Transcript The Push and Pull Factors Mexico and the United States 1890-1930

The Push and Pull Factors
Mexico and the United States
1890-1930
Mexican Immigration,
1900-1939
1900-1904
 1905-1909
 1910-1914
 1915-1919
 1920-1924
 1925-1929
 1930-1934
 1935-1939

2,259
 21, 732
 82, 588
 91, 075
 249, 248
 238,527
 19,200
 8,737

General Definition
 Push
factors are those factors in Mexico that
contributed to displacement and forced migrations
 Pull
factors are those conditions in the United
States that magnetized the border region and
attracted Mexicans to the region
The Porfiriato defined
 A ruler
with virtually absolute power
 One enjoying complete autocratic
 control
 One
of leadership
ruling absolutely, typically with brutality,
oppression and ruthless suppression of opposition.
 Dictatorship: A form of government in which a
dictator or small clique has absolute power without
effective constitutional limitations.
Push Factors
1. Porfirio Diaz: 1876-1910
 Railroad
Construction—mostly north/south
 Anti-Indian policies, favors Europeanization of Mexico
 Land Policies: abolished the ejido: favored
modernization of Mexican agriculture, land ownership
increasingly concentrated
 Political policies: no political parties, anti-unionism, no
freedom or independence of the press, Oligarchy
 Favored Foreign investment
Porfirio Diaz, cont.
Encouraged immigrants from the United States, Britain,
Spain and China.
 Sought immigrants to bring technical skills and
intellectual capacity to modernize the Mexican economy.
 Agricultural production declines in major Mexican
staples.
 Dependency on foreign capital in railroad, mining,
agricultural, petroleum industries.

Porfirio Diaz, cont.
Real wages of masses declines
 Agricultural sector does not provide enough food for
domestic consumption
 Two-thirds of capital investment from foreign sources
 Vast differences in standard of living between rich and
poor
 80% illiteracy in 1900
 Catholic church: controls education, powerful politically

Push Factors
 2.
The Mexican Revolution
 (1910-1921)
 Destabilizes
Mexico
 Destroys the Mexican economy
 Mass death and starvations
 Out-migrations result
 Around 1 million Mexicans flee and arrive in the
United States between 1920-1930.
Pull Factors
 1.
Southwestern economic development
 Railroad
construction
 Agricultural stimulus through:
 The
Dingley Tariff
 The Newlands Reclamation Project
 Labor intensive industries, agriculture, ranching mining.
Pull Factors
 2.
Proximity to Mexico and availability of
Mexican cheap and surplus labor.
 Availability of jobs.
 Attractive wage scales—six to ten times the
Mexican daily wage
 Escape from Mexican political and economic
chaos
Immigration Legislation

1. Restrictions on world-wide immigration to the United
States through:
Chinese Exclusion, 1880s
 Gentleman’s Agreement: 1907 agreement with Japan to curtail
Japanese immigration
 Immigration acts from 1917-1930: restrictions/quotas placed on
immigration from Europe, primarily eastern and southern Europe
 Mexicans excluded from provisions of the 1917 immigration act
that required a literacy test and $8 head tax.
