EXPLORATION, ENCOUNTER, EXCHANGE IN HISTORY
Welcome to all!, 1880
Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002719044/
To move them into a deeper analysis, ask students:
• What story does this item tell?
• How has the artist represented people from different
nations and cultures? Why? Who is included in the
cartoon? Who is missing? What clues are there about why
people came?
• Whose perspective of the encounter is being depicted in
this cartoon? Is the perspective positive or negative?
• How does our view of the cartoon today differ from how it
might have been seen in 1880?
Students could note the nations and cultures represented
by the cartoon, and then choose one to explore further.
Also, this document can provide information about
patterns of immigrationduring this period. For example,
they might analyze additional primary sources to gather
information about immigrants from China as a way to trace
their experiences and deepen student understanding of
encounters and exchanges.
The process of encounter also can be documented through
representations of numerical data. The pie charts on this
page can be found in a “Statistical atlas of the United States,
based upon the results of the eleventh [1890] census,”
produced by the United States Census office.
A
Composition of the foreign born population: 1890.
Library of Congress
www.loc.gov/resource/g3701gm.gct00010/?sp=36
sk students to consider the significance of the fact
that this detailed information about the nationality of
immigrants to the United States appeared in the statistical
atlas based on the 1890 census, but not in comparable
publications for 1870 (www.loc.gov/item/05019329/) or
1880 (www.loc.gov/item/a40001834/). Also, this document
can provide information about patterns of immigration
during this period. For example, note the numbers of Chinese
immigrants and the areas in which they were settling.
Expand the conversation with questions such as:
• What does this information add to what you gleaned from
the political cartoon?
• What other resources might we look for to investigate
the encounters and exchanges in areas where Chinese
immigrants were living?
25