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America Moves to the City

1865-1900

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Context• The Age of Monopolies, Trusts,

Big Labor, and Big Cities

• In the late nineteenth century, American Society was increasingly dominated by large urban centers. Explosive urban growth was accompanied by often disturbing changes, including the New Immigration, crowded slums, new religious outlooks, and conflicts over culture and values. Cities also offered new opportunities and new perspectives, especially to women.

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15.1 The New Immigrants

OBJECTIVE:

The impact of immigration on the US in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries

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Urbanization

Immigration

Industrialization

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IMMIGRANTS

What were the reasons European immigrants had for coming to the US? p. 438

• To escape religious persecution

• Because of population pressure

• Because of the desire to experience democracy and reform

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IMMIGRANTS

What were the reasons Chinese and Japanese immigrants had for coming to the US? p. 439

• In response to the California gold rush

• To build the railroads

• To seek higher wages in Hawaii and California

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IMMIGRANTS

What were the reasons West Indian and Mexican immigrants had for coming to the US? p. 439

• To find employment

• Their homes were annexed by the US after the war

• To find work

• To flee political turmoil and unrest

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Life in the New Land

• What was the journey like? (p.440)

• What happened when they arrived?– Ellis Island– Angel Island

• What is culture shock?

– Have you ever experience it?

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By Brown Brothers, ca. 1908Immigrant children, Ellis Island, New York.Vintage print.

http://www.archives.gov/press/press-kits/picturing-the-century-photos/gallery2.html

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                          ”In 1905, construction of an Immigration

Station began in the area then known as North Garrison. Surrounded by public controversy from its inception, the station was finally put into partial operation in 1910. It was designed to process Chinese immigrants whose entry was restricted by the Chinese Ex. Law of 1882.  Immigrants from Europe were all expected with the opening of the Panama Canal.  International events after 1914, including the outbreak of World War 1, cancelled the expected rush of Europeans, but Asians continued to arrive on the West Coast and to go through immigration procedures. In fact, more than 97 percent of the immigrants processed on Angel Island were Chinese.”

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=1309

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Immigrants: Who are they?Old Immigration VS New Immigration Ireland + Germany Southern Europe (Italians, Greeks)

Central Europe (Slavs, Poles, Russians,

Hungarians)

• Increasingly diverse: more countries and more religions, esp. Catholics and Jews

• 200,000 African-Americans move to Chicago & Detroit• NATIVISM reemerges as a counter-reaction, in form of

American Protective Association (APA)• Congress restricts immigration 1882

• 1882:Chinese Exclusion Act vs.1886: Statue of Liberty

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IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS• What is the “problem” with the melting pot

metaphor for immigration?

• What were the goals of the members of the American Protective Association?

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IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS• What were some of the ways Nativists

attempted to restrict immigration? Social Segregation/Discrimination– Literacy tests– Chinese Exclusion Act– Gentlemen’s Agreement

• Which of the restrictions were most effective?

• Which groups experienced the most discrimination? Why?

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http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/images/im2.1.gif

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http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/images/im2.4.gif