Urban America Awakens A Flood of Immigrants In
Urban America Awakens
A Flood of Immigrants In the mid 1880’s, the number of immigrants from East and South Europe increased while the number of immigrants from the North and Western Europe decreased. The “push and Pull” forces were at work.
Journey to America (Statue of Liberty) Immigrants arriving from Europe were greeted by the Statue of Liberty.
The Immigration Experience Finding work was first on most immigrants minds, often women and children worked in Sweatshops for low pay and long hours. Assimilate – to become part of the new country’s culture.
Ellis Island : Island of Hope, Island of Tears Beginning in 1892, all third class and steerage passengers arriving by steamship to New York had to first pass inspection at Ellis Island. They walked up the path and through the doors into the great hall.
Ellis Island; The Great Hall Immigrants entered the “Great Hall” or registry room to begin the process of inspection.
The Great Hall
The Great Hall
Medical Inspection The health inspectors, who were doctors, watched the immigrants as they stood in line and climbed the stairs. The eye exam was especially frightful.
Medical Inspection The eye inspection
Medical Inspection
Marked in Chalk Doctors at Ellis developed a system of chalk marks that would indicate if an immigrant was suspected of having medical problems. P=heart disease X= mental problems. There were other marks as well.
Mental Inspection
Mental Inspection
Medical Inspection If the doctors found that you were sick, you were put in the hospital on the island until you were well and could continue your journey to your new life.
The Board of Appeals gave the immigrant a 2 nd chance to “tell” their story and possibly get admitted.
End of the Line (Isle of Tears) At the end of the line was the stairway out. If you were rejected because of mental problems or other things, you were sent back to your country. These immigrants were sent home.
End of the Line (Isle of Hope) 14 million immigrants went through Ellis Island with only two in one hundred being denied entry. But what if that “one” was your mother?
Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Some Americans felt the new immigrants would take their jobs. Some communities passed laws banning immigrants from holding certain jobs. Immigrants sometimes faced violence.
City Life / Tenement Living Tenements – buildings where more than one family lived. Slums – poor run down urban neighborhoods. City-life for poor immigrants meant living in tenements in slum neighborhoods.
Middle Class Comfort Suburbs – residential areas that sprang up outside of city centers as a result of improvements in transportation. The middle class began to live the “American dream”.
The Gilded Age The “Gilded Age” suggests both extravagant wealth and extreme poverty.
Cities in Crisis / Living Conditions /Crime (Solutions) Overcrowded cities created problems due to garbage, horse manure, and human waste. Diseases ran wild. Poverty of the cities led to crime in the streets. The Salvation Army and the YMCA were started to give relief to the poor.
A Nation of Readers / Public Libraries Andrew Carnegie built libraries in every city that would pay their operating costs.
Spreading the News Yellow Journalism Exaggerating the dramatic or gruesome aspects of a story to attract readers. Some magazines of the era are published today i. e. Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s, and Ladies Home Journal.
Art and Music / painters After the Civil War, art in America began to develop a uniquely American style.
Art and Music / painters
Art and Music / painters
Art and Music / painters
Music in America At the turn of the century, there were distinctively different types of music becoming popular.
Music in America Scott Joplin at his piano.
Leisure Time / The World of Sports After the Civil War, spectator sports, baseball, football, basketball and boxing became popular.
Theatrical Entertainment Vaudeville - variety shows of dancing, singing, comedy, and magic acts.
Early Movies Thomas Edison invented “moving pictures” in the 1880’s. Theatres called “Nickelodeons” charged 5 cents to see short films.
Fighting Corruption Political Machine –Powerful organizations linked to political parties. Favors, such as jobs for immigrants, loans, food or housing, were traded for votes.
Fighting Corruption (2) Kickback – contractors would pad the amount of their bill for work done for the city, and “Kickback” Kickback a percentage to the “political boss” (the on top of the political machine).
Boss Tweed One of the most corrupt, William Tweed, “Boss Tweed”, was head of New York City’s “Tweed Ring”.
Boss Tweed (2) Thomas Nast, political cartoonist for Harpers Weekly, exposed Tweed, helping to send him to prison in 1872.
Fighting the Spoils System Patronage – rewarding political supporters with jobs and favors. Civil Service – the body of non-elected government workers
Controlling Business Trusts – several companies combined together.
A National Antitrust Law In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act which was intended to keep trusts from limiting competition. The act was rarely used against trusts but instead it was used against labor unions.
The Socialists and Progressives Socialists believed a nation’s resources and major industries should be owned and operated by the government on behalf of all people. Progressives aimed to help those who lacked wealth and influence.
Muckrakers Expose Problems Muckrakers – journalists who wrote articles that exposed injustices, corruption and political favors in big business. Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” exposed the horrors of the meatpacking industry in Chicago.
Expanding Democracy “The Wisconsin Idea” was a progressive reform put forward by Wisconsin governor, “Fighting Bob” La Follette. Direct Primary allowed state voters to choose the candidates they would vote for.
Expanding Democracy (2) Initiative – allows citizens to put an issue on the ballot in a state election. Referendum – gave voters the opportunity to accept or reject measures the state legislature enacted. Recall – enabled voters to remove elected officials from office. Every state except Delaware requires voter approval of constitutional amendments. Aside from this limited form of referendum, Texas is one of eighteen states which do not permit any other form of initiative, referendum, or recall.
The Seventeenth Amendment gave people the opportunity to directly elect their Senators.
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