Immigration
As one of the primary destinations for immigrants from across the globe, New York has long been a center of activism for assisting or deterring these newcomers. Learn about the discrimination immigrants have faced, their struggles to improve their quality of life, and how immigrants continue to transform the city.
Case Studies:
Nativists and Immigrants
Between 1820 and 1860, 3.7 million immigrants landed in New York Harbor—at a time when the city’s population numbered less than one million. No laws existed to regulate or curtail the flow of newcomers. Economic and political unrest propelled people across the Atlantic, including more than half a million Irish fleeing famine from 1845-1851.
Organizing Chinatown
In the face of daunting barriers and widespread racism, in the 1930s Chinese American workers in Lower Manhattan’s Chinatown demanded improved labor rights, connected with groups in the global anti-imperialist movement, and resisted longstanding, legalized discrimination.
