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 Essential Question: What were some characteristics of the wave of new immigrants?

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Get to know your partner!!
Where did your family come from?
Which part of your heritage do you most identify with?
When did your family come to the United States?

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Before 1865 , most immigrants to the United States came from Northern and Western Europe
These immigrants are referred to as “ old ” immigrants
Ireland, Germany, England, Scandinavia
Most speak English

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“New” immigrants began to arrive after the Civil
War, (1865) seeking opportunities in the United
States
What kind of opportunities might they be seeking?
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New immigrants are arriving from Eastern and
Southern Europe
Greeks, Russians, Hungarians, Italians, Turks and
Polish
Also, China, Japan and Mexico

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Would your family be considered old or new immigrants? Why?
Discuss with your partner what the differences is between old and new immigrants.

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Many newcomers are Catholics and Jews
Many do not speak English
Have more difficulty blending into American society than “old” immigrants have
Often cluster together in neighborhoods made up of people of the same ethnicity

 Why do so many people leave their homelands for the US?
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Pushed away by economic troubles, overcrowding, poverty, crop failures, religious persecution of ethnic groups
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Pulled by lure of opportunity

 Immigrants saw US as a land of opportunity
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Jobs
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Land
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Better life
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Difficult journey to America
 Could only afford cheapest tickets and often traveled in steerage
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Cramped quarters on lower decks

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Encountered the Statue of Liberty as they sailed into
New York Harbor and to registration on Ellis Island
Asian Immigrants registered at Angel Island on West
Coast
New immigrants were given health examinations and could be turned away

 Greatest challenge was finding work and a place to live
 Some fast growing industries hired large amounts of unskilled immigrants
 Many immigrant women and children worked in sweatshops
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Dark, crowded shops where workers made clothing
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Work was repetitious and hazardous
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Long hours, low pay

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Immigrants wanted to preserve their own culture while trying to assimilate to American culture at the same time
This creates conflict

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People of the same ethnic group tended to form separate communities
Sought to recreate some of the life they had left behind
Developed houses of worship, published newspapers in their Native Language, opened stores and theatres, organized social clubs
All of this helped to preserve their cultural heritage

 Can you think of any “immigrant communities” in buffalo?

 At first when immigrants arrived in the United States they were extremely disliked because people thought they were taking away jobs from native born citizens.
 However, they were not treated very badly because there was a steady demand for labor . During the 19 th century, the United States had an open immigration policy mainly because there were plenty of jobs going around.

 The flood of immigrants in the late 1800s brought with it a new wave of nativism . What is nativism?
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Belief that native born Americans and their ways of life were superior to immigrants and their ways of life.

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Can you think of any modern reactions toward immigrants? Positive or negative?
Can you think of any modern hate crimes against immigrants?

 Nativists had the following beliefs
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Religion, customs and language were a negative impact
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Stealing work away from native born citizens
Believed laws should be passed to limit immigration

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As jobs became more scarce because more immigrants were coming to the United States, immigrants were often met with prejudice and discrimination.
Nativists became very vocal and active in trying to influence legislation to be passed against immigrants.

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Major groups and laws that developed out of this nativist movement
Know Nothing Party: Anti-immigrant organization set up to pass laws against immigrants
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: No Chinese were permitted into the United States
Immigration Act of 1917: Required immigrants to pass a literacy test in order to enter the country
National Origins Act of 1924: Only immigrants from
Northern and Western Europe are allowed to enter the US

 Do the languages and customs of immigrants have a negative impact on American culture? What kinds of things do we get from the presence of immigrants and their cultures?

 How did immigration change after 1865?

 Essential Question: How did cities change in the late
1800s?

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Immigrants and others flooded to American cities, where extremes of wealth and poverty existed
Industrialization made it possible to produce crops with fewer farm workers
Women in rural areas no longer had to make clothing or household goods
African Americans flocked to Southern and especially Northern cities

 The poorest residents, usually immigrants lived in tenements located in the slums of the city
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Several people living in each room
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Cold tap water (if lucky)
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Communal toilets

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Doctors, lawyers, ministers, managers, office clerks, etc.
Comfortable life in the suburbs made possible by new transportation
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Streetcars
Trolleys
Subways
Bridges
Might have servants
Leisure time to enjoy music, art and literature

 Built enormous mansions in the cities and large estates in the country
 Because of their extravagant wealth and the terrible poverty that lay beneath it, this period became known as the Gilded Age
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Something covered with a thin layer of gold

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Growing cities suffered from
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Health and sanitation problems
Poverty
Fire
Crime
High infant mortality rates
Disease
Gangs
Poor received assistance from people dedicated to improving urban life
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Settlement Houses
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Jane Addams – Hull House (1889)

 New technology in transportation and architecture reshaped cities
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Sky scrapers
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Bring nature to the cities (Frederick Law Olmstead –
Central Park)

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Listing. What problems did cities face in the late
1800s?
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Disease, poor sanitation, poverty, crime, fire
Cause and Effect. What effect did the new forms of transportation have on city life?
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Helped people travel within cities. Contributed to growth of suburbs
Answer the Essential Question: How did cities change during the late 1800s?

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In 1865, most Americans attended school for an average of 4 years
By 1914, most states required children have some schooling
Education opportunities were extended to many more Americans as the system of public schools and colleges expanded
Southern African Americans received little or no education
Boarding Schools were possible for Native
Americans

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Educated Americans found new reading material in public libraries, a growing literary culture and thriving newspapers
More realistic approach to literature
Paperback books (late 1880s)
Technological advances in printing, papermaking and communication spread news quickly

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Middle class has leisure time for sports, art and music
Sports including baseball, basketball and football grow in popularity
Vaudville shows, traveling circuses and the first movies offer new forms of entertainment
Jazz and ragtime (Distinctively American forms of music)

 In what ways did American culture change in the late
1800s?