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Chapter 16 & 17Immigration, Urbanization, and Everyday Life
1860-1900
Introduction 1.) How did immigrants help shape the cities?
2.) What were political bosses, and why did they gain power in post-Civil War cities?
3.) Why did tensions develop between civic reformers and the urban poor?
4.) How did new consumer products and greater leisure time reinforce awareness of class and ethnic differences?
Introduction 5.) What was “Victorian morality”, and why was it
under attack by the late 19th century?
6.) How did economic and educational transformations affect the social roles of women?
The New American City Introduction
In the post-Civil War years, the U.S. experienced rapid urbanization
By 1900, 40% of all Americans lived in cities NY, Chicago, and Philly each had more than 1 million
inhabitants Cities attracted thousands from the surrounding
rural districts and most of the 11 million immigrants who arrived between 1870 and 1900 Offered work and other opportunities
Introduction The population growth:
swamped municipal services caused terrible housing and sanitary conditions aggravated class differences and conflicts
The physical deterioration, ethnic diversity, and social instability alarmed native-born reforms who tried to clean up cities and quickly “American” immigrants
Migrants and Immigrants In the post-Civil War years, thousands of young
people, especially women, moved from farms to cities to find employment
Between 1860 and 1890 about 10 million Northern European immigrants settled in East Coast and Midwestern cities Germany English Irish
Migrants and Immigrants In the late 19th century, “new immigrants” from
southern and eastern Europe arrived Italians Slavs Greeks Jews Armenians (from the Middle East)
By 1890, the foreign-born and their children accounted for 4/5’s of the population of Great New York
Migrants and Immigrants Most who disembarked
on the East Coast came through the immigration reception centers at Castle Garden (1855-1890) or Ellis Island (1892 on)
Ellis Island photo albums
Migrants and Immigrants
After 1910, Angel Island in SF served as the main West Coast reception center
Angel Island photo gallery
Migrants and Immigrants German and Scandinavian newcomers tended to
migrate to Midwestern cities and to farms on the prairie beyond
Italians and Irish took the first jobs they found in eastern cities
Adjusting to an Urban Society
To ease their adjustment, immigrants clustered together in ethnic neighborhoods
They could speak their native language
Buy their traditional foods
Celebrate traditional holidays
Adjusting to an Urban Society
The various immigrant groups improved their social and economic status at different rates Those who came with a skilled trade or spoke some
English generally did well
The Irish came in such great numbers, that they were able to dominate the Democratic Party and Catholic Church leadership in NY and Boston They accounted for 16-17% of the population in each
city
Adjusting to an Urban Society
Nationality groups that had high rates of return to their homelands experienced slower upward mobility and assimilation Italians
Chinese
By the end of the 19th century, resentment of the newcomers (from whatever country) was growing
Slums and Ghettos Neighborhoods
deteriorated into slums landlords packed more
and more people into their buildings
The poorer the residents, the greater the crowding and the faster the area declined
Slums and Ghettos (cont.) Ethnic slum neighborhoods became ghettos when
discrimination and law kept members of the minority group from obtaining housing elsewhere Black ghettos in Chicago and Philadelphia Mexican in Los Angeles Chinese in San Francisco
Five Points, New York City
Slums and Ghettos Slums and ghettos were usually adjacent to industrial
cities
were filled with soot, coal dust, noise, and foul oders
Pollution and crowding were especially hard on the young
Had very high infant mortality rates
Fashionable Avenues and Suburbs
In contrast to slums, grand millionaires’ mansions lined Fifth Avenue in New York, Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, and fashionable boulevards in other cities
Fashionable Avenues and Suburbs (cont.)
The wealthy and the middle class also moved to newer, more desirable suburbs on the edges of the old, compact cities
American cities became increasingly segregated along class as well as ethnic and racial lines
Middle-and Upper-Class Society and Culture
Manners and Morals The 19th century Victorian worldviews
preached to make personal and national progress an individual must: work hard
exercise self-discipline
display good manners
cultivate an appreciation of literature and the arts
Manners and Morals To the highly moralistic Victorians, status was conferred
by possessing abundant amounts of the right material goods
The Victorian code served to heighten the visible gap between classes
The Cult of Domesticity Victorian morality assigned a special place to
women Used the domestic sphere to provide the genteel,
sensitive, and spiritual influences that moved society toward higher civilization
They decorated their homes as richly and artistically as their means permitted
Fostered the family’s sense of cultural appreciation
The Cult of Domesticity At no time, however, were all middle-class women
satisfied with devoting their whole life to this cult of domesticity
Department Stores Innovative entrepreneurs
developed urban department stores that appealed particularly to the Victorian outlook of the upper and middle echelons Rowland H. Macy
John Wanamaker
Marshall Field
Department Stores (cont.) These giant emporiums advertised:
high-quality goods at low cost encouraged buyers to believe that owning the right
material possessions contributed to civilized living
The department stores were designed to look like palaces: Marble staircases Sparkling chandeliers Thick carpet
Department Stores For the middle-and upper-classes shopping “became an
adventure, a form of entertainment, and a way to affirm their place in society.”
The Transformation of Higher Education
Higher education was still restricted to the upper and upper-middle class
By 1900, only 4% of youths between 18-21 were enrolled in colleges and universities
These institutions were seen as the training schools for the future business and professional elites Wealthy capitalists made large donations to already
existing universities or started new ones John D. Rockefeller and Leland Stanford
The Transformation of Higher Education (cont.)
With private contributions and state support, more than 150 additional colleges and universities were founded between 1880 and 1900
The Transformation of Higher Education (cont.)
Higher education for upper-and upper-middle-class women as grew impressively
Some eastern elite universities established affiliated schools for women Columbia=Barnard (1889) Harvard=Radcliffe (1894)
More all-female colleges were founded Wellesley Smith
The Transformation of Higher Education (cont.)
By 1900, women made up 1/3 of the nation’s college students
In this period, the research university was developed and major reforms were instituted in medical and other professional training
Working-Class Politics and Reform
Political Bosses and Machine Politics Urban political machines emerged to govern the unwieldy cities
and their many competing interests Headed by powerful political bosses
The machines gave tax breaks and awarded contracts to favored businessmen In return received a payoff
Machines also gathered the votes of poor immigrants Provided them with relief, legal help, and city jobs
Political Bosses and Machine Politics
Most famous is Tammany Hall
Led by William Tweed Between 1869 and 1871,
Tweed gave $50,000 to the city’s poor and built new school, hospitals,and other facilities
Tammany Hall cost taxpayers about $70 million through graft and padded contracts
Political Bosses and Machine Politics (cont.)
Tweed was finally toppled from power with the help of Thomas Nast’s political cartoons in Harper’s Weekly
Political Bosses and Machine Politics (cont.)
By the late 19th century, middle-and upper-class good-govt. reformers had begun their drives against the bosses
The bosses and machines attempted to hold on to power by providing more public services and improved urban facilities Better sewer systems
More parks
Battling Poverty Middle-class reformers also set out to relieve
poverty
They often tended to blame: the problem on character flaws of the poor “self-destructive” cultural practices of the
immigrants
Reformers concentrated on moral uplift and Americanization campaigns among the needy
Battling Poverty (cont.) New York Association for Improving the Condition
of the Poor AICP Robert M. Hartley
New York Children’s Aid Society Charles Loring Brace Founded dormitories, reading rooms, and workshops for
indigent boys Sent thousands of them to live with and work for
families in the Midwest
Battling Poverty (cont.) Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian
Associations offered rural young people arriving in the cities temporary housing, recreation, and moral strictures against alcohol and other vices
New Approaches to Social Reform
By the 1880’s, the Salvation Army and Charity Organization Society (COS) joined the fight against poverty
COS preached a tough-minded approach to charity Insisted that the needy must meet the standards of
responsibility and morality set by the COS’s “friendly visitors” to receive aid
Critics charged that the COS was more interested in “controlling the poor than in alleviating their suffering”
The Moral-Purity Campaign
Middle-and upper-class reformers attacked what they considered urban vice
Crusaders demanded that city officials close down gambling dens, saloons, and brothels and censor obscene publications Anthony Comstock and Charles Parkhurst
The Moral-Purity Campaign
In 1894, the nonpartisan Committee of Seventy elected a NYC mayor committed to moral purification
But within 3 years the effort failed
The more tolerant political machine was back in power
The Social Gospel The Social Gospel
movement developed in the 1870’s and 1880’s among a small group of Protestant clergymen
Founded by Washington Gladden
Congregational minister
The Social Gospel (cont.) The movement preached that urban poverty was
caused in part by actions of the rich and well-born
“that true Christianity commits men and women to fight social injustice head on, wherever it exists”
The Social Gospel (cont.) Walter Rauschenbusch
Baptist pastor in NY’s “Hell’s Kitchen”slums
Made the clearest statement on the movement’s philosophy (Christian unity)
Led to the founding of the Federal Council of Churches
The Settlement-House Movement
Settlement-House founders blamed poverty not on the poor but on social and environmental causes
Leaders believed that middle-class relief workers must reside among the immigrant masses and learn what services they needed
Firsthand experience
The Settlement-House Movement (cont.)
Jane Addams
Hull House in Chicago
Day-care nursery
Legal aid
Health aid
Help find jobs
Offered classes in English and other subjects for immigrants
Hull House in 1890’s
Hull House today
The Settlement-House Movement
Settlement-house workers also published studies of the terrible housing and corrective laws
By 1895, more than 50 settlement houses in various cities were training a young generation of students Many would become state and local govt. officials
Applying the lessons they had learned
Florence Kelly became a factory inspector for IL in 1893
Working-Class Leisure in the Immigrant City
Streets and Saloons The neighborhood streets served as the
area of social life and free entertainment for shop girls, laborers, and poor immigrant families
For workingmen the saloons offered male companionship, reinforced group identity, and were centers for immigrant politics
The Rise of Professional Sports
Baseball Americans were the first to turn what had been a children’s game into the
professional sport of baseball
By 1890’s, baseball had become a big business
It appealed to members of all social groups, particularly workers
Horse racing often a social event for the rich
Boxing Spectators from all social levels
Vaudeville, Amusement Parks, and Dance Halls
Vaudeville shows, amusement parks and dance halls were popular with working-class men and women
Coney Island in Brooklyn was most famous amusement park of the time
Coney Island video--History Channel
Coney Island video--History Channel--3 minutes
Ragtime The middle class preferred hymns or songs that
carried a moral lesson
The masses became fans of ragtime
Originated with black musicians in the saloons and brothels of the South and Midwest
In the 1890’s, honky-tonk players introduced its syncopated rhythms to a wide national audience
Cultures in Conflict The Genteel Tradition and Its Critics
In the 1870’s and 1880’s a group of upper-class writers and magazine editors attempted to set standards for fine writing and art Charles Eliot Norton
E.L. Godkin
They insisted that literature must avoid sexual allusions, vulgar slang, disrespect for Christianity, and depressing endings
The Genteel Tradition and Its Critics (cont.)
High-toned journals like The Century and the North American Review upheld this genteel standard by banishing from their pages authors who violated these rules
The Genteel Tradition and Its Critics (cont.)
The Genteel Tradition and Its Critics
Huck Finn and Sister Carrie were both condemned by proponents of Victorian ideals
The Genteel Tradition and Its Critics
Socialist scientists criticized the business elite and challenged middle-class notions about the link between moral worth and economic standing
Thorstein Veblen
W.E.B. DuBois
The Genteel Tradition and Its Critics
The depression and labor unrest of the 1890’s further undermined the smug Victorian outlook and its genteel culture
Modernism in Architecture and Painting
Some architects and artists began questioning Victorian ideals of beauty
Modernists architects refused to copy European design
William Holabird
John Wellborn Root
Louis Sullivan
Frank Lloyd Wright
Modernism in Architecture and Painting
They looked to their vision of the future for inspiration and argued that a building’s form should follow its function
Modernism in Architecture and Painting
Painters often times rejected sentimentality in favor of tough realism
Winslow Homer
Thomas Eakins
Mary Cassat was one of the first American artists to paint in the French Impressionist style
From Victorian Lady to New Woman
Women’s Christian Temperance Union
Led by Frances Willard
WCTU
Founded in 1874
Broadened the scope of women’s social responsibilities
WCTU.org
150,000 members by 1890
From Victorian Lady to New Woman
WCTU was the first American mass organization of women
Crusade against liquor
Experience as lobbyists, organizers, and lecturers
From Victorian Lady to New Woman
General Federation of Women’s Clubs Founded in 1892
Middle-and upper-class women
Social welfare projects
Tenement reform
The so-called new woman broke Victorian restraints about dress and exercise
The most advanced advocated women’s economic independence from men through work outside the home
From Victorian Lady to New Woman
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The new-woman emphasis on economic and social independence and equality had little impact on the lives of working-class women
Public Education as an Arena of Class Conflict
In the 1870’s middle-class reformers campaigned:
To expand public schools
Bring them under central control
Make attendance mandatory
Public Education as an Arena of Class Conflict (cont.)
William Torrey Harris
Public schools were instruments for indoctrinating the masses with middle-class values and outlook
Public Education as an Arena of Class Conflict
By 1900, as a result of the work of education advocates, 31 states passed laws requiring school attendance for all children from 8-14
The illiteracy rate dropped
More than 500,000 students were attending some 5,000 high schools
Public Education as an Arena of Class Conflict
Centralized urban public-school systems aroused opposition from various quarters Poor immigrant parents objected to laws that kept
youngsters in school beyond the elementary level Needed the wages of their children to survive
Catholics disliked the Protestant orientation of the public schools Organized their own parochial school system
Upper-class parents preferred to send their kids to exclusive, private academies
Conclusion Between 1860 and 1900 class and ethnic conflicts
appeared in almost every area of city life
To distinguish themselves from the exploited working class immigrants, native-born elite and middle-class Americans embraced Victorian moral codes
The upper and middle classes, with their genteel Victorian morality and ideals, were dismayed by the raucous, vibrant culture of the working masses
Conclusion (cont.) “Respectable” people periodically
attempted to suppress “indecent” lower-class enjoyments such as gambling; gathering in dance halls, saloons, and amusement parks, listening to ragtime, attending Sunday baseball games, and bare-knuckle prizefights
Conclusion (cont.) However, Victorian standards of decency were
weakening by the 1890’s as they came under attack from: younger middle-class writers, artists, social
scientists
“new women”
the working masses
the immigrants
Conclusion (cont.) By 1900, the 2 cultural traditions were reaching an
accommodation that blended elements of both: National pastimes became highly commercialized
working-class amusements of the 19th century evolved into the mass culture of sports spectaculars, movies, and other entertainments of modern America
