IMMIGRATION URBANIZATION New Immigrants Come from Central and
IMMIGRATION & URBANIZATION
New Immigrants • Come from Central and Eastern Europe - 1870 -1920: 20 million immigrants arrived - Cultural differences-language, religion, dress and customs - Settle in certain geographic areas- made for political and economic friction - Push/pull factors?
• Melting Pot-individuals melted into a new race, “American” • Difficulties – Long, arduous journey – Ellis Island entrance tests, risk of being denied – Culture and language barriers • Assimilation: throw away parts of culture and become “Americanized” • Asian and Mexican immigrants in West also faced problems – Find a job, place to live
Immigrant Test
Immigrants and Urbanization • Cities = cheapest and most convenient place to live – Improved technology meant more factory jobs, less people needed to work the land • Growth of cities-housing, transportation, water/sanitation issues – Tenements-Single house converted into a dwelling for multiple families. • Overcrowded, airless, filthy – Transportation-cable car, subway, el train – Most cities had water piped into houses. Sewage dumped into rivers. Little access to safe drinking water.
Nativism - protecting the interests of native inhabitants vs. those of immigrants • Many saw new immigrants as a “threat the American way of life” – Anglo-Saxonism=keep out undesirable races from Southern and Eastern Europe – Religious tensions, job competition – Some immigrants didn’t want to assimilate • Quota System- set limit to the # of immigrants allowed form various countries – Anti-Asian Acts - severe prejudice against Chinese • Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): ban emigration of more Chinese
Law and Order • More immigrants = more people in cities = more crime • Large cities only had a small paid police force • Pickpockets, shoplifters, confidence men, even violent crimes were more common • Fire departments began as volunteers, many stations were rivals with each other – "Gangs of New York" fire scene • Segregation- African-Americans had to pay more to for housing, faced workplace discrimination
Political Machines –organized group that controls a • Offer services to voters and businesses in exchange for support – Political machines controlled city jobs, licenses, etc. – Many in political machines were second generation immigrants • Some political bosses turned to fraud – Graft (fraud), bribes, spoils system: giving jobs to people who help you – Ex: Boss Tweed with Tammany Hall • Politicians got money from big businesses – Tariffs (taxes on imports) became extremely high because both groups benefited political party in a city
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