Immigra'on

and Migra'on
During the periods of Reconstruc'on, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement,
South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its tradi'onal
society. To understand South Carolinas experience as representa've of its region and the
United States as a whole during these periods you will be able to compare migra'on paFerns of
South Carolinians to such paFerns throughout the United States, including the movement from
rural to urban areas and the migra'on of African Americans from the South to the North,
Midwest, and West.
In the post Civil War period, westward expansion
con'nued as people moved from one region to
another and immigrated to the United States. AJer
emancipa'on, some African Americans moved to
towns in the West, for example, the Exodusters who
moved to Kansas. In the postwar period, most
South Carolinians did not move west. Neither
African-American freedmen nor poor whites had the
money to make such a move, even with the
promise of free land. Instead they concentrated Image from: hFp://www.ducksters.com/history/westward_expansion/
rst_transcon'nental_railroad.php
on making use of the available land and economic
opportunity in their home state. Mo'va'ons for
1. Working on the transcon6nental railroad
seFlers from the East and from foreign countries paid well, but was dangerous work. Do you
to move west were oers of free land by the
think the pay was worth it? Would you have
United States Government, the Homestead Act,
risked your life for very high pay?
and economic opportuni'es made possible by the
railroad. The transcon6nental railroad rst
brought immigrants from China and Europe to lay the track then aFracted new seFlers to the
West through aggressive adver'sing and land sales and also provided farmers access to new
markets.
Depressed economic condi'ons and low prices for their crops drove many South Carolina
farmers o of the land and to the mill villages. However, mill jobs were not open to African
Americans. Instead African Americans moved from rural areas in South Carolina to factory jobs
in the urban areas in the Northeast and the Midwest. African Americans were also pushed out
of the state by the con'nued agricultural depression and the ravages of the boll weevil, by the
social discrimina'on of Jim Crow laws and by increasing violence. The wars of the 20th century
would provide addi'onal economic opportuni'es and prompt more migra'on.

Foreign immigrants did not come to South Carolina in large numbers because of the depressed
economic condi'ons in agriculture, the lack of available land, and a lack of industrial jobs. The
mills had an ample supply of farmers who lost their farms from the rural areas of the state.
Those immigrants who did come to the state made signicant cultural and economic
contribu'ons to South Carolina. Many immigrants established businesses including the founder
and editor of The State newspaper, who was immigrant from Cuba.
Immigra6on had a much greater impact on the ci'es of
the Northeast and Midwest. Although some immigrants
moved from the plans and established farms, many were
too poor to move beyond the port ci'es where they
landed. Ethnic neighborhoods grew as immigrants looked
for the familiar in a strange new land. Churches, schools,
businesses, and newspapers reected the
Image from: hFp://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/
ethnicity of LiKle Italy, Greektown or
remembering/
Polonia. South Carolina city
2. Why would you have moved to America in the
neighborhoods were divided into black
late 1800s/early 1900s?
and white sec'ons by law. Many
3. Where would you have decided to move if you established immigrants helped those who
had newly arrived to nd jobs and housing
came to America and why?
which had a power impact on city poli'cs.
People voted for those who found them jobs and helped them through hard 'mes. Immigrants
gave their votes to neighborhood and ward bosses in gra'tude for help they had received, not
as a result of any direct bribery.
Although many poli6cal bosses were
corrupt and rou'nely used graN and
bribery in awarding city contracts, they
also served an important role in helping
new immigrants adapt to their new
country. The power that immigrant
groups gave to this urban poli6cal
machine allowed the bosses to solve
urban problems. The poli'cal machine in
South Carolina was controlled by the
Image from: hFp://www.phschool.com/curriculum_support/taks/pathways_1.cfm?unit=2
Tillmanite fac6on of the Democra'c
Party. They too engage in corrup'on and 4. Based on the pie graph, where did most of the
graN and controlled the votes of the
immigrants come from?
people through disfranchisement of the
African American voter and racist rhetoric 5. Based on the pie graph, where did the least amount of
immigrants come from?
but gave voice to the aspira'ons of the

hoods-59581/

jor ci6es?

common white farmer. Just as the immigrant communi'es helped each other, the African
American community in South Carolina developed organiza'ons and churches that supported
them as they aFempted to protect themselves against the white poli'cal machine.

Like African
Americans,
immigrants also
faced restric'ons
and racial hos'lity
due to Na6vism. In
the late 19th
century,
resentments
focused on
immigrants from
Southern and Eastern Europe including the Italians, Poles, Russians and Eastern European
Jews, as the numbers of these groups grew and the dierences with previous immigrant groups
including the Irish and Germans and na6ve Americans were more obvious. Although literacy
tests for immigrants were proposed in Congress in the 1890s, immigra6on restric6ons in the
form of a quota system did not pass un'l the 1920s. Late 19th Century na6vism can be seen as
a Northern counterpart of the an'-African American prejudices in South Carolina.
The eect of racial and ethnic diversity on na'onal iden'ty in the late 19th century and early
20th century was to convince the na've white popula'on in their natural superiority and 100%
Americanism. The idea of Social Darwinism gave an intellectual jus'ca'on for white
supremacy. It was not un'l much later in the 20th century that immigrants and African
Americans were recognized for the contribu'ons they have made to the strength of American
democracy and the richness of American culture.