Immigration and Urbanization (1865-1914 )

1. Immigration and Urbanization (1865-1914)

2. The New Immigrants • Poor Catholic or Jewish immigrants • often moved to urban • areas • 1870’s and 1880’s consisted of • Northern/Western immigrants. • Examples included: • Irish, Scottish and Germans • 1890’s and early 1900’s included • Immigrants from Italy, Hungary and Greece

3. Statistics • Between 1870 to 1920 about 20 million Europeans arrived in the United States • Many came to escape religious persecution • Other Europeans left because of the rising population • Between 1800 and 1900 the population of Europe doubled to nearly 400 million • This resulted in land scarcity, competition for labor, etc.

4. Ways the New Immigrants were different • Skin color • Customs • Religion • Language • Very different from English, German, French

5. The Push and Pull Factors • Push • Immigrants fled from religious persecution, wars, political revolt, and land reform • Pull • Plentiful land and employment, recruited for work • “Chain immigrants” joining family or friends who have already settled in America

6. The Immigrant Experience • long voyage • steamships were safer and faster to cross the Atlantic • most traveled in steerage • arrival • New York Harbor: Ellis Island • San Francisco Bay: Angel Island

7. Ellis Island • Located in New York Harbor • Once the main entry facility for immigrants entering the U.S. • Operated from January 1892 to November 1954 • 12 million immigrants were inspected by 1954 • Before Ellis Island 8 million immigrants had been processed at Castle Garden • 1907 was the peak year for immigration with 1,004,756 immigrants processed • April 17 saw 11,747 immigrants

8. Ellis Island • Those with health problems or diseases were sent home • About 2% were denied admission to • Reasons such as disease, criminal background, or insanity • Immigrants who were approved spent from 3 to 5 hours at Ellis Island • Ellis Island was sometimes known as "The Island of Tears" • Mass processing of immigrants at Ellis Island ended in 1924 after the Immigration Act of 1924

9. Vito Andolini arrives at Ellis Island

10. Angel Island • An island in San Francisco Bay • Provided the same service for those crossing the Pacific as did Ellis Island in the East • 1 million people were processed through Angel island • Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 provided tough entry restrictions • Immigrants waited on the island for as long as two years as they attempted to get in • In 1906 a fire destroyed the facility • All processing took place in San Francisco

11. Angel Island • Tour

12. Immigrants Assimilate into Society • “melting pot” • some city populations had more than 40% foreign born • most new immigrants stayed in cities, close to industrial jobs in factories • ghettoes • Americanization programs • faced hostility and competition among natives

14. Overcrowded and Poor Housing • housing conditions deteriorated • Immigrants lived in tenements • crime • poor sanitation • Cholera • Germ Theory

15. TechnologicalCities • Mass transit • Electric trolley and subway • Elevators • Skyscrapers • Central heating

16. - Trolleys and subways were developed in order to make transportation more efficient. A train of Brooklyn Union elevated cars circa 1907 belonging to the New York Transit Museum collection.

17. The New American Culture • Once admitted immigrants faced many challenges: • Finding a place to live • Getting a job • Adapting to a new culture • Understanding a new language • Many immigrants sought out people that were of similar backgrounds, culture, and language • They formed their own communities throughout the nation • Created social clubs, churches, and synagogues as a means of bonding together in a new land

18. CulturalChanges • conspicuous consumerism • sale methods change • department stores • brand names • mass culture • education increased • training for urban careers • new forms of entertainment

19. Educate • Schools assimilate immigrants faster than anything else • Upsets some of the older immigrants because the kids want to learn American culture and not their own

20. GROWING CONSUMERISM • The turn of the century witnessed the beginnings of the shopping center, department and chain stores, and the birth of modern advertising

21. CATALOGS AND RFD • Montgomery Ward and Sears were two pioneers in catalog sales • By 1910, 10 million Americans shopped by mail • In 1896 the Post Office introduced a rural free delivery (RFD) system that brought packages directly to every home

22. sears ad.pdf

23. DAWN OF A MASS CULTURE • Many middle class Americans fought off city congestion and dull industrial work by enjoying amusement parks, bicycling, tennis and spectator sports • American leisure was developing into a multi-million dollar industry

24. THE DEPARTMENT STORE • Marshall Field of Chicago brought the first department store to America • Field’s motto was “Give the lady what she wants” • Field also pioneered the “bargain basement” concept Marshall Fields has been around for almost 150 years

25. Shopping, Sports and Entertainment - Macy’s opens a nine-story building in New York City. Macy’s, New York City, 1902 Macy’s, New York City, 1964 Macy’s, New York City

26. CHAIN STORES • In the 1870s, F.W. Woolworth found that if he offered an item at a low price, “the consumer would purchase it on the spur of the moment” • By 1911, the Woolworth chain had 596 stores and sold $1,000,000 per week

27. - Baseball, football and basketball gain in popularity. The Cuban Giants began life in 1885 as a team that entertained guests at the Argyle Hotel in the resort town of Babylon, Long Island.

28. - Vaudeville shows became extremely popular. Examples: comedians, song and dance routines, and acrobats

29. Vaudeville

30. - Music such as ragtime became extremely popular as well. Example: Scott Joplin – an African American composer Click on Picture