Urban America and Immigration

1. Urban America and Immigration Mrs. Tasha Ferrell Menifee Co. High School 2013

2. I Can Statement…. • Explain how European immigrants of the late 1800’s changed American society.

3. Urban America • Between the time of the ending of the Civil War (1865) to the beginning of WWI (1914) 25 million Europeans immigrated to the United States. • Mainly eastern and southern Europeans, from Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Serbia where known as “new” immigrants because they came to the United States after 1890. • The “Old” immigrants occurred before 1890 and they were mainly from northern and eastern Europe.

4. Why Come to America • American industries had plenty of jobs. • Better jobs: to escape poverty/social class. • Avoid forced military service • High Food Prices (Italy) • Population Pressure (Russia and Poland) • Religious Persecution (Jews) • Many of new immigrants lacked the resources to buy land, so they settled in American cities and worked mainly in unskilled jobs.

5. Atlantic Voyage • No breathing space. • No time on deck • 1,000 of people • Nasty smells • Food is miserable (huge kettles in pails)

6. Ellis Island • New York Harbor • 12 Million +/- immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892-1954

7. Diverse Cities • 1890’s immigrants make up large % of the population of major cities (New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit). • Ethnic groups or ethnic cities formed such as “Little Italy” • Spoke their own language, had their own churches, clubs, newspapers, etc.

8. Charts and Graphs • Complete the Chart/Graph on worksheet 1 Page 115

9. Questions • Why do you think most immigrants came to the cities? • Reasons for Immigrating to the U.S

10. I Can Statement • Explain how the experiences of Asian immigrants differ from those of European immigrants?

11. Asian Immigration • Growing Population • Severe unemployment • Poverty • Famine • Tapping Rebellion 1850 • Came to work on the Central Pacific Railroad • Settled in Western cities worked as laborers, servants, skilled trades people, or merchants. • Many opened their own business because of discrimination from Americans. • Came to Angel Island where conditions were rough and could last for months.

12. I Can Statement…. • Summarize how nativitist opposed immigration.

13. Nativism Resurges • Nativism is an extreme dislike of immigrants by native born people. • By late 1800’s mainly focused on the hatred for Asians, Jews, and Eastern Europeans. • Nativist opposed immigration for these reasons: feared that the influx of Catholics from countries such as Ireland, Italy, and Poland would swamp the mostly Protestant United States. • Labor Unions argued that immigrants undermined American workers because they would work for low wages and accept jobs as strike breakers.

14. Backlash Against Catholics • American Protective Association was founded by Henry Bowers in 1887 and vowed not to hire or vote for Irish Catholics, and later on in years, all Catholic immigrants. • These immigrants are usually illiterate and working at the lowest paying jobs.

15. Restrictions on Asian Immigration • West: Racial Violence • Denis Kearney, Irish Immigrant, organized the Workingman’s Party of California in the 1870’s to fight Chinese immigration. • The party won seats in California legislature and pushed to stop Chinese immigration.

16. Restrictions on Asian Immigration Continued • 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented the Chinese already in the country from becoming citizens. • Chinese immigrants organized letter-writing campaigns but failed. • 1902 Congress made the Chinese Exclusion Act permanent but it was repealed in 1943.

17. Gentlemen’s Agreement • October 1906 • San Francisco Board of Education ordered all Chinese, Japanese, and Korean children to attend the racially segregated “Oriental School.” • This angers the Japanese • President Theodore Roosevelt proposed a limit on Japanese immigration if the school board would not discriminate and segregate the children. • This was not a formal treaty therefore it is known as the Gentlemen’s Agreement.

18. Question • How did President Roosevelt respond to Japan’s protests about the treatment of Japanese students?

19. Chart • Chart/Graphs Page 117

20. I Can Statement… • Compare and contrast life in big cities and life on farms and in small towns.

21. Americans Migrate to the Cities • After the Civil War urban population exploded. • New York 800,000 in 1860, 3.5 million in 1900 • Chicago 109,000 in 1860, 1.6 million in 1900 • 131 cities with populations of 2,500 or more residents in 1840; by 1900 there were more than 1,700 urban areas

22. Cities • Businessmen tried to offer incentives for more people to come to the cities. • Skyscrapers begin to appear in the cities. • Hamilton Disston transformed and reshaped the landscape. Drained parts of the Everglades to build on.

23. Travel • 1890 horse cars moved about 70% of urban traffic in the United States. • 1873 cable cars • 1887 Frank J. Sprague developed the electric trolley car. Richmond, VA had the first one in 1888. • Large cities experienced congestion. Chicago built elevated railroads. Boston and New York built the first subway systems.

24. Question • Summarize what attracted people to cities in the 1800’s.

25. Separation by Class • Upper, middle, and working classes lived in separate and distinct parts of town. • Many New Yorkers lived on $500.00 a year. • American industrialization expanded the middle class: doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers, social workers, architects, and teachers. • Many middle class people moved from central city to escape the crime and pollution---”streetcar suburbs” • 1800s wealthier families had at least one live in servant.

26. Separation by Class • Creation of “women’s clubs-” focused on social and educational activities but overtime “club women” became active in charitable and reform activities. • Chicago’s “Womens Club” helped establish juvenile courts and exposed the terrible conditions at the Cook County Insane Asylum.

27. Urban Working Families • Few families own homes. • Lived in crowded tenements. • 1st tenement was built in 1839 • New York City 3 out of 4 residents squeezed into dark and crowded tenements. • Average industrial workers income was $445.00 • Some people took in boarders (people who move in) to help pay the bills.