Post on 29-Dec-2015
Immigration & Urbanization
Section 1: Renewed
Immigration
“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus
• “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
• Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor-Gift from France (1884)
• Ultimate symbol of freedom for new immigrants
Through the “Golden Door”
• Millions of immigrants entered into the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, lured by the promise of a better life
Europeans• Old Immigration
– 1840s – 1890s– Most from Western &
Northern Europe•Ireland•England•Germany•Scandinavia
Europeans• New Immigration
– Mainly 1890 – 1910– Most from Southern
& Eastern Europe•Italy•Austria-Hungary•Poland•Russia
Why did so many Europeans leave their homelands?
• Immigrants sought to escape difficult conditions– Famine
•Ireland-Irish Potato Famine (1845-52)– Land shortages– Religious/political persecution– “Birds of Passage”
•People who intended to stay temporarily to earn money before returning to their homelands
• Russian Jews– Left to escape
religious persecution following Russian Revolution of 1917•Pogroms
–Organized attacks often encouraged by local authorities
• Population– Between 1800-1900,
Europe’s population doubled to 400 million•Increase caused a scarcity of farm land–Farmers competed with laborers for few industrial jobs
Chinese & Japanese• Many Asians came to the West
Coast between 1851–1883– Came to seek mining fortunes
in gold (1849-50 Gold Rush)– Helped build American
railroads•Transcontinental railroad•After the railroads, many turned to farming, mining, & domestic service (laundry)
West Indies & Mexico• Immigrants from the islands of Jamaica,
Cuba, & Puerto Rico came to the U.S. due to a scarcity of jobs
• 1902, Congress passes the National Reclamation Act– Encouraged the irrigation of arid land to
create new farmland• Reclamation Act drew Mexican farm
workers northward into the Southwestern U.S.
A Difficult Journey• Immigrants came to the
U.S. by steamship– European immigrants’
trip across the Atlantic for about 1 week
– Asian immigrants’ trip across the Pacific took about 3 weeks
• Many traveled in ships’ cargo holds– Conditions on board
•Often crowded •Gloomy, moist•Rarely allowed on deck for fresh air
•Unable to exercise•Lice/rodent infested•Shared toilets•Diseases spread quickly
Ellis Island• Immigration station in New York
Harbor– Detained about 2 days for
inspection•Physical examination
–Serious/contagious diseases sent home
•Legal requirements –Documents & criminal background
•Prove their worth–Ability to work –At least $25
Angel Island• Immigration station in San
Francisco – Asians experienced harsher
treatment•Detained for weeks•Held in filthy buildings
–Dorms were usually packed with three tiered bunks
•Waited for immigration inspectors to admit/reject them
Cooperation for Survival• Once in the U.S.,
many immigrants faced many challenges – Place to live– Work– Language– Culture
•Religion, Customs
Cooperation for Survival• Ethnic communities started to develop
– Chinatown, Little Italy, Jewish Quarter
• Immigrants pooled their money•Built churches or synagogues•Formed social clubs & mutual aid societies
•Published newspapers in native languages
Cooperation for Survival• As immigrants tried to adapt, they came to
think of themselves as “hyphenated” Americans– Polish-Americans– Italian-Americans– Chinese-Americans
• Caused native-born Americans to see immigrants a threat to the American way of life
Immigration Restrictions• As waves of immigrants increased,
feelings of nativism grew– Nativism
•Preference for native-born people & a desire to limit immigration
•Focused on ethnic background and also religious affiliation–Targeted Catholics, Jews–Felt they would undermine the Protestant foundation of the U.S.
Immigration Restrictions• Nativists organized, forming two major
anti-immigrant groups– American Protective Association (1887)
•Founder: Henry Bowers•Northeast & Midwest•Aim: Hault Catholic immigration
– Workingman’s Party of California (1870s)•Founder: Denis Kearney•The West•Aim: Stop Chinese immigration
Immigration Restrictions• Congress acted to pass anti-immigration
legislation– Banned convicts, paupers, & mentally disabled – Placed a $.50 head tax on each newcomer
• Also passed the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)– First legislation to ban a specific group – Banned entry to most Chinese with certain
exceptions: teachers, students, merchants, tourist, & government officials
Gentlemen’s Agreement• Anti-Chinese sentiment was transferred to the
Japanese – San Francisco’s Board of Education began
segregating Japanese children– Japan protested the decision; President Teddy
Roosevelt negotiated a deal with Japan•Gentleman’s Agreement (1907)
– Japan agreed to end immigration to the continental U.S. as long as the U.S. agreed to allow the wives, parents, & children of residents to enter and also to repeal school segregation
Section 2:Challenges of Urbanization
Urban Opportunities• Urbanization
– Rapid growth of cities mostly in the regions of the Northeast & Midwest•Rural to urban movement•Increase services & problems
–Housing–Transportation–Water–Sanitation–Crime–Fire
Immigrants Settle in Cities• Why did people move to
the cities?– Cities offered a cheap
& convenient place to live•Lived close to work
– Cities offered unskilled workers steady jobs in mills and factories
Immigrants Settle in Cities• Americanization movement
– Designed to assimilate people in American culture•Schools provided programs to teach immigrants skills needed for citizenship–English literacy–American history & government
•Social etiquette were also part of the curriculum –Cooking, manners
Migration from Country to City• Rapid improvements in farming was
one reason city populations grew– Invention of McCormick reaper & steel
plow made farming more efficient •Fewer farm laborers were needed to work the land
•Farmers could put more land under cultivation
Migration from Country to City• African-Americans moved
North & West– Moved to Chicago &
Detroit to escape:•Racial violence•Economic hardship•Political oppression
–segregation
Urban Problems• Ghettos-sections of a city occupied by
minority groups (aka immigrants) who live there due to social, economic, and legal pressure
• Housing-working class families in cities had two housing options:
•Buy a house on the outskirts of town & face transportation problems
•Rent cramped rooms in a boardinghouse in the central city
Urban Problems• Housing– As population increased, new types of
houses were designed•Row houses
–Single family dwellings that shared side walls with other similar houses
•Tenements –Single family dwellings that multiple families occupied
–Low rent apts. Which met minimum standards
–Problems with sanitation, plumbing, & ventilation
Urban Problems• Transportation
– Mass transit•System of transportation designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes–Subways, Streetcars, &–Busses
•Allowed workers to live in outlying communities to commute to work
Urban Problems• Water
– Supplying safe drinking water was a problem for most cities
– As populations grew, many residents had no water•People had to collect water in pails from faucets located on the street
– Disease presented a greater problem•Cholera and typhoid fever
– Two ways to make drinking water safer:•Filtration, Chlorination
Urban Problems• Sanitation– As cities grew, the challenge of
keeping them clean increased•Horse manure piled up in streets•Sewage flowed through city streets•Smoke from factories spewed into the air
•Garbage piled up on the streets– To combat sanitation cities hired
sanitation workers to collect garbage and clean outhouses
Urban Problems• Crime– Pickpockets and thieves
•Preyed on immigrants– New York City became the
first major metropolitan area to hire a full-time salaried police force•The units were usually too small to have an impact
Urban Problems• Fire– Why was fire such a problem?
•Limited supply of a water•Buildings made from wood•Used kerosene or candles •Volunteer firefighters were not always available
– To combat the fire threat•Cincinnati, Ohio established the nation’s first paid fire department
•Change in building codes–Sprinkler systems–Used brick, stone or concrete as a building material
Settlement House Movement • Social Gospel Movement
– Preached salvation through service to the poor
– Established settlement houses•Community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided assistance to immigrants–Sent nurses to homes of sick
–Provided classes in English, health, & painting
– Jane Addams•Established Hull House in Chicago