Immigration and Urbanization 1870 1920 Big Idea New

Immigration and Urbanization 1870 -1920

Big Idea • New immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia faced culture shock and prejudice; as well as opportunities for a better life in the United States.

Ellis Island • Located in New York Harbor • Processing site for newly arrived immigrants from Europe • Immigrants examined by a doctor and took literacy tests, • 1892 -1943, 16 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island into the U. S.

Ellis Island

Wider View

Angel Island • Located in San Francisco Bay • Was a processing site for newly arrived immigrants from Asia • Immigrants went through much harsher conditions than Ellis Island

Angel Island

Settlement in Ethnic Enclaves • Immigrants settled in the same areas together and established neighborhoods • Culture shock: confusion and anxiety caused by living in an unfamiliar place • Melting Pot Society: mixture of people of different cultures and races who blended together by abandoning their native language and culture

Culture Shock

Some Relief

The Melting Pot Theory

Melting Pot?

Immigration Restrictions • Nativism: favoritism towards native-born Americans • Fear of eastern and southern Europeans, Roman Catholicism, and Judaism

Fears Concerning Immigration • Unions feared unskilled immigrant labor • Nativists feared the white race was weakening • Negative Stereotypes were attached to immigrants • Seen as un-American • Supporters of Radicalism • Supporters of corrupt political machines

Effects of Nativism • Chinese Exclusion Act: Banned immigration from China in 1882 • Gentlemen’s Agreement: Limited Japanese immigration in 1907 -1908

No Money, Mo Problems Urban Problems Late 18 th Century

Big Idea • The rapid growth of cities created many problems in housing, transport, clean water, sanitation, and crime/fires; the search for solutions began with different innovations.

The Settling • By 1920, millions of immigrants had settled in major cities

Problems (Housing) • Row Homes: attached single family homes that shared walls with home next to it • Tenements: multifamily dwellings were overcrowded and unsanitary

Water Supply • Millions of urban dwellers lacked access to clean water • Major cities often lacked indoor plumbing • Diseases such as cholera and typhoid spread

Sanitation • Horse manure, human waste, and garbage in the streets • Lacked dependable garbage collection and sewer system

Fire • Major fires broke out in the 1870’s and 1880’s. • Great Fire of Chicago in 1908

Crime • New York had paid police by 1844, still ineffective. • Confidence men took advantage of naïve immigrants • Murders and robberies went unreported and unsolved

Social Gospel Movement • The preaching of salvation through service to the poor

Settlement Houses • Community centers established in poor slum neighborhoods • Run by middle class, college educated women

Jane Addams • Chicago’s Hull House in 1889 Promoted Education, culture, and social services • Taught English, health, and other social courses • Had visiting nurses visit •

Playing Next to Horses

“Well we are home”

The Emergence of the Political Machine Rage

Big Idea • Political machines provided services for poor immigrants and in exchange received support that allowed them to control entire cities.

Political Machines • An organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city • Offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for support

Political Machines Existed In……. . • • • Baltimore New York Philadelphia Boston San Francisco

Role of the Political Boss • Controlled thousands of jobs (police, sanitation, and fire departments) • Built parks, schools, and hospitals for people in their wards • Machines supported by immigrant voters (homes and jobs)

Election Fraud and Graft • Bosses often padded voter lists with dead people, children, and even animals. • Philadelphia election: 100 registered voters in a precinct. 252 Votes were returned.

Graft • Illegal use of political influence for personal gain • Example

Kickbacks • Illegal payments • Example

The Tweed Ring Scandal • William Macy Tweed ran Tammany Hall which led NYC’s Democratic political machine • Between 1869 -1871, the Tweed Ring scammed the city for 200 million dollars • Tweed Ring finally brought down by public outrage influenced by Thomas Nast’s political cartoons • Tweed was arrested in 1871 and went to prison

Political Cartoon #1

Political Cartoon #2

Politics in the Gilded Age

Big Idea • Local and national political corruption during the Gilded Age leads to calls for reform.

Patronage • The doling out of political jobs and appointments to friends and political supporters • Corruption at all levels of government

Republican Factions • Stalwarts: Republicans who favored spoils system • Half-Breeds: Republicans who opposed the spoils system (moderately) • Mugwumps: Republicans who would bolt for Democrats in 1884

Rutherford B. Hayes elected president • What was Hayes’s position on civil service reform? What did he do to promote it? • Supported civil service reform • Fired members of New York Customs House who belonged to Conklin’s political machine

James Garfield elected president • In the debate over civil service reform, did Garfield seem to favor the Stalwarts or the Mugwumps? • Mugwumps

Garfield assassinated. Chester Arthur assumes presidency. • What position did Arthur take on civil service reform, and what did he do to support it? • Supported civil service reform • Helped support passage of Pendleton Act

Pendleton Act passed • What did the Pendleton Act do? • Authorized a bipartisan civil service commission to make appointments based on merit system

Grover Cleveland elected president • What was Cleveland’s position on tariffs, and what did he do to promote this position? • For low tariffs • Ran for a second term on a low tariff platform

Benjamin Harrison elected president • What was Harrison’s position on tariffs, and what did he do to support that stand? • For high tariffs • Mc. Kinley Tariff passed, highest tariff in U. S. history