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A. Immigration of the Gilded Age

“New Immigrants”• Immigrants coming from

new countries – Italy– Russia– Austro-Hungarian Empire

• Very different religions and cultural backgrounds

• Were seen as lower level “races” than Western European immigrants

• 1880’s – 19% of immigrants

• 1900 – 66% of immigrants

• 25% of the immigrants will return home

Why were they coming?

• Population of the Old World growing rapidly– American Food Exports– Industrialization

• 60 million Europeans will be uprooted– Half will come to the U.S. with

“America Fever”

• Many came for the idea of the “land of opportunity”

• Some came to escape religious persecutions– Jews

Immigration on the West Coast

• Mainly Chinese immigrants– Some Japanese

• 1870’s on Chinese families now immigrating

• Faced horrible discrimination

• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – 1st time a race is barred from entering the U.S.

Fighting Exclusion• U.S. v. Wong Kim

Ark(1898)– Fought for 14th

amendment rights – Set an important legal

precedent for citizenship

– If you were born here you were a CITIZEN

• But Exclusion still legal

Ellis Island (1892)• Main processing

facility on the East Coast

• Processed 70% of all immigrants

• Had medical inspections

• Sent home any undesirables (2%)

Angel Island

• West Coast Ellis Island

• Would hold the Chinese appealing the Exclusion Act

The Immigrant Lifestyle• Ethnic

Neighborhoods• Tried to preserve

traditional cultures– Speaking native

languages– Established their own

schools– Had businesses that

catered to just them• Low Wages, Unskilled

Labor source• Used as “Scabs”

• Children will lose the traditional culture and become more mainstreamed

Mulberry Street Bend 1900 “Little Italy”

The Nativist Reaction?• Anglo-Saxon Americans

feared being outbred and outvoted

• Saw New Immigrants as scum

• 1882 law began restricting immigration

• American Protective Association (1887)

• In 1886 the Statue of Liberty given to the U.S– Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Immigrant Advocates

• Tammany Hall and other Political Machines– Helped immigrants

find jobs and become citizens

• Settlement Houses – Helped immigrants

adjust to life in the United States

– Ex: Jane Addams’ Hull House

B. Urbanization of the Gilded Age

Urban Growth: 1870-1900

Characteristics1. Megapolis

- Sprawling Urban Area- Grew both up and out- 1st Skyscraper built in Chicago in 1885

2. Mass Transit- Sprawling suburbs needed to connect to city centers- Electric Trolley- Bridges

3. Economic and Social Opportunities- Jobs attracted people to the cities- Urban lifestyle was very attractive- Electricity, Indoor Plumbing, Telephones- Department stores (Macy’s)

4. Pronounced Class Distinctions- Wealthy had their own distinct neighborhoods- Poor lived in the “Slums” in buildings called tenements

Immigrant Family Lodgings

- Most tenements were overcrowded, had poor ventilation and were dangerous- 1879, NYC passed the Dumbbell Tenement Plan to try to improve conditions

5. Squalid Living Conditions- No waste in the countryside- LOTS of waste in the cities- Impure water, uncollected garbage, unwashed bodies, and animal droppings littered the cities- Led to the spread of diseases like cholera and tuberculosis

- Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives tried to expose the squalid living conditions

Bandit’s Roost

Five Cent Lodgings

6. New Opportunities for Women7. Political Machines8. Ethnic Neighborhoods

Amusement in the Cities• More Americans have more leisure time• Want to find amusement

– Vaudeville– Circus– Professional Sports

• Baseball

– Games• Croquet• Bicycles