Jewish Immigration to the United States from 1881 to 1910 Part 9

CHAPTER VII

PARTIc.i.p.aTION OF JEWS IN TOTAL IMMIGRATION

We turn now to a consideration of the part played by the Jewish immigration in the total immigration to this country for these thirty years.[90] A general rise is revealed in the proportions the Jewish bore to the total immigration. In the decade between 1881 and 1890, of the 5,246,613 immigrants, the Jewish immigrants were 193,021, or 3.7 per cent of the total. In the decade between 1891 and 1900, of the 3,687,564 immigrants, the Jewish immigrants numbered 393,516. The Jewish proportion of the total rose to 10.7 per cent. This really tremendous rise was due to the fact that while the total number of immigrants fell off one-third in this decade, the Jewish immigrants doubled their numbers. It is from this decade that the Jewish immigrants become conspicuous in the immigration to the United States.

In the decade between 1901 and 1910, of the 8,795,386 immigrants, the Jewish immigrants numbered 976,263. The proportion of the Jewish immigrants to the total rose to 11.1 per cent. Even in this decade of tremendous increase in the general immigration, the Jewish immigration rose at a still greater rate.

For the entire period the Jewish immigration was 8.8 per cent of the total immigration.[91] This proportion was not reached before 1891.

The maximum in the first decade was in 1887, when the Jewish immigration const.i.tuted 6.7 per cent of the total for the year. In 1891, this proportion rose to 9.2 per cent. It reached its highest point during nineteen years, in 1892, when the Jewish immigrants const.i.tuted 13.2 per cent of the total for the year. Throughout the period of depression, from 1893 to 1898, the contribution of the Jewish to the total immigration was, with two exceptions, above its average for the thirty years. In 1893, when the number of Jewish immigrants fell to half of that of the preceding year, its contribution to the total was 8 per cent. In 1897, a year of lowest Jewish as well as general immigration, its proportion was the same as the average. In the following years the contribution of the Jewish immigration rose proportionately, and in 1900 it reached the maximum for thirty years, const.i.tuting 13.5 per cent of the total for the year. The next highest proportion was reached in the year of maximum Jewish immigration, 1906, when the Jewish immigrants represented 13.4 per cent of the total for the year. Throughout the years from 1904 to 1908, the Jewish immigrants contributed above their average for the period. In 1908, when the numbers both of the Jewish and the total immigration had been greatly reduced, the Jewish immigrants contributed 13.2 per cent of the total, one of the highest proportions in the entire period, a fact which indicates that the Jewish immigrant tide recedes more slowly than that of the total immigration. In 1909, the year in which the effect of the panic of 1907 was registered in the Jewish immigration, the proportion of the Jewish immigrants to the total fell to 7.7 per cent. A slight relative rise took place in 1910 to 8.1 per cent.

A comparison of the annual fluctuations of the Jewish and the total immigration enables us to distinguish some points of difference.[92]

Though, on the whole, the Jewish corresponds with the total immigration in its rise and fall, there are significant differences.

Thus, 1882 represents a year of high immigration in each, but the rise is in the case of the total immigration one of 17.9 per cent over that of the preceding year, but in the case of the Jewish, it represents a rise of 131.9 per cent over that of the preceding year, proportionately more than seven times as great. Another period of rising movement is in 1891 and 1892. Where, however, in 1891 the total immigration rose 20.9 per cent, the Jewish rose 79.5 per cent. In 1892, the total rose 3.4 per cent, the Jewish rose 48.6 per cent. In all these cases the difference is so great as to indicate the working of special influences in the Jewish movement.

The existence of these special influences is again evident in the last decade. In 1904, the total immigration fell off 5.2 per cent, but the Jewish immigration rose 39.4 per cent. In 1906, in spite of the great total immigration of that year, and its increase of 7.2 per cent over the preceding year, the increase of the Jewish was 18.2 per cent--more than double that of the total. Again, the maximum periods of the two movements do not coincide. The total immigration reached its highest point for the thirty years in 1907. The maximum of the Jewish movement was in 1906.

The panic of 1907 also appears to have influenced the Jewish immigration more slowly than the total. The greatest fall in the latter took place in 1908, immediately after the panic. The greatest fall of the Jewish immigration took place in 1909. This is another indication of the slowness of the response of the Jewish immigration to business conditions in this country, as compared with the rapid response of the general body of immigrants.

As the racial cla.s.sification was introduced only in 1899, it is impossible to determine for the entire thirty years the exact place the Jews occupy in the movement of peoples from the Old World to the New. During the twelve years from 1899 to 1910, there entered the United States a total of 1,074,442 Jewish immigrants, an annual average of nearly ninety thousand. This was the second largest body of immigrants, const.i.tuting more than a tenth of the total immigration for this period. In this regard the Jews were surpa.s.sed only by the South Italians.[93]

This is an immense volume of immigration, both relatively and absolutely, and indicates to what an extent the immigration tendency has seized the Jews. In this tendency, however, the Jews from the different countries of Europe differ very strongly. As practically only three countries of Eastern Europe--Russia, Roumania and Austria-Hungary--are represented in the recent Jewish immigration, a rate of immigration established for the Jews should be based upon the population of these countries rather than upon the total Jewish population in Europe. Thus established, the Jews have the highest rate of immigration of any immigrant peoples. In 1906, during the maximum period of Jewish immigration, the rate of immigration of the East-European Jews was twenty out of every thousand. In 1907, the rate of the Jewish immigration was nineteen out of every thousand. The Jews are approached in this respect only by the Slovaks, who, in 1907, had a rate of immigration of eighteen per thousand. In this respect, the Jewish immigration is seen to occupy an exceptional position in the recent movement of peoples from Europe to this country.

FOOTNOTES:

[90] _Cf._ table x.x.x, p. 174.

[91] _Cf._ table x.x.xI, p. 174.

[92] _Cf._ table x.x.xII, p. 175.

[93] This average and the same relative position is maintained if we take the fifteen years from 1899 to 1913, in which period there entered 1,347,590 Jewish immigrants.

CHAPTER VIII

SUMMARY

The preceding a.n.a.lysis of the movement of the Jewish immigration to the United States and that of its Russian, Roumanian and Austro-Hungarian tributaries, from 1881 to 1910, has revealed certain facts of importance.

The progressive nature of the Jewish movement has been disclosed. The greatest numbers have come within the last decade. This is particularly true of the movement from Roumania, and to a less extent of the movement from Russia. On the other hand, a larger relative proportion of the Jews from Austria-Hungary came during the first two decades. Throughout, the Jews from Russia have predominated in the total movement, governing its course for practically the entire period.

In the total movement from the three countries of Eastern Europe, the Jews have partic.i.p.ated most strongly in the Roumanian immigration, const.i.tuting nine-tenths of this immigration. The Jews are nearly a half of the immigrants from Russia. Their partic.i.p.ation in the immigration from Austria-Hungary is relatively much smaller, being less than a tenth of the total immigration. In the immigration of the two latter countries, the Jews show a lessening partic.i.p.ation, due to the great growth of the immigration of the other peoples. In the movements from Russia and Roumania, the partic.i.p.ation of the Jewish immigrants rises greatly in all periods significant in the situation of the Jews in these countries. The influence of the unusual conditions facing the Jews in Russia and Roumania and of the princ.i.p.al events in their history for these thirty years is reflected in the annual fluctuations of the Jewish immigration of each of these countries to the United States. The economic and social pressure exerted upon the Jews in Russia and Roumania is reflected in the degree emigration is utilized by them. The Jews from Russia have a much higher rate of immigration than any other people immigrating from Russia. The rate of immigration of the Jews from Roumania is the highest among the Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. In both annual fluctuations and rate of immigration the movement of the Jews from Austria-Hungary does not indicate the existence of special influences.

The partic.i.p.ation of the Jews in the total immigration to the United States is large and increasing in importance. For the last fifteen years they formed the second largest body of immigrants. Their fate of immigration is also higher than that of any other immigrant people. Of note, too, is the slow response of their immigration to unfavorable economic conditions in this country. When these facts are joined to those which have shown the striking relative partic.i.p.ation of the Jews in the movements from Russia and Roumania, and the existence of special causes operating in these countries and indicating their influence in the yearly variations and in an extraordinary rate of immigration, it becomes clear that for the largest part of this period of thirty years Jewish immigration is controlled mainly by the conditions and events affecting the fate of the Jews in the countries of Eastern Europe.

That the conditions in the United States exercise an influence, favorable or unfavorable, upon the immigration of Jews is undoubted.

The influences, however, exerted by the conditions abroad are far stronger and steadier, and, on the whole, override the latter.

The conclusion previously reached that the Jewish immigration is for the largest part the result of the expulsive and rejective forces of governmental persecution is thus strengthened by this examination into the situation as presented by the figures of the Jewish immigration to the United States. With it as a guiding principle, some of the main characteristics peculiar to the Jewish immigration are explained. To these we now turn.

PART II

JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES

B. ITS CHARACTERISTICS

CHAPTER I

FAMILY MOVEMENT

Vital aspects of an immigrant people are revealed in its s.e.x and age distribution. Generally speaking, whether an immigration is composed of individuals or of families is shown in the relative proportion of males and females, and of adults and children, of which it is composed.

That the Jewish movement is essentially a family movement is shown by the great proportion of females and children found in it.[94] From 1899 to 1910, out of a total immigration of 1,074,442 Jews, 607,822, or 56.6 per cent were males, and 466,620, or 43.4 per cent, were females. These proportions have varied but slightly throughout the period. The greatest departures were in the years 1904 and 1905. The increase of the immigration of males in these years is explained by the unusual conditions existing in Russia at this time--economic unrest, revolution--which had the effect of sending over the men as an _avantgarde_ to prepare the way for their families. Young men fleeing to escape conscription also swelled the numbers. In 1906, however, the number of males decreased by 2,000, but that of females increased by more than 25,000. In this tremendous increase of females is registered the effect of the _pogroms_ of 1905-6, in which years the movement became a veritable flight.

The general tendency has been towards an increase in the proportion of females. For the thirteen years preceding, from 1886 to 1898,[95] out of a total immigration at the port of New York of 251,623 Jewish adults, 147,053, or 58.4 per cent, were males, and 104,570, or 41.6 per cent, were females. The proportion of males is here somewhat higher than that for the period from 1899 to 1910. The difference is, however, relatively small. The tendency, previously noted, towards the increase in the proportion of females is found here. The greater relative diminution of the males in the later years--in 1894 reaching the point where there were more females--is even striking.

Turning to a consideration of the ages of the Jewish immigrants, we learn that, between 1899 and 1910, 267,656, or practically one-fourth of all the Jewish immigrants, were children under fourteen years.[96]

The large part that is taken in the Jewish immigration by the children is apparent.

Here, again, 1904 and 1905 represent periods of great increase in the immigration of those between fourteen and forty-four years. As was the case with the females, the proportion of children in the immigration is at its greatest in the year 1906, by far the largest part of the increase for this year being children, thus giving a significant indication of the extent and literalness of the flight from Russia in this year of _pogroms_.[97] In the thirteen years preceding, from 1886 to 1898, of the 380,278 Jewish immigrants that entered the port of New York for this period, 128,655, or 33.8 per cent, were children under sixteen years of age.[98] A steady increase in the latter years is noted in the proportion of children, which harmonizes with a similar tendency noted of the females for the same period.

That these facts reveal a family movement of considerable size, there is no question. They become truly significant when comparison is made with the proportions of the females and the children in the general immigration and with those of the peoples of which it is composed.

A comparison of the proportion of males and females in the total and the Jewish immigration from 1899 to 1910 shows that for the entire period the percentage of females in the Jewish was much higher than in the total immigration, 43.4 per cent of the Jewish immigration being females as compared with 30.5 per cent of the total.[99] The percentage of females in the Jewish immigration was higher for every year from 1899 to 1910.

While the percentage of males in the total immigration was above 70 per cent in five years, the percentage of males in the Jewish immigration was less than 60 per cent in all but two years, 1904 and 1905, when it rose to 61.2 per cent and 63.2 per cent. The latter, which represents the highest point in the percentage of males in the Jewish immigration, was smaller than the percentage of males in the total immigration for every year but 1899. In other words the maximum percentage of males in the Jewish and the minimum percentage in the total immigration practically coincide.

In the period between 1899 and 1909 the proportion of children under fourteen years of age in the Jewish immigration was 24.8 per cent, while that in the total immigration was only 12.3 per cent.[100] The Jewish thus had proportionately twice as many children as the total immigration.

The exceptional position of the Jews in regard to their family movement is most strikingly shown when the composition of the Jewish immigration by s.e.x and age is compared with that of the other immigrant peoples.[101] In a comparison with immigrant races which contributed more than 100,000 to the total immigration from 1899 to 1910, the Jews are seen to have a higher proportion of females than any other people except the Irish. The Irish present in this regard an anomaly, in that they have more females than males in their immigration. That it is not in the main a family movement is shown by reference to the proportion of children under fourteen in the Irish immigration, which is only 5 per cent, one of the lowest in the entire series. The anomaly is easily explained by the well-known fact that their females for the most part are single, who come to the United States to work as servants.[102]

Only one other people, the Bohemian and Moravian, approached the Jewish in its high proportion of females. On the other hand, the one people with a larger immigration than the Jewish, the South Italian, presents a striking contrast to the Jewish immigration, in that its proportion of females was about half that of the Jews. Although its immigrants numbered twice as many as the Jewish, the females in the Italian movement were only 408,965, as compared with 466,620 females in the Jewish immigration.

A comparison of the immigrant peoples with reference to their composition by age shows that the Jewish movement contains without any exception the largest proportion of children.[103] Out of a total of 990,182 Jewish immigrants from 1899 to 1909, 245,787, or 24.8 per cent, were children under fourteen. In this regard, again, the Bohemian and Moravian approach the Jewish, though not as closely as in the proportion of females. The contrast with the South Italians obtains here as well. As the Jewish immigration, during the twelve years from 1899 to 1910, was the second highest in numbers, contributing more than a million to the total, the number of females and children found in its movement was higher than that of any other immigrant race, not only relatively but absolutely as well.

Most striking, indeed, is the contrast in these respects between the Jewish immigrants and the other races coming from the countries of Eastern Europe, particularly the Slavic immigrant races with whom the Jews have been a.s.sociated in the official statistics.[104] An examination of the proportion of females in the immigration of the eight races composing the Slavic group, shows that, with the exception of the Bohemians and Moravians (whose movement presents strong similarities to that of the Jews), the percentage of females was less than a third of the total immigration of each race, the highest being that of the Poles, which was 30.5 per cent. The contrast is even more striking in respect to children under fourteen. Here, again, excluding the Bohemians and Moravians, the highest percentage in the group was that of the Poles, 9.5 per cent. In this respect, therefore, the a.s.sociation of the Jewish immigrants with the other immigrants from Eastern Europe, under the rubric "Slavic races", is seen to be untenable.

Strongest of all is the contrast between the Jewish immigration and that of the Roumanian people.[105] The Roumanian movement is seen to be composed practically wholly of individuals, only 9 per cent being females, while that of the people from Roumania (nine-tenths of whom are Jews[106]) is seen to have a proportion of females higher even than that in the total Jewish immigration. Even greater is the contrast with respect to age, only 2.2 per cent of the Roumanians being children under fourteen.