immigration & urbanization. immigration 1870-1910: 20 million immigrants entered the us...
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Immigration &
Urbanization
Immigration 1870-1910: 20
million immigrants entered the US
Added to the labor pool
Added to the demand for housing
Added to the demand for goods
Eastern & Southern Europeans
About 14 million immigrants from Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, Slavic states
Many were Catholic, Orthodox, or Jewish
Came because of job and land availability, to escape religious persecution, to escape a fixed class system, and/or to live in a democracy
Ellis Island New York Harbor Used from 1892 to
1954 to process immigrants
Immigrants were medically inspected
Unhealthy quarantined or sent back to Europe (only about 2% were denied entry)
Now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument
Statue of Liberty (1886)
The Know-Nothings
The American Party (1849-1860)
Nativists Anti-Catholic Opposed
immigration Played on
prejudices and fears that immigrants would take jobs
American Protective Association
Founded in 1887 by Henry Bowers
Opposed Catholicism because Catholics obeyed the Pope above all other powers, including the government
Wanted to limit Catholic immigration, ban Catholics from teaching, holding public office
Also wanted to make understanding English a requisite for citizenship
Had faded out by 1900
Immigration Act of 1882
$.50 tax on each immigrant entering US to help pay costs of regulating immigration
Denied entry to “convicts, lunatics, idiots, and persons likely to become public charges”
Asian Immigrants Chinese: looking to
escape famine, unemployment, and violent rebellions
Often excluded from regular American society, so developed their own in “Chinatowns”
Some limited Japanese immigration
Angel Island In use 1910 – 1940 Processed over 1
million immigrants Located in San
Francisco Bay 75% of immigrants
were detained for at least 2 weeks, some for up to 2 years
Workingman’s Party of California
1870s - 1900 Founded by Irish
immigrant Denis Kearney
Opposed Chinese immigration and use of Chinese labor to build railroads
“The Chinese Must Go!”
Chinese Exclusion Acts
Passed in 1882 Banned Chinese
immigration for 10 years
Chinese already here could not become citizens
Renewed in 1892 Made permanent in
1902 Finally repealed in
1942 Led to a decline in
Chinese population in US
Ethnic neighborhoods
“Cultural pluralism” Immigrants preferred
to stick together, form neighborhoods where it was safe to speak native language, continue ethnic customs, practice their religion
These neighborhoods led to general distrust of immigrants by the native US population
“Melting Pot” or “Tossed Salad”?
Melting pot = assimilation of multiple cultures into a new, blended “American” culture
Tossed salad = many different cultures thrown together, but little blending – each culture stands out
Urbanization Between 1870 -1900: US
urban population soared from 10 million to 30 million
NYC: 800,000 in 1860, 3.5 million in 1900
Chicago: 109,000 in 1860, 1.6 million in 1900
Immigrants tended to stay in cities
Many poor farmers moved to cities for better paying jobs
Many freed slaves migrated to northern cities to seek new opportunities
Appeal of CitiesMore jobs
availableElectric lightingRunning water
and sewerAbundance of
goodsVariety of leisure
activities
Adult Entertainment Vaudeville Theater:
collection of acts, including dancers, singers, acrobats, comedians, etc. (similar to “America’s Got Talent” but without judges)
Dance Halls: large venues with live bands playing dance music
Cabarets: bars or nightclubs which offered musical entertainment
Saloons: neighborhood bars where working men ate, drank, talked politics and discussed current events
Family Entertainment
Museums Libraries Amusement Parks:
NYC’s Coney Island became a resort area after Civil War, first “attraction” was a carousel that opened in 1876
Spectator sports: Boxing, horse racing, wrestling, professional baseball
Skyscrapers As cities became
more crowded, space became more valuable
Inventions like high-quality steel and the Otis elevator made going higher the most practical solution
Chicago architect Louis Sullivan generally credited with pioneering the “skyscraper”
Home Insurance Building
Chicago Built in 1885 First to have a steel
frame 10 stories (138 ft.) 2 floors added later Designed by William
LeBaron Jenney (who trained Louis Sullivan)
Demolished in 1931 because it was too small and wasted space!
Tallest Modern Buildings
Public Parks
Frederick Law Olmstead
1822 – 1903 Landscape architect Designed many major
urban green-spaces, including Central Park in NYC and parks in Chicago, Washington DC, and other cities
Also designed the grounds at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC
Mass transit Horsecars: railroad car
pulled along tracks by horses
Cable cars: railroad car pulled along tracks by underground cables (San Francisco, 1873)
Electric trolley car: developed in 1887 by Frank J. Sprague, first used in Richmond, VA
Elevated railroads: Used in Chicago starting in 1892
Subways: Boston in 1897, NYC in 1904
Major bridges, such as NYC’s Brooklyn Bridge (1883)
Changes in Shopping
Bold new forms of advertising products, using large, illustrated ads in newspapers & magazines
Department stores: John Wannamaker’s Grand Depot in Philadelphia
Chain stores: Woolworth’s (1879)
Mail-order catalogs: Montgomery Ward, Sears Roebuck
Upper Class“High Society”Wealthiest
families, primarily industrialists like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts
Built palatial houses, clustered in downtown districts
Middle-Class Gentility
Doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, managers, teachers
Lived in “streetcar suburbs” on edges of cities
Average salary = $1100/year
The Working Class75% of urban
populationLived in
tenement housing within easy walking distance of the industrial district
Average salary = $445/year
Urban problems Violent crime: murder
rate jumped 400% between 1880 and 1900; rate today is about ½ the rate of US in 1900
Pollution: especially of drinking water, but also of land and air
Disease: cholera, typhoid
Fire: Chicago (1871), Boston (1872), Baltimore (1904), San Francisco (1906, caused by earthquake)
Tenements Small, extremely
crowded apartment buildings
Whole families often lived in just one room, sometimes with only a single window for air
Up to a dozen families might share a single bathroom
Buildings were unsafe – hard to escape in a fire, little fresh air and close quarters led to spread of disease
Jacob Riis 1849 – 1914 Danish immigrant,
social reformer, journalist, photographer
Wrote How the Other Half Lives (1890)
Documented horrors of life in the slums & tenements
Blamed alcohol for many of society’s ills
Jane Addams & the Social Gospel
1860 – 1935 Founded Hull House, a
settlement house in Chicago
First woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize
“Social Gospel”: idea that Christians have a moral responsibility to fix society’s problems & help the less fortunate
Settlement Houses Most famous
settlement house = Chicago’s Hull House
Middle class “settlers” moved into working class neighborhoods to help provide education, meals, childcare, medical care, and general advice to immigrants and poor workers