8.1 Topic: Immigration and Urbanization (1890-1910)

Chapter 7:Immigration and Urbanization(1890-1910)

1

8

I. Europeans Flood into USA. Jobs1. No class system B. Avoid military service C. Few immigration restrictionsD. Religious Persecution1. JewsE. Atlantic Voyage1. Basic/cheapReasons for immigration fall into 2 categories push factors and pull factors.

Push: reasons that you are LEAVING the country (persecution, war, famine, no jobs)

Pull: reasons you are COMING TO the country youre entering (more jobs, freedom, etc.)3F. Ethnic Cities1. neighborhoods

When this wave of immigration (known as 3rd wave) came to America, they came here with little money and most didnt speak english. So when they got here, they stayed in the cities and created ethnic neighborhoods where they were surrounded by people, things, food, culture that they knew. Safety in numbers.4

5G. Ellis Island (NYC)1. medical inspections2. 17 million total went through3. Relatively easy/quick 5 hrs

BACKThis is where most immigrants from Europe entered the US from 1890s until 1940s. Its said that over 40% of Americans can trace their heritage through Ellis Island somewhere in the old family tree.

Immigrants were given a quick medical exam and checked in to the country. Process usually took about 5 hrs.

If something was medically wrong, you would be quarantined until the condition was cleared up or fixed. Less than 2% of Euro immigrants were rejected and sent back to where they came from.6

7II. Asian Immigration to AmericaA. Rebellion; overcrowdingB. Jobs: RR/GoldC. Japanese upheaval

Angel Island, San FranciscoReasons for Asian immigration (Chinese and Japanese mostly)9

D. Angel Island, San Fran1. Lot fewer immigrants2. Harsh questioning3. long wait for admittance

Asians came in through San Francisco, at Angel Island. B/c Americans thought Asians were so foreign and strange, the process of getting in was much more stringent. Instead of 5 hrs at Ellis Island, average processing at Angel was TWO WEEKS.

10III. Old vs. New ImmigrantsOLDNEWPre-1890 immigrants

Generally well-educated

Came with enough money to survive

Had assimilated, sometimes with multiple generations of Americans

Generally from Germany, Britain, Scandanavian countries

Newbies seemed alien, brought bad impressionsPost-1890

Uneducated laborers

Nothing but clothes on their back

Desperate for work

Came from Ireland, eastern Europe (Italy, Russian-descendant countries) and Asia

Held on to cultural pastComparison chart on 2nd wave vs. 3rd wave immigrants. 2nd wave had been welcomed. 3rd wave were subject to extreme nativism and mistreatment.11IV. Resurgence of NativismA. Favoritism toward native-born AmericansB. Right immigrants OK1. Brit, German, N. EuropeC. Extreme Dislike aimed at:1. Jew/CatholicA. Would take over govt2. Russian/Asian/LatinA. Union opposedB. Steal jobs

Self-explanatory12B. Impact1. Immigration laws a. ban convicts, poor & mentally disabled2. Chinese Exclusion Act: B. Repealed In 19433. Gentlemans Agreement with Japan

Nativism led to stricter laws. Chinese were completely banned (except for govt officials and teachers) by the Chinese Exclusion Act that would be in place until the 1940s.

Gentlemans Agreement: We didnt want to ban them b/c we were friendly with them, so we forced them to limit things on their end. We did this by segregating out Jap-American children in San Fran public schools. This upset Japan, so we said wed put things back the way they were for the kids IF Japan would stop allowing people to leave there to come here. So they would be the bad guys and not us.13SECTION 1 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONSWhat were 3 push factors for immigration?What were 3 pull factors for immigration?How were the experiences of European immigrants better than those of Asians? Dont just talk about Ellis and Angel island. Describe in 1 paragraph.EXPLAIN the reasons for nativist feelings.

14Section 2: UrbanizationRise of Cities15I. Americans migrate to the citiesA. 30 million by 19001. 131 cities in 1840; 1,700 by 19002. Factory jobs3. Rural to citiesA. jobsB. excitement4. immigrants

Main draw of cities was jobs. As industry grows, so do job opportunities.

People, espcially young people, also move to cities to escape the boring life in the country.

Immigration also contributes greatly to the growth of cities at this time. As stated in earlier section, this 3rd wave of immigrants stay in cities where they can group and live together in large numbers.16Urban Growth: 1870 - 1900

17II. The New Urban EnvironmentA. Skyscrapers1. Reasons:

Cities can only expand out so much. People like to live in cities to be CLOSE to work. So they needed to provide more living space without expanding out. So if you cant go out, you go up.

And of course we know that steel was the main thing that allowed this to happen. Not only as the frame for the building but also the materials for elevators.18

Home Insurance Building, Chicago.

10 stories high.

Worlds first skyscraper (1885)19B. Mass Transit1. off-roada. Elevatedb. subway

With growth comes overcrowding on streets. So to keep people moving effectively and efficiently, cities started building elevated trains (Chicago especially) or underground subways (NYC). Now people had at least 2 levels of transportation street level and above/below.20III. Urban ProblemsA. Threats1. Alcohol2. Disease3. Crime/violence4. Fire5. Pollution

With overcrowding comes all these problems. Will lead to the Progressive Movement, which is our next unit.21Dumbell Tenement

22IV. Americanization MovementAssimilate immigrants to AmericaSchoolsLiteracy, history, governmentCooking, social etiquetteLargely failed

This was a counter-nativist movement. Believed we should HELP immigrants by assimilating them to American culture (turning them into Americans). Believed the best way was to make sure immigrant children were going to schools where they would be taught the language, the history and government structure.

Also classes on American cooking and how to act in social settings (shaking hands instead of kissing cheeks, etc.).23V. Urban ReformersSocial Gospel MovementSettlement HousesHelp immigrants especiallyWorkers: middle class, college-ed womenHull HouseJane AddamsChicago

Social Gospel was RELIGIOUS based idea that you can earn points with God by doing good works for less fortunate.

Settlement Houses: set up to help immigrants. Provided daycare so they could go work. Provided sleeping quarters for those that needed it. Food. Very similar to a shelter today.

Hull House in Chicago, set up by Jane Addams was the most famous.24SECTION 2 Essential Questions1. Explain two reasons why people started to move to the cities in the late 1800s. Explain DOES NOT mean just list.

2. Explain why people started building skyscrapers.

3. For what reason did mass transit system have to exist?

25Section 3: Urban Politics26I. Political Machine and Party BossA. Purpose1. Gain/keep power2. Pyramid of Power3. Help out the poor

B. Party Boss 1. Usually not politician 2. More behind-the-scenes 3. More powerful than any politician

Political machines are shady political organizations. Think of it as a political mafia. They get power through corrupt means, keep it by supporting the lowest common denominator (poor people) and all the while, line their pockets with money.

Pyramid scheme: youve got the boss at the top, with a small base of top advisors below him. Each of them has doers and enforcers under them and its built on a base of the massive number of poor people who will gladly vote for them in exchange for a little help and support.

Why the poor? Easy there are a LOT of poor people and they need help. Dont focus on rich because, No. 1, the rich dont need help, so arent able to buy their vote. No. 2, the number of rich is very small compared to number of poor, so even if all the rich voted for a machine candidate, it wouldnt be enough on its own to elect someone.27C. Urban immigration 1. took care of needs 2. votes in exchangeD. Graft & Fraud1. graft: Using political influence for personal gainA. example: kickbacks2. Fraud: fixing elections fake names, dead ppleMachines focused on helping out the poor, especially immigrants. Best way to get someone to vote your way is to help them out. Nobody needs more help than the poor. Plus, there are a lot more poor people than rich, so youre playing the numbers game there when it comes to vote counts. Basically promised to help the poor immigrants if they voted for them.

Graft/fraud: Shady ways machines got into and kept power.28

Famous political cartoon about the Tammany Hall machine of NYC. Notice in the bottom right corner who the artist is.29II. Tammany HallMost famous political machine1. 1869-1960s2. NYC DemocratsLed by Boss Tweed in the early days

Tammany ruled NYC for decades.

Boss Tweed was said to be the most powerful political figure in America before he got taken down for corruption. As the Boss he held no office. He was the guy behind the guy.

Most likely if you ever said Boss Tweed or Tammany Hall on a test, you need to think political machine and all the things associated with machine politics.30III. Reforming National PoliticsCivil Service: jobs in govt administrationPatronage (spoils system): reward supporters with civil service jobs1. Stalwarts: supporters of patronage system

Common practice back in the day was for people who win elections to give govt (civil service) jobs to their supporters, regardless of if theyre qualified. Known as patronage or spoils system. So you might end up with someone who speaks no Spanish being named US Ambassador to Mexico just because they gave a lot of money or support to a campaign.31C. President Garfield1. reformer2. Chester Arthur, VP & stalwart 3. Garfield assassinated4. Arthur turns reformer

32A. Merit-based hiring 1. exam scoreB. Pros: more honest govt, less favoritismC. Cons: Where will campaign $$ come from?IV. Pendleton Civil Service Act

This act established a qualification test that had to be passed in order to get a civil service job.

Drawback would be that politicians might have harder time finding donors since one of the big rewards is off the table.33V. Govt and Big Biz marriageTariffs: taxes on imported goodsBiz wants higher tariffs. WHY?Drawback?Raised and lowered throughout 1890sShowed which party more closely tied with biz (republicans)

Its very important to know what a tariff is b/c we will revisit this again and again and again.

The purpose of a tariff is to make cheaper imported goods more expensive. Since US made goods typical cost more (due to our higher wages paid to the workers who make the good), a tariff would act to raise the price of the imported good to even or more expensive than the US-made good. All things being equal in price, the theory is people will buy American.

The drawback is that regardless of if you buy American or import, youre paying more than you used to. This does not make individual American consumers happy.34Section 3 Essential QuestionsWhy did immigrants support political machines?

How did patronage contribute to government incompetence?

What were the positive and negative effects of the Pendleton Act?35