Urban America
and
Immigration
Mrs. Tasha Ferrell
Menifee Co. High School
2013
I Can Statement….
 Explain
how European immigrants of the
late 1800’s changed American society.
Urban America


Between the time of the
ending of the Civil War
(1865) to the beginning of
WWI (1914) 25 million
Europeans immigrated to
the United States.
Mainly eastern and
southern Europeans, from
Italy, Greece, AustriaHungary, Russia, and Serbia
where known as “new”
immigrants because they
came to the United States
after 1890.
 The
“Old”
immigrants
occurred before
1890 and they
were mainly from
northern and
eastern Europe.
Why Come to America
 American
industries
had plenty of jobs.
 Better jobs: to
escape
poverty/social
class.
 Avoid forced
military service




High Food Prices (Italy)
Population Pressure
(Russia and Poland)
Religious Persecution
(Jews)
Many of new
immigrants lacked the
resources to buy land,
so they settled in
American cities and
worked mainly in
unskilled jobs.
Atlantic Voyage
 No
breathing
space.
 No time on deck
 1,000 of people
 Nasty smells
 Food is miserable
(huge kettles in
pails)
Ellis Island
 New
York Harbor
 12 Million +/immigrants passed
through Ellis Island
between 1892-1954
Diverse Cities
 1890’s
immigrants
make up large % of
the population of
major cities (New
York, Chicago,
Milwaukee, and
Detroit).
 Ethnic
groups or
ethnic cities
formed such as
“Little Italy”
 Spoke their own
language, had
their own churches,
clubs, newspapers,
etc.
Charts and Graphs
 Complete
the Chart/Graph on worksheet
1 Page 115
Questions
 Why
do you think most immigrants came
to the cities?
 Reasons for Immigrating to the U.S
Push Factor
Pull Factor
1)
2)
1)
2)
I Can Statement
 Explain
how the experiences of Asian
immigrants differ from those of European
immigrants?
Asian Immigration









Growing Population
Severe unemployment
Poverty
Famine
Tapping Rebellion 1850
Came to work on the Central Pacific Railroad
Settled in Western cities worked as laborers,
servants, skilled trades people, or merchants.
Many opened their own business because of
discrimination from Americans.
Came to Angel Island where conditions were
rough and could last for months.
I Can Statement….
 Summarize
how nativitist opposed
immigration.
Nativism Resurges
 Nativism
is an
extreme dislike of
immigrants by
native born
people.
 By late 1800’s
mainly focused on
the hatred for
Asians, Jews, and
Eastern Europeans.


Nativist opposed
immigration for these
reasons: feared that the
influx of Catholics from
countries such as Ireland,
Italy, and Poland would
swamp the mostly
Protestant United States.
Labor Unions argued that
immigrants undermined
American workers because
they would work for low
wages and accept jobs as
strike breakers.
Backlash Against Catholics

American Protective
Association was
founded by Henry
Bowers in 1887 and
vowed not to hire or
vote for Irish
Catholics, and later
on in years, all
Catholic immigrants.
 These
immigrants
are usually illiterate
and working at the
lowest paying jobs.
Restrictions on Asian
Immigration
 West:
Racial
Violence
 Denis Kearney, Irish
Immigrant,
organized the
Workingman’s
Party of California
in the 1870’s to
fight Chinese
immigration.
 The
party won
seats in California
legislature and
pushed to stop
Chinese
immigration.
Restrictions on Asian
Immigration Continued

1882 Congress
passed the Chinese
Exclusion Act. This
barred Chinese
immigration for 10
years and prevented
the Chinese already
in the country from
becoming citizens.
 Chinese
immigrants
organized letterwriting campaigns
but failed.
 1902 Congress
made the Chinese
Exclusion Act
permanent but it
was repealed in
1943.
Gentlemen’s Agreement





October 1906
San Francisco Board of Education ordered all
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean children to
attend the racially segregated “Oriental School.”
This angers the Japanese
President Theodore Roosevelt proposed a limit on
Japanese immigration if the school board would
not discriminate and segregate the children.
This was not a formal treaty therefore it is known as
the Gentlemen’s Agreement.
Question
 How
did President Roosevelt respond to
Japan’s protests about the treatment of
Japanese students?
Chart
 Chart/Graphs
Page 117
I Can Statement…
 Compare
and contrast life in big cities
and life on farms and in small towns.
Americans Migrate to the
Cities
 After
the Civil War urban population
exploded.
 New York 800,000 in 1860, 3.5 million in
1900
 Chicago 109,000 in 1860, 1.6 million in 1900
 131 cities with populations of 2,500 or
more residents in 1840; by 1900 there were
more than 1,700 urban areas
Cities
 Businessmen
tried to offer incentives for
more people to come to the cities.
 Skyscrapers begin to appear in the cities.
 Hamilton Disston transformed and
reshaped the landscape. Drained parts
of the Everglades to build on.
Travel




1890 horse cars moved about 70% of urban
traffic in the United States.
1873 cable cars
1887 Frank J. Sprague developed the electric
trolley car. Richmond, VA had the first one in
1888.
Large cities experienced congestion.
Chicago built elevated railroads. Boston and
New York built the first subway systems.
Question
 Summarize
what attracted people to
cities in the 1800’s.
Separation by Class



Upper, middle, and
working classes lived in
separate and distinct
parts of town.
Many New Yorkers lived
on $500.00 a year.
American
industrialization
expanded the middle
class: doctors, lawyers,
engineers, managers,
social workers,
architects, and
teachers.
 Many
middle class
people moved
from central city to
escape the crime
and pollution--”streetcar suburbs”
 1800s wealthier
families had at
least one live in
servant.
Separation by Class
 Creation
of
“women’s clubs-”
focused on social
and educational
activities but
overtime “club
women” became
active in charitable
and reform
activities.
 Chicago’s
“Womens Club”
helped establish
juvenile courts and
exposed the
terrible conditions
at the Cook
County Insane
Asylum.
Urban Working Families




Few families own
homes.
Lived in crowded
tenements.
1st tenement was
built in 1839
New York City 3 out
of 4 residents
squeezed into dark
and crowded
tenements.
 Average
industrial
workers income
was $445.00
 Some people took
in boarders
(people who move
in) to help pay the
bills.