Immigration / Urbanization

Nativism

• a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants

• First targeted Irish (Catholic) immigrants• Next focused on Asian immigrants• Then Eastern and Southern European

immigrants

1870 – Naturalization Act

• Limits American citizenship to "white persons and persons of African descent”– Specifically established to discriminate against

Asians

Hands off, Gentlemen!America means fair play for all men.

1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act

• Ended Chinese immigration for 10-year period– Argument was based on loss of jobs to lower-paid

Chinese workers, called “coolies”– Chinese had largely built western half of

transcontinental railroad• Were willing to work for less money and do difficult

jobs

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame."Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries sheWith silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

New European Immigrants

• Around 1880, large numbers of Eastern and Southern Europeans begin arriving in America– Darker skin– Different religions (Jews, Catholics, Orthodox)– Tended to be poorer, less educated than Northern

and Western European immigrants

Assimilation vs Seclusion

• Assimilation – becoming part of the culture– Speaking English, eating different food, wearing the

same clothes– Younger immigrants and second wave immigrants

tended to assimilate• Seclusion– Maintain old ways, old language, traditional diet and

dress– Older immigrants or those who were able to find work

with a proprietor of the same culture

McKinley Assassination

• 1901 – Polish-American anarchist killed President McKinley

• 1903 – Anarchist Exclusion Act passed– First time political ideas could be used to prevent

entrance to America

1901 - 1910

• Nearly 9,000,000 immigrants came to America during the decade– About 12,000,000 in the previous 40 years

Urban Living – the tenements

Jacob Riis

• Photographer who worked to expose the conditions of tenements and immigrants

• Danish immigrant• Published “How the Other Half

Lives” in 1889• Known as a “muckraker”

1901 – Tenement House Act

• Established Tenement House Commission– Meant to oversee regulations• Ventilation• Sewage/Plumbing/Toilets• Light• Overcrowding

• Not well enforced, opposed strongly by landlords

Jane Addams

• Founded Hull-House– Settlement house• Settlement houses typically attracted educated, native

born, middle-class and upper-middle class women and men, known as “residents,” to live (settle) in poor urban neighborhoods

– Provided services to poor residents, worked for better treatment of immigrants

– Won Nobel Peace Prize in 1931