief descriptions. - Immigration Totals: The map provides a total figure for immigration to the United States since 1820, totaling over 42 million individuals. - Naturalization Data: Another graph displays the number of naturalized citizens over specific periods. This chart was produced before 1965 Immigration Act which overhauled the system and jumpstarted immigration.   This work reflects the post-World War II era's focus on immigration and integration. The United States was experiencing significant social changes, including the Civil Right movement, shifts in immigration policy, and growing attention to educational reform. This chart would have been used in classrooms to educate students about the history and process of immigration in the country, fostering an understanding of the diverse roots of American society.  This educational tool serves to inform students about the historical patterns of immigration and the legal processes involved in becoming a U.S. citizen. By visualizing complex data in an accessible format, it aids in developing a comprehensive understanding of the United States' demographic changes and the social and economic factors influencing immigration.

How to discuss this map with your students: Do the students notice who is depicted as “the immigrant?”  The chart shows reasons for why immigrants came.  It shows what years immigrants came in graphs. The interesting part of the chart “They came from everywhere” in graph form, showing the overwhelmingly majority immigrating from Western Europe in bold red color.  How does this map help your students to understand Asian exclusion in this map and data?  This is a great place to stop and review the biased laws that encouraged Western European migration and discouraged non-Caucasian immigration, especially from Asian nations.

Finally, look at this map with your students: “A Nation of Immigrants”¹⁹ source: David Rumsey Map Collection

The work titled "A Nation of Immigrants," authored by Daniela Passal and John F. Kennedy 1959.  Important vintage pictorial map by Daniela Passal, issued as a companion to John F. Kennedy's ‘A Nation of Immigrants’ pamphlet in 1959. The map attempts to communicate the diversity of America's population through ethnic caricature: in Missouri, a German man in lederhosen²⁰ lifts a stein of beer; in California, a Chinese man with a “Fu Manchu”²¹ does the same with a cup of tea; in New York, a rabbi uses a shofar²² and an Italian man in a tuxedo sings into a microphone. There is an additional series of images intended to reflect the industries of the states: cars in Michigan; cows and beer in Wisconsin; an atom in New Mexico. Strikingly absent from the map is a mention of Africa or Africa slavery.   The two figures working cotton fields in the South are both Caucasian, and the area is interspersed with mentions of English and French immigration but ignores the history of African slavery or African American labor migration. One black man is shown playing a trumpet in Alabama. Surrounding the map is a list of ethnicities, Armenians through Portuguese, though again, "Africans" is conspicuously absent.  In the lower-left corner is a small explanatory essay: The United States of America is, indeed, a nation of immigrants--a democratic society of more than 170 million individuals composed almost entirely of immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. All told, some forty million immigrants have come to our shores since the beginning of American history... these are some of yesterday's immigrants who have supplied a continuous flow of creative abilities and ideas that have enriched our nation. The immigrants we welcome today and tomorrow will carry on this tradition and help us to retain, reinvigorate and strengthen the American spirit.

How to use this map with your students: Yes, this colorfully illustrated map shows diverse immigration with colorful ethnic characters in each state.  It is important to note that the map appears to illustrate that all immigration is the same – Western European or Asian.  The map does not address the ways in which race shaped immigration and exclusion.  Discuss why slavery, or African decent, is omitted from the map.