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