Jewish Immigration to the United States from 1881 to 1910 / Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, Vol. LIX, No. 4, 1914

by Samuel Joseph

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I.—THE CAUSES OF JEWISH EMIGRATION.
		PAGE
[ CHAPTER I]
Introduction.
1.	Character of Jewish immigration	[21]
2.	Eastern Europe	[22]
3.	Distribution of Jews in Eastern Europe	[21]
4.	Uniform character of East-European Jews	[22]
[ CHAPTER II]
Eastern Europe: Economic, Social and Political Conditions
I.	Russia.
	1. Medieval past	[27]
	2. Agricultural character	[28]
	3. Emancipation of serfs	[29]
	4. Reminiscences of serfdom	[29]
	5. Changes since the emancipation	[30]
	6. Epoch of transition	[31]
	7. Social orders: classes, the church	[31]
	8. Political order: autocracy, bureaucracy	[32]
	9. Political struggle: Russian liberalism	[32]
	10. Reaction since Alexander III	[33]
II.	Roumania.
	1. Social-economic classes	[34]
	2. Emancipation of the serfs: results	[35]
	3. Development of industry and commerce	[36]
	4. Growth of a middle class	[36]
III.	Austria-Hungary.
	1. Reminiscences of medieval economy	[37]
	2. Transitional nature of economic life	[37]
	3. Organization of industry and commerce	[37]
	4. Politico-economic struggles	[38]
	5. Galicia: economic and social conditions	[39]
IV.	Summary.
[ CHAPTER III]
The Jews in Eastern Europe: Economic and Social Position
I.	Russia.
	1. Economic characteristics	[42]
	a. Occupational distribution of the Jews	[42]
	b. Comparison with the non-Jews	[42]
	c. Participation of the Jews in principal occupational groups	[43]
	d. Comparison of occupational distribution of Jews and non-Jews in the Pale	[43]
	e. Economic activities of the Jews	[44]
	2. Social characteristics	[46]
	a. Urban distribution of the Jews	[46]
	b. Comparison with the non-Jews	[46]
	c. Literacy: comparison with the non-Jews	[47]
	d. Liberal professions: comparison with the non-Jews	[48]
II.	Roumania.
	1. Economic characteristics	[48]
	a. The Jews as merchants and entrepreneurs	[48]
	b. The Jewish artisans	[49]
	c. Participation of the Jews in industry and commerce	[49]
	2. Social characteristics	[49]
	a. Urban distribution of the Jews	[49]
	b. Comparison with the non-Jews	[49]
	c. Literacy: comparison with the non-Jews	[50]
III.	Austria-Hungary.
	1. Economic characteristics	[50]
	a. Occupational distribution of the Jews	[50]
	b. Comparison with the non-Jews	[51]
	c. Participation of the Jews in principal occupational groups	[51]
	Galicia	[51]
	a. Occupational distribution of the Jews	[51]
	b. Comparison with the non-Jews	[51]
	c. Participation of the Jews in principal occupational groups	[51]
	d. Industrial and commercial position of the Jews in East and West Galicia	[52]
	2. Social characteristics	[52]
	a. Urban distribution of the Jews	[52]
	b. Comparison with the non-Jews	[52]
	c. Liberal professions: comparison with the non-Jews	[52]
III.	Summary.
[ CHAPTER IV]
Thirty Years of Jewish History
I.	Russia.
	1. Treatment of the Jews after the partitions of Poland	[56]
	2. Pale of Jewish Settlement: special Jewish laws	[57]
	3. Attitude of Russian government toward the Jews	[57]
	4. Alexander II and liberalism	[58]
	5. Reaction: antagonism to the Jews	[59]
	6. Economic attack: the May Laws	[60]
	7. Effect of the May Laws	[61]
	8. Educational restrictions: the "percentage rule"	[62]
	9. Pogroms: pogroms of 1881-2	[63]
	10. Expulsions from Moscow	[64]
	11. Nicholas II: anti-Jewish agitation: Kishineff	[64]
	12. War and revolution: effect upon the Jews	[65]
	13. Pogroms as counter-revolution	[66]
	14. Results: economic and social pressure	[67]
	15. Jewish policy of reactionary régime	[ 68]
II.	Roumania.
	1. Early legal status of the Jews	[69]
	2. Convention of Paris	[69]
	3. Anti-Jewish activities of the government: Article VII	[70]
	4. Berlin Congress	[70]
	5. Article 44 of the Berlin Treaty	[71]
	6. The revised Article VII	[71]
	7. Legal status of the Jews fixed	[72]
	8. Campaign of discrimination	[73]
	9. Exclusion of Jews from economic activities	[73]
	10. Educational restrictions: restrictions to professional service	[74]
	11. Political basis of anti-Jewish policy	[75]
	12. Results: economic and social pressure	[76]
	13. Jewish policy of Roumanian government: Hay's circular note	[76]
III.	Austria-Hungary.
	1. Early legal status of the Jews: emancipation	[77]
	2. Jews attacked as liberals and capitalists	[78]
	3. Rise of political antisemitism: its triumph: the clericals	[78]
	Galicia	[78]
	1. Rise of a Polish middle class: displacement of Jews in industry and commerce	[79]
	2. Economic boycott of Jewish artisans and traders	[79]
	3. Anti-Jewish activity of local authorities	[79]
	4. Over-competition and surplus of Jews in industry and commerce	[80]
	5. Historical rôle of the Jews: antagonism of peasantry and clergy	[80]
[ CHAPTER V]
Conclusion
[ PART II.--JEWISH IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES]
A. Its Movement
[ CHAPTER I]
Determination of Number of Jewish Immigrants
1.	Construction of table: difficulties	[87]
2.	Sources utilized: reports of Jewish societies	[87]
3.	Rearrangement of numbers from 1886 to 1898	[88]
4.	Determination of numbers by country of nativity: methods used	[88]
5.	Determination of numbers from 1881 to 1885: methods used	[90]
6.	Tendency to magnify numbers of Jewish immigrants	[91]
7.	Results	[92]
[ CHAPTER II]
Immigration of Jews from Eastern Europe
1.	Jewish immigration East-European	[95]
2.	Summary by decades of Jewish immigration from Russia, Roumania and Austria-Hungary	[95]
3.	Annual contributions of Jewish immigration from Russia, Roumania and Austria-Hungary	[96]
[ CHAPTER III]
Immigration of Jews from Russia
1.	Russian Jewish immigration a movement of steady growth	[98]
	a. Summary by decades	[98]
	b. Annual variations: effect of the Moscow expulsions	[98]
2.	Participation of Jews in the immigration from Russia	[101]
	a. Annual variations	[101]
	b. Summary by decades	[102]
	c. Relative predominance of Jewish in total	[102]
3.	Intensity of Jewish immigration from Russia	[103]
	a. Rate of immigration	[103]
	b. Fluctuations of rate	[104]
[ CHAPTER IV]
Immigration of Jews from Roumania
1.	Roumanian Jewish immigration a rising movement	[105]
	a. Summary by decades	[105]
	b. Annual variations	[105]
2.	Participation of Jews in the immigration from Roumania	[107]
	a. Jewish and total synonymous	[107]
	b. Annual variations	[107]
3.	Intensity of Jewish immigration from Roumania	[108]
	a. Rate of immigration	[108]
	b. Fluctuations of rate	[108]
[ CHAPTER V]
Immigration of Jews from Austria-Hungary
1.	Jewish immigration from Austria-Hungary a rising movement	[109]
	a. Summary by decades	[109]
	b. Annual variations	[109]
	c. Comparison of Jewish with total	[110]
2.	Participation of Jews in the immigration from Austria-Hungary	[110]
	a. Summary by decades	[110]
	b. Annual variations	[111]
3.	Comparison of immigration of Jews from Austria and Hungary	[111]
	a. Numbers	[111]
	b. Participation in total	[111]
4.	Immigration of Jews and other peoples from Austria-Hungary	[112]
5.	Rate of Jewish immigration from Austria-Hungary	[112]
[ CHAPTER VI]
Jewish Immigration
1.	Total movement one of geometrical progression	[113]
	a. Summary by decades	[113]
	b. Summary by six-year periods	[113]
	c. Annual variations	[114]
[ CHAPTER VII]
Participation of Jews in Total Immigration
1.	Rise in proportion of Jewish to total	[117]
2.	Summary by decades	[117]
3.	Annual variations	[117]
4.	Comparison of annual variations of Jewish and total immigration	[118]
5.	Rank of Jewish in total immigration	[119]
6.	Rate of immigration	[120]
[ CHAPTER VIII]
Summary
B. Its Characteristics
[ CHAPTER I]
Family Movement
1.	Importance of sex and age distribution	[127]
2.	Proportion of females in Jewish immigration	[127]
	a. Tendency towards increase	[127]
3.	Proportion of children in Jewish immigration	[128]
4.	Proportion of sexes in total and Jewish immigration	[129]
5.	Proportion of children in total and Jewish immigration	[129]
6.	Comparison of composition by sex of Jews and other immigrant peoples	[130]
7.	Comparison of composition by age of Jews and other immigrant peoples	[130]
8.	Comparison of composition by sex and age of Jews and the Slavic races	[131]
9.	Comparison of composition by sex and age of Jews from Roumania and Roumanians	[131]
10.	Comparison of composition by sex and age of Jewish and "old" and "new" immigration	[132]
11.	Conclusion	[132]
[ CHAPTER II]
Permanent Settlement
1.	Emigration of Jews compared with immigration of Jews	[133]
2.	Comparison of return movement of total and Jewish immigration	[134]
3.	Comparison of return movement of Jews and other immigrant peoples	[134]
4.	Emigration tendency of Jews from Russia, Roumania and Austria-Hungary	[135]
5.	Comparison of return movement of Jews and Poles from Russia and Austria-Hungary	[136]
6.	Comparison of return movement of Jewish and "old" and "new" immigration	[137]
7.	Comparison of return movement of Jews and other immigrant peoples, 1908	[137]
8.	Response of Jewish immigration to economic conditions in the United States	[138]
9.	Comparison of Jews and other immigrant peoples who have been previously in the United States	[138]
10.	Conclusion	[139]
[ CHAPTER III]
Occupations
1.	Occupational distribution of Jewish immigrants	[140]
2.	Jewish immigrants reporting occupations	[141]
	a. Number and percentage of occupational groups	[141]
3.	Skilled laborers	[141]
	a. Garment workers	[141]
	b. Other important groups	[142]
4.	Participation of Jews in occupational distribution of total immigration	[142]
5.	Comparison of occupational distribution of Jews and other immigrant peoples	[143]
6.	Comparison of occupational distribution of Jews and Slavic peoples	[144]
7.	Comparison of occupational distribution of Jewish and "old" and "new" immigration	[144]
8.	Conclusion	[145]
[ CHAPTER IV]
Illiteracy
1.	Illiteracy of Jewish immigrants	[146]
2.	Influence of sex upon illiteracy of Jewish immigrants	[146]
3.	Illiteracy of Jewish male and female immigrants	[147]
4.	Comparison of rate of illiteracy of Jews and other immigrant peoples	[147]
5.	Comparison of rate of illiteracy of Jewish and "old" and "new" immigration	[147]
6.	Comparison of rate of illiteracy of Jews and East-European peoples	[148]
7.	Comparison of rate of illiteracy of each sex among Jews and East-European peoples	[148]
8.	Conclusion	[148]
[ CHAPTER V]
Destination
1.	Factors influencing destination	[149]
2.	Proportion of Jewish immigrants destined for divisions	[149]
3.	Proportion of Jewish immigrants destined for principal states	[149]
4.	Comparison of destination of Jews and other immigrant peoples	[150]
5.	Participation of Jews in the immigration destined for divisions	[150]
6.	Final disposition of Jewish immigrants	[151]
[ CHAPTER VI]
Summary and Conclusions

---

[STATISTICAL TABLES]

		PAGE
IA.	[Participation of Jews in occupations in the Russian Empire, 1897]	158
IAB.	[Participation of Jews in occupations in the Pale of Jewish Settlement, 1897]	159
II.	[Jewish immigration at the ports of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, July to June, 1886 to 1898]	159
III.	[Jewish immigration at the port of New York, July, 1885 to June, 1886, by month and country of nativity]	159
IVA.	[Jewish immigration at the port of Philadelphia, 1886 to 1898, by country of nativity]	160
IVB.	[Jewish immigration at the port of Baltimore, 1891 to 1898, by country of nativity]	160
V.	[Jewish immigration at the ports of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, 1886 to 1898, by country of nativity]	161
VI.	[Jewish immigration to the United States, 1881 to 1910]	93
VII.	[Percentage of annual Jewish immigration to the United States, contributed by each country of nativity, 1881 to 1910]	94
VIII.	[Jewish immigration to the United States, 1881 to 1910, absolute numbers and percentages, by decade and country of nativity]	162
IX.	[Jewish immigration from Russia, 1881 to 1910, and percentage of total arriving each year]	162
X.	[Jewish immigration from Russia, 1881 to 1910, by decade and percentage of total arriving each decade]	163
XI.	[Jewish immigration from Russia at the port of New York, January 1, 1891 to December 31, 1891, and January 1, 1892 to December 31, 1892, by month]	163
XII.	[Total immigration from Russia and Jewish immigration from Russia, 1881 to 1910, and percentage Jewish of total]	164
XIII.	[Total immigration from Russia and Jewish immigration from Russia, 1881 to 1910, by decade and percentage Jewish of total]	164
XIV.	[Immigration to the United States from the Russian Empire, 1899 to 1910, by annual percentage of contribution of principal peoples]	165
XV.	[Rate of immigration of peoples predominant in the immigration from Russia, 1899 to 1910]	165
XVI.	[Rate of Jewish immigration from Russia per 10,000 of Jewish population, 1899 to 1910]	166
XVII.	[Jewish immigration from Roumania, 1881 to 1910, by decade and percentage of total arriving each decade]	166
XVIII.	[Jewish immigration from Roumania, 1881 to 1910, and percentage of total arriving each year]	167
XIX.	[Total immigration from Roumania and Jewish immigration from Roumania, 1899 to 1910, and percentage Jewish of total]	168
XX.	[Rate of Jewish immigration from Roumania per 10,000 of Jewish population, 1899 to 1910]	168
XXI.	[Jewish immigration from Austria Hungary, 1881 to 1910, by decade and percentage of total arriving each decade]	169
XXII.	[Jewish immigration from Austria-Hungary, 1881 to 1910, and percentage of total arriving each year]	169
XXIII.	[Total and Jewish immigration from Austria-Hungary, 1881 to 1910, by decade and percentage Jewish of total]	170
XXIV.	[Total and Jewish immigration from Austria-Hungary, 1881 to 1910, and percentage Jewish of total]	170
XXV.	[Percentage of annual immigration from Austria-Hungary contributed by principal peoples, 1899 to 1910]	171
XXVI.	[Rate of Jewish immigration from Austria-Hungary per 10,000 of Jewish population, 1899 to 1910]	171
XXVII.	[Jewish immigration, 1881 to 1910, by decade]	172
XXVIII.	[Jewish immigration, 1881 to 1910, by six-year period]	172
XXIX.	[Jewish immigration to the United States, 1881 to 1910]	173
XXX.	[Total immigration and Jewish immigration, 1881 to 1910, by decade and percentage Jewish of total]	174
XXXI.	[Total immigration and Jewish immigration, 1881 to 1910, by year and percentage Jewish of total]	174
XXXII.	[Total and Jewish immigration, 1881 to 1910, by number and percentage of increase or decrease]	175
XXXIII.	[Sex of Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1910]	176
XXXIV.	[Sex of Jewish immigrant adults at the port of New York, 1886 to 1898]	176
XXXV.	[Age of Jewish immigrants, 1809 to 1910]	177
XXXVI.	[Age of Jewish immigrants at the port of New York, 1886 to 1898]	177
XXXVII.	[Sex of total and Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1910]	178
XXXVIII.	[Sex of European immigrants, 1899 to 1910]	179
XXXIX.	[Age of European immigrants, 1899 to 1909]	180
XL.	[Sex, 1899 to 1910, and age, 1899 to 1909, of Slavic immigrants]	181
XLIA.	[Sex of Roumanian immigrants, 1899 to 1910, and of immigrants from Roumania. 1900 to 1910]	181
XLIB.	[Age of Jewish and Roumanian immigrants, 1899 to 1909]	181
XLII.	[Sex and age of "old" and "new" immigration (Jewish excepted) and of Jewish immigration, 1899 to 1909]	182
XLIII.	[Jewish immigration and emigration, 1908 to 1912]	182
XLIV.	[Total and Jewish emigrant aliens and percentage Jewish immigrant aliens of total immigrant aliens, 1908 to 1912]	183
XLV.	[European immigrant aliens admitted, and European emigrant aliens departed, 1908, 1909 and 1910]	183
XLVI.	[Jewish immigration and emigration, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Roumania, 1908 to 1912]	184
XLVII.	[Polish immigration and emigration, Russia and Austria-Hungary, 1908 to 1912]	184
XLVIII.	["Old" and "new" (Jewish excepted) and Jewish immigration and emigration, 1908 to 1910]	185
XLIX.	[European immigrant aliens, 1907, and European emigrant aliens, 1908]	185
L.	[Total European immigrants admitted and total of those admitted during this period in the United States previously, 1899 to 1910]	186
LI.	[Occupational distribution of Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1910]	186
LII.	[Jewish immigrants reporting occupations, 1899 to 1910]	187
LIII.	[Jewish immigrants engaged in professional occupations, 1899 to 1910]	187
LIV.	[Jewish immigrants reporting skilled occupations, 1899 to 1910]	188
LV.	[Occupations of total European and Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1909, and percentage Jewish of total]	189
LVI.	[Total European immigrants and immigrants without occupation, 1899 to 1910]	189
LVII.	[Occupations of European immigrants reporting employment, 1899 to 1910]	190
LVIII.	[Occupations of Slavic and Jewish immigrants reporting employment, 1890 to 1910]	191
LIX.	[Occupations of "old" and "new" immigration (Jewish excepted) and of Jewish immigration, 1899 to 1909]	191
LX.	[Illiteracy of Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1910]	192
LXI.	[Sex of Jewish immigrant illiterates, 1908 to 1912]	192
LXII.	[Illiteracy of European immigrants, 1899 to 1910]	193
LXIII.	[Illiteracy of "old" and "new" immigration (Jewish excepted) and of Jewish immigration, 1899 to 1909]	194
LXIV.	[Illiteracy of peoples from Eastern Europe, 1899 to 1910]	194
LXV.	[Sex of illiterates of peoples from Eastern Europe, 1908]	194
LXVI.	[Destination of Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1910, by principal divisions]	195
LXVII.	[Destination of Jewish immigrants, 1899 to 1910, by principal states]	195
LXVIII.	[Percentage of Jewish and total immigrants destined for each division, 1899 to 1910]	196
LXIX.	[Participation of Jewish immigrants in destination of total immigrants, 1899 to 1910, by principal divisions]	196
APPENDICES
A. [President Harrison's Message, 1891]		199
B. [Article VII of the Constitution of Roumania]		200
C. [Secretary Hay's Note]		201
[Bibliography]		207

---

CHAPTER I[ToC]

Introduction

Thirty years have elapsed since the Jews began to enter the United States in numbers sufficiently large to make their immigration conspicuous in the general movement to this country. A study of Jewish immigration, in itself and in relation to the general movement, reveals an interesting phase of this historic and many-sided social phenomenon and throws light upon a number of important problems incident to it.

Especially does it become clear that the Jewish immigration, although in part the result of the same forces as have affected the general immigration and the separate groups composing it, differs, nevertheless, in certain marked respects, from the typical immigration. Some of these differences indeed are fundamental and far-reaching in their effects and practically stamp the Jewish immigration as a movement sui generis.

Generally speaking, in the forces which are behind the emigration of the Jews from the countries of the Old World, in the character of their immigration—its movement and its distinguishing qualities—the Jewish immigration strikes a distinctly individual note.

Three European countries—Russia, Austria-Hungary and Roumania—furnish the vast majority of the Jewish immigrants to the United States.[1] It is to these countries, therefore, that we must turn for light upon the causes of this movement.

Geographically, these countries are closely connected; they form practically the whole of the division of Eastern Europe. Here the Slavonic races so largely predominate that the term Slavonic Europe has been applied to this section of Europe.

Eastern or Slavonic Europe is a social as well as a geographical fact. In racial stratification, economic and social institutions, cultural position and, in part, religious traditions as well, these countries present strong similarities to one another and equally strong differences in most of these respects from the countries of Western Europe.

It is here that the Jews are found concentrated in the greatest numbers. Nearly seven and a half-million Jews—more than half of the Jews of the world—live in these countries. Of this number more than five millions are in Russia, more than two millions in Austria-Hungary, and a quarter of a million in Roumania. The great majority of these are massed on the contiguous borders, in a zone which embraces Poland, and Western Russia, Galicia, and Moldavia. This is the emigration zone. The relative density of the Jews is greatest in these parts. Every seventh man in Poland, every ninth man in Western Russia and in Galicia, and every tenth man in Moldavia, is a Jew. Thus the center of gravity of the Jewish populations is still the former kingdom of Poland, as it was constituted before the partitions at the end of the eighteenth century.

United originally in Poland, the Jews of Eastern Europe still retain the same general characteristics, in spite of the changes that have been brought about by a century of rule under different governments. Speaking a common language, Yiddish, and possessing common religious traditions, as well as similar social and psychological traits, the East-European Jews present on the whole a striking uniformity of character.

Through the centuries they have become deeply rooted in the East-European soil, their economic and social life intimately connected with the economic and social conditions of these countries and their history deeply influenced by the transformations that have been taking place in them for half a century.

As these conditions and transformations furnish the foundation of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, and contain the explanation of the situation that has been largely responsible for the recent Jewish emigration to Western Europe and the United States, a rapid review of the economic, social and political conditions of Russia, Roumania and Austria-Hungary will be made.

---