Ch.8 – Section 2

People on the Move

Streets paved with gold?

The Immigrant Experience• People immigrated to America to escape

crop failures, shortages of land/jobs, rising taxes, & lack of freedoms.

• Between 1865 & 1920 – 30 million immigrants

• 2 examples: Ireland & Russia• Ireland – left due to potato famine• Russia – Jews left due to pogroms – violent

massacres of Jews

Crossing the Ocean• Late 1880’s steam powered ships – 2 or 3

weeks to cross Atlantic Ocean• Pacific Ocean took longer to cross• Conditions were similar on both voyages• Most immigrants travel in steerage –

large open area beneath the ship’s deck – limited toilet facilities, no privacy, poor food – tickets cheap

Escaping Steerage – Open Decks

Arriving in America• Immigrants arrived through several port

cities • Europeans – Boston, Philadelphia,

Baltimore, New York• Asians – San Francisco or Seattle • Prior to 1880’s immigration was mostly

open• In 1882 – Federal Govt. began excluding

certain categories of immigrants

Immigrants from Europe • 1892 – Ellis Island opened – in NY

Harbor – near Statue of Liberty• Physical exams required of all new

immigrants in 1892 - quarantine – time of isolation to prevent the spread of disease• Some w/certain disease were

deported

Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island

Immigrants from Europe continued • Immigrants often settled in communities

established by previous settlers from their homelands – ethnic enclaves

• Also called ghettos – areas in which one ethnic or racial group dominated

• Many chose to live near others of their ethnic group due to comfort of culture, language, food, etc . . .

Immigrants from Asia• Largest group of Asian immigrants from China & Japan – usually

came through Western ports• Because culture different from European immigrants – often

targets of suspicion, hostility, & racism• Chinese immigrants recruited in large numbers to work on the

transcontinental railroad• After settled in their own ethnic enclaves• Because Chinese immigrants were willing to work for low wages

they were targets of the American labor unions • Chinese Exclusion Act – 1882 – prohibited Chinese laborers from

entering the country – did not send prior immigrants back to China – repealed in 1943

Immigrants from Asia continued• Many early Japanese immigrants came from Hawaii (didn’t

become US territory until 1898)• As sugar plantation workers they saw a better life on mainland• By 1920 – 200 thousand Japanese immigrants• Although more involved in private business – labor unions still

target Japanese immigrants• Racist actions – San Francisco prohibiting Asians from

attending schools w/non-Asians• This angered Japan – eventually a compromise was reached• Gentlemen’s Agreement – called on S.F. to end school policy

& Japan agreed to stop issuing passports to laborers

Immigration from Mexico• 1902 – Newlands National Reclamation Act – promoted

irrigation of SW lands of US• Turned desert into farmland – led to hiring of Mexican

laborers to work on farms & ranches• Also built railroads at very low wages• 1900 to 1910 – approx. 50 thousand Mexican immigrants• “Pull” (new opportunities) vs. “Push” (civil war in Mexico)

factors for immigrant• This period of immigration continued & led to strong

Spanish speaking population in SW part of the country

Ch.8 Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life

Sec.3 The Challenge of the Cities

Expanding Cities

• Cities such as N.Y., Philly, Chicago, St. Louis, and others were bursting at the seams

• Not only millions of immigrants, but millions of Americans migrating from rural areas

• Between 1880 & 1910 – U.S. population living on farms fell from 72 to 54 percent

• Large African American migration as well – to escape not only poverty – but racism & violence as well

NYC – Mulberry Street - 1909

How Cities Grew• Both good & bad features of city life – from subways &

skyscrapers to smog & slums• Prior to Civil War – cities not much bigger than 3 or 4 miles

across• Introduction of public horse drawn carriages that traveled on

rails – increased size of the cities• Led to suburbs – residential communities surrounding the

cities• Improved transportation such as - Elevated trains, cable cars,

trolleys, & eventually automobiles led to more suburban expansion

How Cities Grew continued

• Cities also grew up as well as outward• With Bessemer steel girders buildings were built

taller and taller • 1852 – Elisha Graves Otis invented a safety device

that made passenger elevators possible• 1885 - 1st skyscraper – Chicago’s Home Insurance

Company Building – 10 stories high, 4 elevators• As cities expanded, specialized areas such as

financial, government, retail, or industrial formed

Chicago’s Home Insurance Company Building

Urban Living Conditions

• Many mill & factory owners built housing for their workers

• Often they built tenements – low cost apartment buildings designed to house as many families as possible

• A group of dirty run-down tenements could transform an area into a slum

Conditions in the Slums

• Poverty, overcrowding, & neglect led to many urban issues

• Trees & grass disappeared – little green space• Soot from coal fired engines & boilers polluted the air• Open sewers attracted rats & other vermin• Disease was easily spread – cholera, malaria,

tuberculosis, diphtheria, & typhoid thrived in tenements • Children were very vulnerable – in one NYC tenement

area 6 out of 10 babies died before age 1

Conditions in the Slums continued

• Fire was a constant danger – could quickly spread

• Great Chicago Fire of 1871 – unsure of start – but 18,000 buildings burned, 250 people died, 100,000 left homeless

• Property damage - $200 million ($1 billion in today’s dollars)

Great Chicago Fire

Light & Air

• Lack of good ventilation – spread disease• 1879 – change in NY laws required outside

window in every room • Led to dumbbell tenements - narrowed in

middle, gaps on either side – air shafts to bring light & air inside

• Had some impact but not much• Rotting garbage often at bottom of shaft

Dumbbell Tenement Diagram

Water

• Disease like cholera & typhoid linked to contaminated water

• Tenement residents drew water from common pipe or pump in yard

• Cites started to improve water public water systems• Build reservoirs to collect clean water • Later introduced chlorination & filtration• Laws introduced to require indoor bathrooms

rather than outhouses

Results of City Growth

• Flight of middle class and wealthy out of city as urbanization increase – gap between rich & poor grew wider

• Cities often kept rich neighborhoods near the city center for wealthy – Ex. Palmer Woods – Detroit

• Urban growth put pressure on city to improve services - police, fire, transportation, sewage, electric, water, & health care

Rise of Political Bosses

• Political machine – an unofficial city organization designed to keep a particular party or group in power – usually headed by a single powerful “boss”

• Worked through exchange of favors & handing out of jobs – vote in return

• Graft – use of one’s job to gain profit – major source of income for political machines

• Immigrants often helped support the machines – as they helped them when govt. & private business did not

Famous “Bosses”

• George B. Cox – Cincinnati – Republican – ran a political machine – but attempted to improve conditions for city – police & services

• William Marcy Tweed or “Boss Tweed” controlled Tammany Hall – political club that ran NYC Democratic Party

• Plundered city treasury w/fake expenses • Eventually died in jail after being convicted of

corruption

“Boss” Tweed