Immigrants and Urbanization
The New Immigrants
The New Immigrants
• Objectives:
1. To summarize the various parts of the world
from which immigrants came to the “golden
door”
2. To describe the journey immigrants endured
and how they passed through the immigration
station
3. To explain the kinds of discrimination
immigrants faced and the actions taken by
nativists
The New Immigrants: Why did they
come to the U.S.?
• Millions of immigrants entered the U.S. in the
late 19th & early 20th century
• Lured by promises of a better life (make
more money)
• Some wanted to escape difficult conditions
(poverty, famine, political/religious
persecution)
The New Immigrants: Where did they
come from?
• Europe (Germany, Great Britain, Ireland,
Austria, Hungary, Russia & Italy)
• China
• Japan
• West Indies
• Mexico
European Immigrants
• Between 1870 – 1920 approximately 20 million
European immigrants arrived in the U.S.
• Before 1890 most immigrants came from
Great Britain, Ireland, & Germany
• After 1890 many came from Austria,
Hungary, Russia & especially Italy.
• In 1905 alone, nearly 1 million immigrants came
to the U.S.
European Immigrants: Why leave
Europe?
• Religious Persecution led Jews in Russia to
flee and come to the U.S.
• Rising population led to land shortages:
between 1800 and 1900, European population
doubled to 432 million.
• No land for farmers & few industrial jobs led
Europeans to the U.S.
• Political reform & revolt in France, Germany
& Italy. The spirit of these reforms led Europeans
to seek independent lives in the U.S.
Immigrants From China
• Came to the West coast in smaller numbers
• Between 1851 and 1883 about 200,000
Chinese immigrants arrived
• Wanted to discover gold in the California
gold rush
• Helped build the transcontinental railroad in
the West
• After the railroads were finished, they worked as
farmers, miners & domestic service
• Chinese immigration was limited by a
congressional act in 1882.
Japanese Immigrants
• In 1884 Hawaiian planters started to
recruit Japanese workers
• In 1898 when Hawaii became a U.S.
territory, Japanese emigrated to the West
Coast
• Japanese immigrants came for higher wages
and a better life
West Indies Immigrants
• West Indies included: Jamaica, Cuba,
Puerto Rico & other islands
• Jobs were scarce in their homelands
• Arrived in the eastern and southeastern parts of
the U.S.
Mexican Immigrants
• Many Mexicans became U.S. residents
without leaving home due to the statehood of
Texas & acquisition of vast territories after
the Mexican War of 1848
• Other Mexican immigrants traveled northward to
find jobs in farming
• Many left Mexico after 1910 due to political
and social upheaval
• Nearly 1 million Mexican immigrants came to the
U.S. after 1910 (7% of the Mexican population)
A Difficult Journey: How did they get
here? (Objective 2)
• By 1870 almost all immigrants traveled by
steamship
• Across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe took
about 1 week
• Pacific Ocean crossing from Asia took about 3
weeks
• Journey was stormy, uncomfortable &
frightening
A Difficult Journey cont…
• Many traveled in the cargo section of the
steamship
• Crowded together in a dark space, no
fresh air, no exercise
• Slept in lice infested bunks, & shared
toilets with all the passengers
• Many diseases were spread & some
immigrants died before reaching their
destination of the U.S.
Ellis Island
• First glimpse of America was exciting and
breathtaking.
• Those feelings were soon overtaken by
loneliness, anxiety, homesickness
• Had to pass inspection at immigration stations
• Processing of immigrants could take up to 5
hours: a long process
Ellis Island: Processing Immigrants
• Had to pass a physical examination by a doctor
• If they had a serious health problem or a contagious disease
they were sent home
• About 2% were sent home
• If you passed the medical exam, immigrants then went to a
government inspector
• For the government inspection immigrants had to:
have all required documents, pass a literacy test,
prove they were capable of working & have at least
$25 on them
• A ferry would take those who passed to New York city
• From 1892 to 1943 17 million immigrants passed through Ellis
Island
• At its peak from 1905 – 1907: 11,000 immigrants/day
Angel Island: West Coast
• Asians passed through Angel Island (San
Francisco) on the West Coast
• Filthy & run down buildings were used to
hold Asian immigrants like prisoners
• Had to go through very harsh questioning
& detained for extended periods waiting
for a decision from government officials
• Asian immigrants rioted in 1919
• Often wrote poems on the walls
Immigrants & Culture Shock
• Most immigrants didn’t understand the
American way of life – very different than the
immigrants
• Upon arrival: had to find a place to live, a
job, learning English
• Con man would often take advantage of
immigrants stealing what little they had
• Immigrants reached out to others who
shared their native language, values,
religion, etc.
Immigrants & Culture Shock
• Ethnic communities started to develop:
they were a lifeline to new immigrants
• Immigrants could bond, set up social clubs,
support one another, establish churches
& cemeteries
• Native born Americans often disliked
immigrants: they were unfamiliar with
their language & customs & viewed them
as a threat
Immigration Restrictions (Objective 3)
• Conflict arose: native born Americans
thought of America as the melting pot.
Immigrants of all different cultures coming
here, giving up their own culture to be a part
of the American way
• Immigrants thought differently: they came
here for a better life, but refused to give up
their ethnic & cultural identity
• A strong anti-immigrant feeling emerged &
government passed legislation restricting
immigrants
The Rise of Nativism
• Nativism: an overt favoritism toward
native-born Americans
• A rise in anti-immigrants groups
• Discrimination against certain immigrants:
British, German & Scandinavians were better
than Asians & Latin ethnic groups
• Fear of the rise & influence of the Catholic and
Jewish religions
Anti-Asian Sentiment
• Discrimination against the Chinese: looked
different, “strange” language, unfamiliar
customs
• The depression of 1873 intensified this discrimination:
jobs were scarce & native born workers feared Chinese
immigrants would accept lower pay for the available jobs
• Anti-Chinese riots erupted & labor groups exerted
political pressure on the government to restrict Asian
immigration
• In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act
banning entry to all Chinese except students,
teachers, merchants, tourists & government
officials
Gentlemen’s Agreement
• Anti-Chinese fears grew to include Japanese and
other Asian immigrants
• In 1906, San Francisco’s Board of Ed. segregated all
Chinese, Japanese & Korean children & put them in
special Asian schools
• Riots broke out in Japan and forced President
Theodore Roosevelt to intervene
• President Roosevelt set up a Gentlemen’s
Agreement with Japan’s government:
Segregation will end & Japan will limit
immigration to U.S.
Question:
• In your opinion, which group of immigrants
faced the greatest challenges settling in the
United States? Why?
• (Think about: difficulties of travel, where
immigrants settled, opportunities open to each
immigrant group)
Socratic Circle
• Watch video
• Read two articles
Questions from Homework
• What opportunities did immigrants have when they
arrived in America?
• Why did people leave the rural areas and go to the city?
• What urban problems existed due to the population
increase?
*In housing?
* With transportation?
* With water & sanitation?
* Crime?
• What was the Social Gospel Movement & what did they
do?
• What was the Settlement-House Movement? Who was
involved & what did they do?
The Emergence of the Political
Machine Sec. 3
Objectives:
• To explain the role of political machines and
political bosses
• To describe how politicians’ greed and fraud cost
the taxpayers millions of dollars
Political Machines Run the Cities
• Rapid growth, inefficient government & Social
Darwinism leads to a new power structure
• Political machine= an organized group
that controlled the activities of a political
party in a city and offered services to
voters & businesses in exchange for
political or financial support
Political Machines
• Organized like a pyramid
• At the base were local precinct workers &
captains. They worked to gain voters’
support
• Next was the Ward boss: at election time, the
ward boss worked to secure votes in all of the
precincts (a city’s electoral district)
• Ward bosses helped the poor by doing favors
or services to gain their votes
• In return for their votes, people received city jobs,
contracts or political appointments
Political machines cont..
• At the top of the pyramid was the City Boss
• He controlled the activities of a political
party throughout the city
• Like a finely tuned machine, precinct
captains, ward bosses & the city boss
worked together to elect their candidate
• Many political bosses fell victim to greed and
corruption as their power grew
Immigration & Political Machines
• Political machines were sympathetic to immigrants
& in turn, immigrants became loyal supporters
• Many political machines were 1st or 2nd generation
immigrants themselves & had been raised in poverty
• They could speak to immigrants in their native
language, understand the challenges they faced &
could find a solution to their problems
• Political machines helped immigrants find
jobs, housing, & become naturalized – in
return they would receive the immigrants’
votes
Municipal Graft & Scandal
• Some political machines turned to fraud to
guarantee votes
• They padded voter lists with names of dogs, children
& people who had died – then under these names
they would cast as many votes needed to win an
election
• Once their candidate got into office they took
advantage of opportunities for graft
• Graft = an unlawful acquisition of public
money through questionable/improper
transactions with public officials
An Example…
• A politician would hire a person to work on a
construction project for the city, then the political
machine would ask the worker to turn in a bill that
was higher than the actual cost of the job
• The political machine would take the extra money –
called a kickback or illegal payment.
• Or they would grant favors to businesses in return
for cash
• Or they would accept bribes to allow illegal activities
to happen such as gambling
• Police didn’t step in because they were hired & fired
by political machines – after 1900 this changed
Read the Tweed Scandal
• Create an outline of the article
I. Topic
a. main ideas
1. details
Question to answer
• “All there is to it is… doing things for people, and
then later on they’ll do things for you.”
-James Prendergast
Explain whether you agree or disagree that
machine politicians did not coerce people.
--------------------------------------------------------Why do you think corruption such as that
practiced by Tweed was able to flourish in the
late 19th century?
Tweed Scandal
• City boss William Marcy Tweed became head of
Tammany Hall
• Tammany Hall was New York’s powerful
Democratic political machine
• Between 1869-1871 the Tweed Ring, a group of
corrupt politicians led by Tweed, pocketed
as much as $200 million from the city in
kickbacks & payoffs
• New York County Courthouse had an actual cost of
$3 million but Tweed billed the city $11 million
• The difference of $8 million went into Tweed and
his follower’s pockets
Tweed Scandal & Public Outrage
• Public had enough
• Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist,
ridiculed Tweed in the New York Times &
Harper’s Weekly
• Tweed said: “I don’t care what these newspapers
write about me – my constituents can’t read;
but…they can see pictures”.
• Tweed Ring broken in 1871 & Tweed was
indicted on 220 counts of fraud & extortion
Politics in the Gilded Age
• A period between 1870 – 1890
• The external glitter of wealth concealed a
corrupt political core & reflected a
growing gap between the very few rich &
the many poor
Civil Service Replaces Patronage
• Patronage - giving government jobs to people
who had helped a candidate get elected
• Spoils system – the winning candidate
deserved the spoils, or the benefits to be
gained after victory
• The spoils system not only led to incompetence and
fraud but also interfered with the daily
running of government
• People were put into positions were they
lacked experience
• Political appointees were not qualified for the
job
Civil Service Replaces Patronage cont…
• With each change of administration thousand of
positions had to be filled
• Instead of addressing important national
issues, politicians distributed government
jobs
• Reformers began to press for a national merit
system instead of the spoils systems
• Merit system: jobs in civil service (government
administration) would go to the most
qualified person. They would keep their job no
matter what political views they had or who
recommended them
Hayes Launches Reform
•
•
•
•
Launches Civil Service Reform
Appoints independent politicians to his cabinet
Fired clerks who had no work to do
Set up a commission to investigate the nation’s customs
houses
• Customs houses – was a building housing the offices of
government officials who processed the paperwork for
the import and export of goods into & out of the country
• Fires the two top officials of New York’s customs
house (spent most of their time working for the
Republican party instead doing their job)
James A. Garfield’s Reform
• Definitions you need to know:
Stalwarts: opposed changes in the spoils system
and opposed reformers
Reformers: Split into two groups
Mugwumps: wanted civil service reform
Half-breeds: wanted reform but were loyal to
the party
Neither the stalwarts or reformers could win a
majority of delegates, so the convention settled
on an independent candidate - Garfield
Garfield’s Reforms
• Vice President was Chester Arthur – one of the
men Hayes fired & he has ties to the stalwarts
• Garfield had ties to the reformers and
gave most of his patronage jobs to them
• Stalwarts were furious
• Charles Guiteau – whom Garfield had turned
down for a job & also a stalwart –shot and killed
President Garfield
• Guiteau did it so VP Arthur could become
President
President Chester Arthur’s Reforms
• Becomes a reformer when he becomes president
• Wanted legislation to pass a civil service law
• Pendleton Act of 1882 – authorized a bipartisan
civil service commission to make appointments
to federal jobs through the merit system &
performance
• Pros: more qualified people in federal jobs, more
honesty & more efficient
• Cons: politician no longer asked for money from
federal employees, however they start asking big
business for money. The alliance between wealthy
business owners & government officials became stronger
Regulating Tariffs Fail
• Most Americans agreed that tariffs were
necessary to protect domestic industries from
foreign competition
• Tariffs caused prices to rise
• How high should tariffs be?
• President Cleveland (1884) wanted to lower
tariff rates – congress would not support him
• In 1888 Cleveland ran for Presidency again
against Benjamin Harrison.
Regulating Tariffs cont…
• Harrison campaign was financed by large
contributions from companies that wanted
tariffs higher.
• Harrison won the presidency
• He passed the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890
–raised tariffs to their highest level
• In 1892, Cleveland ran and was elected president
again
• Still wanted lower tariffs
Regulating Tariffs cont…
• President Cleveland supported a bill for lowering
the McKinley tariff Act but refused to sign it
because it didn’t lower the tariffs enough
• The new bill passed with out President
Cleveland’s signature – The Wilson-Gorman
Tariff
• In 1897 McKinley was voted in as President
again and again raised the tariffs
• The attempt to reduce tariffs had failed but the
spirit of reform was not dead