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Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920 is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how immigrants arrived and how they were treated, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.7.3-5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 18 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920

D2.Geo.7.3-5

NameDate

Read each text, then answer the questions.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

The Chinese Exclusion Act

An information text written for this worksheet. Chinese immigrants worked in the California gold fields and built much of the transcontinental railroad. Some white workers blamed them for low wages, and Chinese Americans faced violence and unfair laws. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It stopped Chinese workers from immigrating and kept Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens. It was the first major US law to keep out people of one nationality. Congress repealed it in 1943, during World War II, when China was an ally of the United States.

  1. 1. Why was the law unfair to people who had built the railroad?
  2. 2. What does this text not tell you about Chinese Americans who were already here?
  3. 3. What did the law stop?
2.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

Leaving the Mexican Revolution

An information text written for this worksheet. The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and brought ten years of fighting to Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of people crossed the border into the United States to escape the violence. Many worked on farms, railroads and in mines across the Southwest. They built neighborhoods in cities such as Los Angeles, San Antonio and El Paso. Many Mexican American families in the Southwest had lived there since before the land became part of the United States in the 1840s and 1850s.

  1. 1. Why did so many people cross the border?
  2. 2. What does this text not tell you about the newcomers?
  3. 3. Why is it wrong to call every Mexican American family in the Southwest an immigrant family?

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.7.3-5 · Set 18 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920

Set 18. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Chinese immigrants built much of the railroad but were kept from becoming citizens. 2. It does not tell you how many Chinese Americans already lived in the country in 1882. 3. It stopped Chinese workers from immigrating and kept Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens.
  2. 2.1. To escape the violence of the Mexican Revolution. 2. It does not tell you how many of them later returned to Mexico. 3. Many had lived there since before the land became part of the United States.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.7.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.