Immigration & Industrialization(during the late 1800s – early 1900s)

•Why did cities develop & what were their problems? Were these problems solved?

How did new inventions change society and lead to industrial growth?

Why did immigration increase?

How would you feel if you were forced to leave your home and move to a new, unfamiliar place?

What favorite things would you bring with you (to fit inside one large pillowcase)?

Immigration“Coming to America”

The Great Migration

The largest group of immigrants came from Europe in the 1880’s.

Reasons for Increased Immigration late 19th century – early 20th century

•1. Hope for better opportunities•2. Religious freedom•3. Escape from oppressive or

unfair governments•4. Fleeing from wars or famine•5. Sense of adventure

Push & Pull Factors

Push & Pull Factors

Factors that pull people to the U. S.

• jobs• religious or political

freedom• land or business

ownership• opportunities for

fresh start

Push & Pull Factors

• Factors that push people out of their home countries

• political or religious persecution

• famine• wars or economic

problems

The Journey Across the Atlantic

The Journey Across the Atlantic

• Most people did not travel first class, but travelled in steerage which meant that conditions were crowded, uncomfortable, & usually below decks in a special part of the ship.

• They travelled this way because they could not afford a more expensive ticket.

The Journey Across the Atlantic

• The average trip across the Atlantic took 2 - 4 weeks.

• During the trip, they would have experienced seasickness, crowded living/sleeping conditions, and maybe exposure to disease or illness.

Arrival in America

The main processing point for newly arriving immigrants in the early 1900s was Ellis Island in New York City.

Medical Inspections

• On Ellis Island, the new immigrants were checked for diseases by doctors. If they were found to have an incurable diseases or mental illnesses, then they could be sent back to their home countries.

Medical Inspections

Trachoma: Trachoma, a highly contagious eye infection that could cause blindness, was a common disease in southeastern Europe but relatively unknown in the United States. it appeared as inflammations on the inner eyelid. Doctors checked for the disease by raising the eyelid with either their fingers, a hairpin, or a buttonhook--a painful, but quick procedure. Since trachoma is difficult to cure, sufferers were generally isolated and sent back to their ports of embarkation at the first opportunity.

Legal Inspections

• They were also interviewed and sometimes given new names because the inspectors couldn’t spell or pronounce their real names.

Legal Inspections

• The mixed emotions of fear (of being sent back home) and happiness of their safe entry into the U.S. caused Ellis Island to be nicknamed The Island of Tears.

Legal Inspections

• It took 3-5 hours, but sometimes, days for so many people to be processed through the lines.

• People with a criminal record were not allowed to enter the U.S.

Ethnic Enclaves

Ethnic Enclaves

• Immigrants congregated into ethnic neighborhoods because other people – friends, families from their home country already lived there.

•These neighborhoods often resembled their own countries, and were given nicknames such as Chinatown, Little Italy, Germantown, etc.

Ethnic Enclaves

• Positive aspects of living in such a neighborhood were: a sense of community, common language, and customs and it created a support system.

• Negative aspects were over-crowded conditions, poverty, poor sanitation, and lack of assimilation.

Cities tried to solve these problems by creating:

• Settlement houses such as Hull House founded by Jane Addams, which offered English language classes and job training.

Cities tried to solve these problems by creating:

• Political machines gained power by trying to gain votes and political influence in exchange for helping immigrants find jobs, housing, and help for any brushes with the law.

Living Conditions

Living Conditions

• Because they were often poor, immigrants lived in tenements which were run-down apartment buildings (no indoor plumbing, no electricity, often unsafe due to crowding) and ghettos which were entire neighborhoods of unsafe tenements.

Living Conditions

Working Conditions

• Immigrants took low paying jobs, such as in steel mills (Pittsburgh), meatpacking (Chicago), making cloth in textile mills (New England). Many of these factories employed children who worked for even lower wages than adults.

Working Conditions

Working Conditions

• Immigrants had no rights and worked long (10-12) hours in sweatshops factories with unsafe working conditions. Because of these poor working conditions, labor unions, groups of workers, formed together to fight for better working conditions.

America’s Treatment of Immigrants

• Immigrants not only faced problems of learning new language and customs of America, but also faced discrimination and resentment because other Americans disliked their different ways, language, customs and willingness to work for lower pay.

America’s Treatment of Immigrants

America’s Treatment of Immigrants

• The Irish who arrived in great numbers due to the potato famine in Ireland and the Chinese who also fled starvation as well as war in China were targets of discrimination because they came in such large numbers during this period of time.

America’s Treatment of Immigrants

“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-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”

As you read the poem, think about the experiences of immigrants coming to America……

Which lines reflect “push factors and which reflect “pull” factors?