Urban America and ImmigrationMrs. Tasha FerrellMenifee Co. High School2013

I Can Statement…. Explain how European immigrants of the

late 1800’s changed American society.

Urban America Between the time of the

ending of the Civil War (1865) to the beginning of WWI (1914) 25 million Europeans immigrated to the United States.

Mainly eastern and southern Europeans, from Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Serbia where known as “new” immigrants because they came to the United States after 1890.

The “Old” immigrants occurred before 1890 and they were mainly from northern and eastern Europe.

Why Come to America American

industries had plenty of jobs.

Better jobs: to escape poverty/social class.

Avoid forced military service

High Food Prices (Italy) Population Pressure

(Russia and Poland) Religious Persecution

(Jews) Many of new immigrants

lacked the resources to buy land, so they settled in American cities and worked mainly in unskilled jobs.

Atlantic Voyage No breathing

space. No time on deck 1,000 of people Nasty smells Food is miserable

(huge kettles in pails)

Ellis Island New York Harbor 12 Million +/-

immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892-1954

Diverse Cities 1890’s immigrants

make up large % of the population of major cities (New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit).

Ethnic groups or ethnic cities formed such as “Little Italy”

Spoke their own language, had their own churches, clubs, newspapers, etc.

Charts and Graphs Complete the Chart/Graph on worksheet

1 Page 115

Questions Why do you think most immigrants

came to the cities? Reasons for Immigrating to the U.S

Push Factor Pull Factor

1) 2)

1) 2)

I Can Statement Explain how the experiences of Asian

immigrants differ from those of European immigrants?

Asian Immigration Growing Population Severe unemployment Poverty Famine Tapping Rebellion 1850 Came to work on the Central Pacific Railroad Settled in Western cities worked as laborers, servants,

skilled trades people, or merchants. Many opened their own business because of

discrimination from Americans. Came to Angel Island where conditions were rough and

could last for months.

I Can Statement…. Summarize how nativitist opposed

immigration.

Nativism Resurges Nativism is an

extreme dislike of immigrants by native born people.

By late 1800’s mainly focused on the hatred for Asians, Jews, and Eastern Europeans.

Nativist opposed immigration for these reasons: feared that the influx of Catholics from countries such as Ireland, Italy, and Poland would swamp the mostly Protestant United States.

Labor Unions argued that immigrants undermined American workers because they would work for low wages and accept jobs as strike breakers.

Backlash Against Catholics American Protective

Association was founded by Henry Bowers in 1887 and vowed not to hire or vote for Irish Catholics, and later on in years, all Catholic immigrants.

These immigrants are usually illiterate and working at the lowest paying jobs.

Restrictions on Asian Immigration

West: Racial Violence

Denis Kearney, Irish Immigrant, organized the Workingman’s Party of California in the 1870’s to fight Chinese immigration.

The party won seats in California legislature and pushed to stop Chinese immigration.

Restrictions on Asian Immigration Continued

1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented the Chinese already in the country from becoming citizens.

Chinese immigrants organized letter-writing campaigns but failed.

1902 Congress made the Chinese Exclusion Act permanent but it was repealed in 1943.

Gentlemen’s Agreement October 1906 San Francisco Board of Education ordered all

Chinese, Japanese, and Korean children to attend the racially segregated “Oriental School.”

This angers the Japanese President Theodore Roosevelt proposed a limit on

Japanese immigration if the school board would not discriminate and segregate the children.

This was not a formal treaty therefore it is known as the Gentlemen’s Agreement.

Question How did President Roosevelt respond to

Japan’s protests about the treatment of Japanese students?

Chart Chart/Graphs Page 117

I Can Statement… Compare and contrast life in big cities

and life on farms and in small towns.

Americans Migrate to the Cities

After the Civil War urban population exploded.

New York 800,000 in 1860, 3.5 million in 1900

Chicago 109,000 in 1860, 1.6 million in 1900

131 cities with populations of 2,500 or more residents in 1840; by 1900 there were more than 1,700 urban areas

Cities Businessmen tried to offer incentives for

more people to come to the cities. Skyscrapers begin to appear in the

cities. Hamilton Disston transformed and

reshaped the landscape. Drained parts of the Everglades to build on.

Travel 1890 horse cars moved about 70% of urban

traffic in the United States. 1873 cable cars 1887 Frank J. Sprague developed the

electric trolley car. Richmond, VA had the first one in 1888.

Large cities experienced congestion. Chicago built elevated railroads. Boston and New York built the first subway systems.

Question Summarize what attracted people to

cities in the 1800’s.

Separation by Class Upper, middle, and

working classes lived in separate and distinct parts of town.

Many New Yorkers lived on $500.00 a year.

American industrialization expanded the middle class: doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers, social workers, architects, and teachers.

Many middle class people moved from central city to escape the crime and pollution---”streetcar suburbs”

1800s wealthier families had at least one live in servant.

Separation by Class Creation of

“women’s clubs-” focused on social and educational activities but overtime “club women” became active in charitable and reform activities.

Chicago’s “Womens Club” helped establish juvenile courts and exposed the terrible conditions at the Cook County Insane Asylum.

Urban Working Families Few families own

homes. Lived in crowded

tenements. 1st tenement was

built in 1839 New York City 3 out of

4 residents squeezed into dark and crowded tenements.

Average industrial workers income was $445.00

Some people took in boarders (people who move in) to help pay the bills.