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IMMIGRATION
Industrialization and Urbanization
Industrialization and urbanization, the growth of cities, went hand in hand.
Cities offered large numbers of workers for new factories.
Cities provided transportation for raw materials and finished goods.
As more factories were built, more workers moved to cities in search for jobs.
This shift from rural to urban life had both positive and negative effects.
Negative Effects of City Growth
Housing Construction of decent housing often lagged behind
the growth of city populations Much city housing consisted of multifamily buildings
called tenements. Immigrants and working class families , who could
pay little for rent, crowded into such buildings. These poorly maintained tenements deteriorated,
and whole neighborhoods became slums. Crime flourished in such poor, congested
neighborhoods.
http://www.google.com/search?q=tenement+housing&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=Pm76UoydA5DMkAeptYHYDw&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=930&surl=1&safe=active
Negative Effects of City Growth
Health Urban crowding helped spread disease Water and sanitation facilities were inadequate Poor families could not afford proper diets and
lacked knowledge of basic health procedures
Politics Political machines took control over many city
governments, partly by providing help to the growing number of poor immigrant voters, and thereby gaining their support.
Corruption increased, and money that could have been spent on public works ultimately ended up in private pockets.
Positive Effects of City Growth
Urbanization was aided and improved by new technologies in transportation, architecture, utilities, and sanitation.
Subways, elevated trains, and streetcars provided mass transportation
Steel girders and elevators made possible high-rise skyscrapers
Gas and electric brightened city streets to make them safe
Growing health problems forced officials to design and build new water and sewage systems
Positive Effects of City Growth
Cultural Advances Public and private money funded museums,
concert halls, theatres, and parks. New printing presses turned out mass-circulation
of newspapers, magazines, and popular novels by authors like Mark Twain and Horatio Alger
Community Improvement Other reformers founded groups intended to
correct the problems of society. In Chicago, Jane Addams started Hull House, a
settlement house designed to provide education and services to the poor
Immigration
The United States has always been a nation of immigrants.
After the Civil War, however, industrialization drew an even larger flood of immigrants.
From 1865-1900, some 13.5 million people arrived from abroad.
During much of the nineteenth century, there were few restrictions on immigration as the growing number of factories provided job opportunities for cheap labor.
Immigration to the United States can be divided into two stages.
Old Immigration
The Old Immigration covered the years from the establishment of the United States until around 1850.
Most immigrants from this time period came from northern and western Europe, mostly form Germany, Ireland, and Scandinavia.
These immigrants left their home countries for various reasons.
Old Immigration
Reasons for Immigration Massive famine caused by failure of the potato
crop drove millions of Irish immigrants to flee to the U.S.
Revolution in Germany caused many immigrants to seek peace and stability in America.
Many people continued to arrive in search of better economic opportunity.
Areas of Settlement The Irish largely settled in cities in the
Northeast. Some Germans moved to the cities, but most
moved out west to start farms
Old Immigration
Difficulties Old Immigrants Faced Irish and German Catholic immigrants often faced
hostility on their arrival in the United States. Some Americans feared economic competition from
the newcomers Americans had an anti-feeling in regards to
immigrants coming to the United States, this feeling was known as nativism.
Since at this time the nation was predominantly Protestant, resentment toward Catholics and Jews was also strong.
Irish workers helped build railroads and canals. Germans and Scandinavians brought advanced
farming techniques and new ideas on education including Kindergarten.
New Immigration
New Immigration covered the time period between 1870 to 1924.
Immigrants primarily came from southern and eastern Europe, especially from Italy, Poland, and Russia.
In addition, a large number of immigrants also came from Japan and China.
New Immigration
Reasons for Immigration Hope of greater economic opportunity prompted
many of these immigrants to come to America. Some also came seeking political freedom. Russian Jews came to escape religious persecution.
Areas of Settlement Most of the new immigrants settled in cities,
especially industrial centers and ports, often concentrated in ghettos, or urban areas dominated by a single ethnic group.
Asian immigrants tended to settle on the west coast, usually in California.
New Immigration
Problems Faced by New Immigrants Immigrant families experienced hardships
attempting to assimilate into American culture.
At school, immigrant children learned not only English, but American tastes and customs.
Immigrant parents feared that their children would lose their cultural background and heritage.
The growing number of immigrants caused fear and resentment by native-born Americans.
New immigrants faced discrimination in jobs and housing
New Immigration
Contributions The new immigrants found an abundance of
jobs in the nation’s expanding industries. Yet the steady stream of incoming workers to
fill such jobs kept wages low. Young Italian and Jewish girls worked in
sweatshops of the garment industry. Poles and Slavs labored in the coal mines and
steel mills of Pennsylvania and the Midwest. Chinese immigrants helped build the
transcontinental railroad. These immigrants contributed to the nation’s
rich cultural diversity
Reaction Against Immigration
The flood of immigration between 1850-1920 increased a strong feeling of nativism in America.
Nativism was the belief that native-born Americans and their way of life was superior to that of immigrants.
Nativists believed that immigrant languages, religions, and traditions would have a negative impact on American society.
Nativist workers believed that the new flow of immigrants competing for jobs kept wages low
Americans feared that immigrants would take their jobs.
Immigrants were often met with discrimination and prejudice.
Immigrants and American Society
Over the years, experts have studied how immigrants were absorbed into a larger society.
“Melting Pot” Theory- According to this theory, people from various cultures have met in the United States to form a new American culture. The contributions of individual groups are not easily distinguished. The resulting culture is more important than its parts.
Assimilation Theory- immigrants disappeared into an already established American culture. They gave up older languages and customs and became Americanized, adopting the appearances and attitudes of the larger society in order to be accepted. Immigrants from Africa and Asia, who looked least like nativist Americans, had the hardest time becoming assimilated.
Reaction Against Immigration
Know- Nothing Party- political party that worked to limit the voting rights of rights of immigrants
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882- Congress passed this law severely limiting Chinese immigration
“Gentlemen’s Agreement”- in 1907, President Roosevelt reached an informal agreement with Japan under which that nation nearly halted the emigration of its people to the United States.
Literacy tests- In 1917, congress enacted a law barring any immigrant who could not read or write.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921- law limited the number of immigrants to the US each year to about 350,000.
Journal Entry
Write a journal entry from the perspective of an immigrant coming to live in America. Be sure to use your guided notes and the information learned in our interactive tour of Ellis Island. Your journal entry must include the following information: What country are you leaving? Why are you leaving that country? What attracts you to America? How was the voyage to America? What were your experiences like at Ellis Island? Where did you live once you were officially a citizen of the
United States? How were your living conditions? Where did you work? How were you treated by native-born Americans once you
became settled in your new home