The “Golden Door”
 Reasons for
Moving:
 Famine
 Land Shortages
 Religious
Persecution
 Political
Persecution
 “Birds of Passage”
Entering the United States
Ellis Island-
Angel Island-
Europeans, NY Harbor,
Inspections
Chinese, San Francisco Bay,
Inspections
Means of Survival…
 What do you need to start your life over?
 How do you get it when everything you have is in
one suitcase?
 Survival:
 Political Machines
 Political Bosses
 Ethnic Communities
Immigration Restrictions
 Nativism:
 Over favoritism toward native-born Americans
 Chinese Exclusion Act :
 Banned entry to all Chinese except students, teachers,
merchants, tourists, and government officials
 Gentlemen’s Agreement: (1907-1908)
 Japan’s government agreed to limit emigration of unskilled
workers to the United States in exchange for the repeal of
the San Francisco segregation order
Jacob Riis: “How the Other
Half Lives”
 “Be a little careful,
please! The hall is dark
and you might
stumble over the
children pitching
pennies back there.
Not that it would hurt
them; kicks and cuffs
are their daily diet.
They have little
else…”
How did it start???
 Urbanization: growth of cities
 Cities were cheaper and convenient
 Americanization Movement
 Schools for Immigrants:
 English Literacy, American History, government,
cooking, and social etiquette
 Did not abandon Traditions (Ethnic Communities)
Urban Problems
 Housing:
 House
 Tenements
 Why would the tenements
actually be the better
option for immigrants
versus buying a house?
Urban Problems
 Transportation
 Mass Transit
 Water
 Sanitation
 Crime
Urban Problems:
Enemy of the City
The Great Chicago
Fire (Oct. 1871)
San Francisco Quake
( April 1906)
Solutions…
 Social Gospel
Movement: Service to
the Poor
 Settlement House:
Community Centers
 Jane Addams:
 HULL HOUSE