The New Americans

Before the 2nd Industrial Revolution, most immigrants came from Britain, Germany, and Scandinavia.

Very similar to the Americans already here.

Most were Protestant and many spoke English.

Settled in rural areas and became farmers.

Some, especially the Irish, faced discrimination.

Changing Patterns

Changing Patterns cont’d

After 2nd Industrial Revolution, most new immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe Italy, Poland, Russia,

Greece, etc..

Came for jobs from the 2nd Industrial Revolution

Many were escaping political and religious persecution

Changing Patterns cont’d

Had many unfamiliar cultural customs

Religiously diverse- Catholics, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians, etc)

Spoke many different languages and dialects

Class Task

Turn to pages 613-614. Read the sections labeled Leaving Troubles Behind, Seeking Fairness, and Seeking Opportunity.

After you have finished reading, compare the reasons for immigration to the U.S. today with those in the late 1800s. Are immigrants’ reasons for coming to America the same or different?

The journey over

• Trip took between 6 days to one month

• Most immigrants traveled in the cheapest 3rd class (steerage)

• Steerage was below deck, crowded, and dirty

• Diseases spread rapidly

Class Task

Read the poem, The New Colossus, by Emma Lazarus and complete the handout.

Arrival in America

1892- Ellis Island opens in New York Harbor

Contained hospitals, dorms, processing centers

Received thousands of immigrants a day

1907- Peak year for receiving immigrants (over 1 million arrived)

April 17, 1907 (Peak day- 11,747 arrived)

Ellis IslandMedical inspection

first- no contagious diseases

If they pass the medical exam, they go to the Great Hall to be processed

Immigrants had to answer 29 questions about age, background, criminal history, job, and money, etc.

If no medical issues, whole process took 3-5 hours

Insert clip about Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty

Becoming Americans

“Streets paved with gold”

Immigrants wanted better lives in America

Most settled in cities- 3 out of 9 stayed in NYC

Immigrant Work

Entire families had to work to survive- even children

Most jobs were unskilled, dangerous, long hours and low-paying 16 hour days, 6 days a

week Avg $1-1.55 a day;

women earned less, children even less

Common forms of work- sewing factories, steel mills, meat packing plants, coal mines

Children worked, too, in small jobs- sewing clothes, rolling cigars

Immigrant Life

Settled in neighborhoods with other immigrants of from same countriesLittle Italy,

Chinatown, Little Greece

Formed benevolent societies to help each other in times of need

Wanted to assimilate as much as possible to provide a better future for their children

Often worked during days, school at night

Immigrant Living

Most immigrants settled in cities

Cities were unprepared for massive waves of immigrants

Very little housing, terrible health/sanitation services, lots of crime

Public Tenements were built to house immigrantsVery poor conditionsSmall, overcrowded,

dangerousDiseases spread

quickly

Primary Resource Analysis

Read the passage from Jacob Riis’, How the Other Half Lives, and answer the following questions:

1.Why does Riis describe the tenements in which many immigrants live as “dens of death”?

2.What were living conditions like in many tenements as described by Riis? Use at least 2 examples from the reading.

Photograph Analysis

With your group, analyze the photograph about tenement life by completing the activity on the Photograph Analysis:

1. Describe what is going on in your photograph.

2. Write TWO ideas you have about tenement living using the picture. (Start with, “Tenement life was __________. I know this because ________________.”

Opposition to Immigration

Many people thought that the poverty and lack of education of the immigrants would hurt US society

There was much racial and religious prejudice against immigrants

Many workers opposed immigration bc they thought the immigrants would work for less money

Reading for Information

Read the passage labeled, “No Longer Welcome” with your partner and answer the following questions:

1.Why did many Americans oppose immigration?2.What business practice did workers’ unions

oppose? Why?

Chinese Exclusion Act

(1882)

Banned Chinese people from coming to the US for 10 years (and was later extended into 1900s)

Immigration Restriction

League (1894)

Wanted all immigrants to prove they were literate in some language

Congress passed literacy law in 1897 but president vetoed the bill for being “un-American.”

Primary Resource Analysis

Turn to page 616 in your textbook and find the box labeled, Interpreting Political Cartoons.

With your partner, answer the following questions:

1.How are the successful Americans treating the new immigrant?

2.If the Americans looked backward, as the title suggests, what would they see? What is the cartoonist saying?

Fitting In (Assimilate)

Immigrants became “Americanized”

America becomes known as “The Melting Pot”

Changed their language, clothing, food in an effort to assimilate to American culture

Embraced ideas of democracy, rights, and freedom

While immigrants assimilated and became Americanized, they also changed America and its people. This wave of immigration led to massive changes in our culture, cities, and businesses.

Effects on American Culture

FoodClothingLanguageArtMusic

Effects on American

Cities

Massive waves of immigrants led to rapid growth of cities

This is known as urbanization

Cities often grew too fast

Not enough police, firefighters, hospitals, sanitation workers

Overcrowding and lack of sanitation

Many suffered from disease and poor health

Settlement Houses

Private citizens wanted to help the poor in the cities

Started settlement houses- community centers set in poor neighborhoods that offered education, recreation, and social activities)

Hull House- Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr) Served the needs of poor

and immigrant families by providing kindergarten and public playgrounds

Hull House

Urban Reform

Terrible conditions led to call for urban reform

Laws passed that improve cities: Safety codes for

buildings Illegal to build

tenements Street paving Sanitation

(garbage and sewer)

Water supply Pollution

These improvements gave many urban Americans the best services in the world

Workplace Reform

Terrible conditions in factories, mills, and mines led to calls for reform

Thousands of immigrants were hurt or killed at work due to bad conditions

Workers fight for shorter workdays, better pay, safer working conditions

Want to end child labor

Labor unions formed bc the gov’t wasn’t doing enough to help workers

Labor Unions

A labor union is when a group of workers join together to work towards a common goal to get what they want

Labor Union Leaders

Mother Jones (United Mine Workers)

Terrence Powderly (Knights of Labor)

Samuel Gompers (American Federation of Labor)

These leaders organized workers to fight for their rightsStrikes,

boycotts, protests, etc

Primary Resource Analysis

Read the excerpt from the speech by Samuel Gompers and answer the following questions:

1. According to the passage, what do the workers want?

2. What point is Gompers trying to make in this speech?

Primary Resource Analysis

We want eight hours (i.e., an 8 hour work day) and nothing less. We have been accused of being selfish, and it has been said that we will want more; that last year we got an advance (raise in pay) of ten cents and now we want more. We do want more. You will find that man generally wants more. Go and ask a tramp (homeless person) what he wants, and if he doesn’t want a drink he will want a good square meal. You ask a workingman, who is getting two dollars a day, and he will say that he wants ten cents more. Ask a man who gets five dollars a day and he will want fifty cents more. The man who receives five thousand dollars a year wants six thousand dollars a year, and the man who owns eight or nine hundred thousand dollars will want a hundred thousand more to make it a million, while the man who has his millions will want every thing he can lay is hands on and then raise his voice (yell) against the poor devil who wants ten cents more a day.

Bread & Roses

Listen to the song, Bread & Roses. With a partner, answer the following questions:

1.) What does bread symbolize? What do roses symbolize?

2.) What risks did these women face by striking?

Essential Question

How has immigration impacted the United States? Give at

least three examples.