Chapter 7 –US History
» By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:
» 1. Identify immigrant’s countries of origin.
» 2. Describe the journey immigrants endured
and their experiences at United States
immigration stations.
» 3. Examine the causes and effects of the
nativists’ anti-immigrant sentiments.
» Main Idea: Immigration
from Europe, Asia, the
Caribbean, and Mexico
reached a new high in the
late 19th and early 20th
centuries.
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Key Terms:
Ellis Island
Angel Island
Melting Pot
» Why it Matters: Now:
This wave of
immigration helped
make the United States
the diverse society it is
today.
» Key Terms (2):
» Nativism
» Chinese Exclusion Act
» The year is 1880. New York City’s swelling
population has created a housing crises.
Immigrant families crowd into apartments that
lack light, ventilation, and sanitary facilities.
Children have no where to play except the
streets and are often kept out of school to work
and help support their families. You are a
reformer who wishes to help immigrants
improve their lives….
» 1. What would you do
to improve conditions?
» 2. What skills do
newcomers need to
make it?
» 3. How might
immigrants respond to
help from an outsider?
» 4. How do you think
you’d react?
» Between 1870 & 1920,
about 20 million Europeans
immigrated to the U.S.
» 1. Escape religious
persecution
» 2. Improve their economic
situation (jobs) (Birds of
passage)
» 3. Experience greater
freedom in the U.S.
» 4. Escape difficult conditions
(famine, land shortages –
from rising population)
» What main issues do you think the immigrants
faced when coming into the USA?
» Which of these do you think would be most
difficult for you if you were an immigrant?
» How do you think they were treated?
» What do you think was the overall American
view on immigration at this time? (similar or
different from today?)
» Most European
immigrants to the U.S.
arrived in New York and
had to pass through
immigration station
located on Ellis Island in
New York Harbor
» Immigrants were
carefully health
screened and could only
bring 100lbs of
belongings
Ellis Island - NY
» Officials at Ellis Island
decided whether the
immigrants could enter
the country.
» 1. Check for serious
health problems
» 2. Document checks
» What do you think the
requirements for
entering the country
should have been?
» 1. Proving they had
never been convicted of
a felony?
» 2. Demonstrating that
they were able to work.
» 3. Showing that they
had some money: at
least $25 (1909
standard)
» Let’s look at an
example:
» 1.What is your name?
» 2. Have you ever been to the America before?
» 3. Do you have any relatives here? If the answer was
yes, then asked where they lived.
» 4. Is there anyone who came to meet you at Ellis Island?
» 5. Who paid for your passage?
» 6. Do you have any money? ( If the answer was yes then
immigrant was told: Let me see it.)
» 7. Do you have a job waiting for you in America?
» 8. Do you have a criminal record?
» “The language was a problem of course, but it
was overcome by the use of interpreters…It
would happen sometimes that these
interpreters – some of them – were really
softhearted people and hated to see people
being deported, and they would, at times, help
the aliens by interpreting in such a manner as
to benefit the alien and not the government.” (I
Was Dreaming to Come to America)
» Not all immigrants came
through Ellis Island
» Angel Island Immigration station for
the Asian immigrants
arriving on the West
Coast- San Francisco.
» Inspection process
more difficult than on
Ellis Island. (filthy
conditions, harsh
questioning)
» Think about: Finding a
place to live, a job,
understanding the
language and culture in
a new country
» Many immigrants
settled in communities
with other immigrants
from same country.
» America started to
be called a MELTING
POT - Many cultures
& races had blended
» But, many
immigrants refused
to give up their
culture.
» Some Americans didn’t
like so many immigrants
living in the U.S.
» NATIVISM- preference
for native-born
Americans.
» Nativism
» 1. Gave rise to antiimmigrant groups
» 2. Led to a demand for
immigration
restrictions.
» Chinese immigrants worked
for low wages – this took
jobs from native born
Americans
» Labor groups pressured
politicians to restrict Asian
immigration.
» CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT
1882 - Banned all but a few
Chinese immigrants
» Not lifted until 1943.
» By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:
» 1. Describe the movement of immigrants to
cities and the opportunities they found there.
» 2. Explain how cities dealt with housing,
transportation, sanitation, and safety issues.
» 3. Describe some of the organizations and
people who offered help to urban immigrants.
» Main Idea: The rapid
growth of cities forced
people to contend with
problems of housing,
transportation, water, and
sanitation.
» Why it Matters Now:
Consequently, residents
of the US cities today
enjoy vastly improved
living conditions.
» Key Terms:
» Urbanization
» Americanization
movement
» Mass Transit
» Key Terms/Names:
» Social Gospel
Movement
» Settlement House
» Many immigrants
settled in cities in the
early 1900’s – work
» Cities began to become
overcrowded
» Urbanization - the rapid
growth of cities.
» Farmers also moved
into the city – new
technology = less
farming jobs
» Our government
wanted to help
immigrants learn more
about the USA
» Americanization
Movement – Was
designed to assimilate
people of wide-ranging
cultures into the
dominant culture.
» Schools taught them
English, American
history, and
government.
» There became serious
shortages in housing.
» New types of housing
were created
1)Row house – apartment
type homes
2)Tenement – Multifamily
urban houses often
overcrowded &
unsanitary
» Sanitation was a
problem
» Transportation also
became a huge issue.
» Cities developed Mass
Transit – transportation
systems designed to
move large numbers of
people along fixed
routes.
» More were needed to
keep up with demand
» Cities had hard time
supplying safe drinking
water.
» People threw garbage
out their windows.
» Horse manure piled up
on the streets
» Sewage flowed in
streets.
» By 1900, many cities
built sewers & created
sanitation departments.
» Pickpockets and
thieves flourished
(stealing to survive)
» NYC police was
relatively small and
didn’t make much
impact on crime.
» The city had limited supply
of water.
» Most city apartments were
made of wood
» People also used candles and
kerosene lamps for lighting.
» Paid fire departments were
first created in 1853
(Cincinnati)
» The automatic fire sprinkler
was also created in 1874.
Fire burned for 24hrs.
An estimated 300 people died
100,000 were left homeless
More than 3 square miles of the city center was
destroyed.
» Property loss was estimated at $200 million.
» 17,500 buildings were destroyed.
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»
» Social Gospel
movement - Early
reform program
» Leaders preached that
people reached
salvation by helping the
poor
» They established
Settlement Houses » Community centers
located in slums that
helped & friendship for
poor & immigrants.
» By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:
» 1. Explain the role of political machines and
political bosses.
» 2. Describe how some politicians’ greed and
fraud cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
» 3. Describe the measures taken by presidents
Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur to reform the spoils
system.
» 4. Explain the positions taken by presidents
Cleveland, Harrison, and McKinley on the tariff
issue.
» Main Idea: Local and
national political
corruption in the 19th
Century led to calls for
reform.
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Key Terms:
Political Machine
Graft
Patronage
Civil Service
Pendleton Civil Service Act
» Why it Matters Now:
Political reforms paved the
way for a more honest and
efficient government in the
20th Century and beyond.
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Key Names:
Boss Tweed
Rutherford B. Hayes
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
» Since cities were so
crowded, the local
government couldn’t control
everything
» During late 1800’s, many
cities were run by a Political
Machine - an organized
group, headed by a city boss,
that controlled activities in a
city.
» Offered services to voters &
businesses in exchange for
political or financial support.
» What else did the
bosses do:
» 1. Controlled access to
jobs
» 2. Built parks, sewer
systems, and
waterworks.
» 3. Gave money to
hospitals, schools, and
orphanages.
» So that…..people would
vote for them!!
» The immigrants liked the
idea of political machines
and bosses. Why?
» 1. Many of the bosses were
immigrants themselves–
they spoke their language
and battled the same
hardships.
» 2. They helped the
immigrants with
Naturalization – full
American citizenship.
» 3. Helped them get jobs and
houses
» And in return – VOTES!!!
» Many Bosses got rich
through GRAFT-the illegal
use of political influence for
personal gain.
» Example: By helping a
person find work on a
construction project for the
city, a political machine
could ask the worker to bill
the city for more than the
actual cost of materials and
labor.
» The worker then “kicked
back” a portion of the
earnings to the machine.
The NY City Courthouse was built using
Graft money
» Boss Tweed (William M.
Tweed) became the
head of Tammany HallNYC’s powerful
Democratic political
machine.
» Between 1869-1871
Boss Tweed led a group
of people (Tweed Ring)
in defrauding the city
for millions of dollars.
» The NYC Courthouse
was being built. The
project cost tax payers
$13 million, while the
actual cost was only $3
million! The difference
went to the Tweed Ring.
It is estimated that the
Tweed Ring stole
between $30-$200
million dollars from
NYC.
» In 1871 the ring was
broken.
» Tweed was indicted on
120 counts of fraud and
extortion and was
sentenced to 12 years in
jail.
» His sentence got
reduced to 1 year but
he got in trouble again
and was arrested.
» While serving this
sentence, he escaped to
went to Spain.
1.
What is the significance of the word LAW on the torn piece of paper?
2.
What affect do you think Nast wanted to have on his audience?
» National politics were
also corrupt – It’s all
about who you know.
» Patronage: giving of
government jobs to
people of the same
party who had helped a
candidate get elected.
» Shouldn’t the job go to
the most qualified?
» Civil ServiceGovernment jobs
» Reformers proposed
that civil service jobs
would go to the
most qualified,
regardless of
political views.
» President Rutherford B.
Hayes attempted to
reform civil service
» Some members of
Republican party
objected
» He decides not to run
for re-election (no
support)
» Stalwarts opposed change in
patronage system.
» Reformers supported
changing the system
» New President James
Garfield attempts to reform
the patronage system and is
assassinated
» Chester A. Arthur Garfield’s
VP - Becomes the new
President
» Arthur’s first message
to the Congress was to
pass the Pendleton Civil
Service Act - Created a
civil service commission
to give government jobs
based on merit, not
politics
» This caused politicians
to turn to big
businesses for money