Between the Sublime Porte and Uncle Sam: the Ottoman-Syrian immigration to the United States, 1880–1914

Abstract

From the late nineteenth century up to the end of World War I, approximately half a million people immigrated to the United States from the Greater Syria region of the Ottoman Empire to make money and improve their lives. This article aims to shed light on the history of the Ottoman-Syrian immigration to the United States, particularly focusing on their economic and social integration into the host society. The article provides significant statistical data about these Syrian immigrants, including their numbers and their ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, as well as the places to which they immigrated. Based on this research, this study analyzes the social and economic position of these Ottoman Syrians in the United States, and how they were perceived by American society and government. Lastly, it analyzes the way in which this emigration was handled by the Ottoman and American governments of the time.