Student Video Series: Immigration: Our American Story

Immigration: Our American Story is a six-video course featuring lectures by Professor Vincent Cannato from the University of Massachusetts Boston. These 30-minute videos are designed for high school students to explore American immigration from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries. They are free and open to the public and can be viewed at your own pace. Closed captioning and Spanish subtitles are available.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The United States is a nation of immigrants, and immigration has always been a part of the American experience. If we think like historians, we can analyze migratory patterns, push and pull factors, and public reactions to newcomers of different nationalities, races, ethnicities, and cultures. We can also study how government responses to immigration have both reflected and impacted the broader landscape of American politics throughout history and into the present day.

INTENDED AUDIENCE

Immigration: Our American Story is designed for high school students.

LECTURE TOPICS

Lecture 1: Introduction to US Immigration History

Lecture 2: The Mid-1800s: The Irish and the Germans

Lecture 3: Early Twentieth-Century Immigration: Southern and Eastern Europe

Lecture 4: Chinese Immigration and Exclusion

Lecture 5: The Quota Years

Lecture 6: Post-1965 Immigration

QUIZZES

Optional quizzes are available for students to test their knowledge.

VIDEOS

Please click the play button on the video to begin your course. You can pause the video and use the arrows to navigate between lectures.

Closed captioning and Spanish subtitles are available.

This video series was made possible by a generous grant from the Charles Hayden Foundation.