Impact of Immigration on America: Past vs. Present

1. Chapter 8 Regional Societies 1793-1860

2. Discussion Think of America today… How has immigration affected it?

3. Article Reading + Questions New York Times Upfront: The Great Immigration Debate (pg. 12-17)

5. Growth in Immigration • Eager for equality, land, and work

6. Clicker Question #1 If you moved to a new country, which would be hardest for you to get used to? • Eating strange new foods • Learning a new language • Making new friends

7. Clicker Question #2 If your father and mother couldn’t get jobs and were sick, would you: • Try not to spend money • Quit school to work • Ask friends and relatives to lend you money

8. Clicker Question #3 If a new child came to this school from another country and all the kids laughed at his or her clothes and accent, would you: • Speak up for him or her • Mind your own business • Join in with the crowd.

9. Clicker Question #4 Which would be worse? • Getting cheated by a salesperson • Being made fun of by other people • Not understanding the language

10. Do Now Question • Talk about a time or situation in which you felt like an immigrant. What was the feeling like? Did you have to overcome anything? How was your experience similar or dissimilar to how the Irish and German immigrants were treated?

11. Activity Growth in Immigration Graphic Organizer

12. Irish Immigrants • Largest group of immigrants • Worked low paying, dangerous jobs • Helped build the nation’s canals and railroads, mined coal, unloaded freight • Came due to hunger, discrimination, and poverty • Potato Famine

13. German Immigrants • Second largest group of immigrants • Worked skilled occupations • Bakers, brewers, butchers, cabinetmakers, cigar makers, machinists, or tailors • Came for political, religious, and economic reasons • Came due to increase industrialization and decreased farmland

14. Nativist Response • Lots of protest against immigrants • Feared foreign customs and growing political power of the Roman Catholic Irish • Nativism • favoring native born Americans over the foreign born

15. Know-Nothing Party • Secret Society of Nativists • Would support only native-born Protestants for public office • Became known as the American Party

16. Movie Clip Gangs of New York

17. Immigration Pro/Con • Citizen U.S.A (HBO) • The Fence (HBO) • Gangs of New York (Movie) • Great Immigration Debate (Article) • Irish, German, Nativist Notes (PowerPoint) • Discussion

18. America • One gigantic workshop • 1830- Growing interest in business

19. Northern Society • Market Revolution widened the gap between the rich and poor

20. Northern Class Comparison

21. Question How much does “status” mean to you?

22. The Factory System • Francis Cabot Lowell • Mill owner in the textile industry • Created a system that cut cost and increased profit by using machines to help do everything under one roof. • He hired many women in the factory WHY?

23. Lowell Girls • Hired many women because they had experience in cloth at home and were cheaper to hire • Lowell girls- single women who worked in the factory mills • Wanting larger profits, owners cut wages, increased working hours, and sped up production

25. Strike!!! • All this contributed to workers organizing together and fighting back • Formed unions to get better working conditions • One of the methods to press for reforms were strikes • refusal to work until employers met union demands

26. Rise of Trade Unions • Trade unions prevented an increase in the following: • Working hours • Production demands • Child labor • Poverty among workers • Poor safety standards • Low pay

27. Technological Developments • Reaper- harvested acres (Cyrus McCormick) • Plow- allowed farmers to harvest greater quantities of grain in less time (John Deere) • Sewing Machine- labor saving device in the home (Elias Howe)

28. Alexis de Tocqueville • French magistrate who studied American democracy • Wrote Democracy in America • wrote about his experiences in the US

29. Southern Economy • Relied on agricultural products and slave labor • Tobacco prices fell • Cotton replace tobacco as the new main crop

30. Eli Whitney • Cotton had always been in high demand but it took a lot of time to pick it • A gin (separate from seed) could do it 50 times faster than a person by hand • 1830- 730,000 bales 1859- 5,387,000 bales

31. Group Discussion Read Page 264 What were Four factors that slowed Industrialization in the South? Main Idea Activity 8.2- Regional Societies

32. Southern Manufacturing • Industrialization developed more slowly in the South than in the North • Factors that slowed industrialization: 1. South invests more money into slaves/land than new factories 2. Didn’t like taxes to fund improvements 3. Not a lot of factory workers 4. Slaves and poor whites-the bulk of the rural population- had little or no purchasing power

33. Southern Class Structure • Antebellum- pre Civil War • 1 in 4 southern whites owned slaves, but this group of slaveholders dominated southern society and politics

34. Southern Class Comparison

35. White Southern Culture • Food and Housing • Mostly corn and pork (diet was pretty plain) • Log cabins except for a few mansions • Folkways • Music, tales, craft, and folk art- influences by British and African heritage • Banjo and gourd fiddle • Religion • Churches were the social center and brought people together • Whites interpreted the Bible to mean that white people were superior to African Americans and that they were their spiritual guardians

36. Group Activity • Folktale • A traditional story that tries to explain or understand the world and features morals or lessons. • Now Create a Folktale: • Describe songwriters surroundings • Recounted heroic adventures • Cultural influences • Personal Experiences

37. Free African American Society • Not all African Americans were slaves • Most were in the Lower South than the Upper South or North though • Although they weren’t slaves, they weren’t necessarily free either

38. Journal Question #1 • Would you rather be a slave working on a plantation in the South or a worker in one of the factories in the North? Explain your answer with reasons

39. Group Discussion How did critics and supporters of slavery explain their positions? (Read Page 271)

40. Arguments over Slavery • Critics • Slavery contradicted the values of freedom and liberty • An economy based on slavery was less profitable than one based on wage labor • Supporters • Believed they treated slaves better than factory owners treated their employees • Slavery’s defenders claimed they helped slaves by providing care in sickness and old age, as well as clothing, food, and shelter • Slavery was the only way to provide an adequate supply of labor

41. Slave Labor • Overseers • usually small farmers, skilled workers, or planters’ young son or other relatives who managed the slaves • Drivers • assistants picked from among the slaves to supervise the slaves • Gang Labor • did specialized jobs such as hoeing, picking, or plowing.

42. Slave Life • Depended on where they lived and what kind of owners they had • Little to say over what happened to themselves and their families

43. Treatment of Slaves • Some owners used rewards • Money, extra food/clothing, easier tasks, dances, days off, shorter working hours, or plot of land • Some owners used the threat of violence • Fear • Whipping • Selling family members

45. Slave History, Folktales, Music, and Humor • Most slaves were not allowed to learn to read • Used storytelling • Told humorous tales to help deal with painful situations • White southerners misinterpreted the laughter as a sign that slaves were happy with their situation • Slaves used music as a way to escape the pain of their lives as well as to express feelings and thoughts

46. Journal Question #2 • Slaves often used music as a way to escape the pain of their lives as well as to express feelings and thoughts • What do you do today in order to escape pain, express feelings, or express thoughts?

47. Br’er Rabbit • Many have suggested that the American incarnation, Br'er Rabbit, represents the enslaved African who uses his wits to overcome circumstances and to exact revenge on his adversaries, representing the white slave-owners.

48. Slave Religion • Embracing the Christian belief in salvation helped some slaves endure the hardships they faced

49. Primary Source Reading Denmark Vesey

50. Group Activity Rebellion and Resistance Graphic Organizer (Read Page 277)