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
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Eastern & Southern Europeans
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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
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Statue of Liberty (1886)
The Know-Nothings
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The American Party
(1849-1860)
Nativists
Anti-Catholic
Opposed immigration
Played on prejudices
and fears that
immigrants would
take jobs
American Protective Association
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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”
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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
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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
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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!”
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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
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Ethnic neighborhoods
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“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
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Urbanization
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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 Cities
More jobs available
 Electric lighting
 Running water and
sewer
 Abundance of
goods
 Variety of leisure
activities
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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
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Family Entertainment
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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
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As cities became more
crowded, space became
more valuable
Inventions like highquality 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!
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Tallest Modern Buildings
Public Parks
Frederick Law Olmstead
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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
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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
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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
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“High Society”
Wealthiest families,
primarily
industrialists like the
Rockefellers and
Vanderbilts
Built palatial houses,
clustered in
downtown districts
Middle-Class Gentility
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Doctors, lawyers,
engineers,
architects,
managers, teachers
Lived in “streetcar
suburbs” on edges
of cities
Average salary =
$1100/year
The Working Class
75% of urban
population
 Lived in tenement
housing within
easy walking
distance of the
industrial district
 Average salary =
$445/year
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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)
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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
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Jacob Riis
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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
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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
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