Attitudes Toward Immigrants and African Americans

Students learn about the impact that immigration had on the country during the Industrial Revolution and how the immigrants and African Americans living in the North were treated. Then, they select a specific immigrant group for further study.

This learning experience is designed for device-enabled classrooms. The teacher guides the lesson, and students use embedded resources, social media skills, and critical thinking skills to actively participate. To get access to a free version of the complete lesson, sign up for an exploros account.

The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.

Here are the teacher pack items for Attitudes Toward Immigrants and African Americans:

Immigration: Challenges for New Americans
Primary source set and historical background
American Racial Attitudes Before the Civil War
Background Information
Attributions

Engage

Overview

In this experience, students learn about the impact that immigration had on the country during the Industrial Revolution and how the immigrants and African Americans living in the North were treated. Then, they select a specific immigrant group for further study.

Students will work in small groups for scenes 3 and 4.

Objective:

Describe the impact of immigration and attitudes toward immigrants and African Americans in the North.

During the Industrial Revolution, immigrants of all ages came to the United States and settled mainly in the coastal northeastern cities. They worked in factories and mines and lived in tenement apartments in large cities like New York and Boston. Their life in the “New World” was difficult and challenging. In most cases, they were treated poorly by employers, government officials, and other Americans.

Objective:

Describe the impact of immigration and attitudes toward immigrants and African Americans in the North.

Two wealthy men are explaining something to a group of immigrants

Know-Nothingism in Brooklyn

“None but citizens of the United States can be licensed
to engage in any employment in this city”

Take a look at this political cartoon created in the 1800s and read the caption.

What do you think the cartoonist is trying to say about immigrants?

Post your answer

Discuss with students their responses. Mention to students that the cartoon depicts anti-immigrant sentiments that were prevalent during the Industrial Revolution. In this experience students will be learning how immigrants were treated and the effect immigration had on the Industrial Revolution.

Along with immigrants, free African Americans living in the North were also treated poorly. Many had limited rights and were discriminated against by whites. Their children were forced to attend segregated schools. Some people believe that free African Americans in the North were treated just as poorly as slaves in the South.

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The Complete List of Learning Experiences in Industrialization Unit.