Transcript Immigrants
Chapter 20 Immigrants and Urban Life 1872 - 1914 Essential Question •How did immigration during the late 1800s affect the United States? I. A New Wave of Immigration • Changing Patterns of Immigration – Old Immigrants: immigrants from northern and western Europe (1800-1870) • Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia • Protestant (except the Irish) • Skilled workers or farmers (except the Irish) – “New” Immigrants: immigrants from southern and eastern Europe (1870 – 1930) • Greece, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Italy, Czechoslovakia • Roman Catholic, Jewish • Unskilled workers, escaping religious or political persecution Arriving in a New Land • Steerage: an area below a ship’s deck where steering mechanisms are located – Inexpensive – Cramped – Foul-smelling Immigration Centers • • • • Ellis Island, NY Angel Island, CA El Paso, TX Tests – Documentation – Literacy – Health • Trachoma – contagious eye disease Adjusting to a New Life • Immigrants had to find jobs, find homes, and learn a new language • Ethnic Neighborhoods: areas where people shared same language and culture • Benevolent Societies: offered immigrants help in cases of sickness, employment, or death Tenements and Finding Work • Tenements: poorly built, overcrowded apartment buildings • Often took low paying, unskilled jobs in factories • Sweatshops: work places known for hot, unhealthy working conditions Opposition to Immigration • Business leaders wanted immigrants because they work for less • Nativists feel too many immigrants are coming into the country • Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): banned Chinese people from immigrating to the United States for 10 years • Even with restrictions, immigrants still came in large numbers II. The Growth of Cities • Immigrants responsible for large urban (city) growth – Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland • African Americans move to northern cities to escape discrimination and find opportunity (Great Migration) • Chicago, 1900 Changing Cities • The rise of the steel industry made building skyscrapers possible • Mass Transit: public transportation designed to move many people – Elevated trains – Subways – Electric trolleys • Suburbs: residential neighborhoods outside of downtown areas • Boston Subway, 1897 New Ideas • Mass Culture: leisure and cultural activities shared by many people • World fairs brought merchants together • Department Stores: giant retail shops – Low prices – Store restaurants – Fancy window displays • Public Entertainment – Amusement parks – Open public space – Frederick Law Olmstead: designed Central Park, New York City New Ideas New Ideas III. City Life • Shortage of affordable housing forced many poor families to squeeze into tenements • Jacob Riis: famous journalist and photographer who exposed these horrible conditions – Sanitation problems – Poor fire escapes – No clean water – Pollution – Disease Improving City Life • Because there was little government aid available, private organizations helped urban poor • Settlement Houses: neighborhood centers in poor areas that offered education, recreation, and social activities – Hull House: most famous – started by Jane Addams in Chicago to help poor immigrants – Florence Kelley: reformer from Hull House that exposed conditions in sweatshops – convinced lawmakers to limit working hours for women and end child labor Statue of Liberty Colossus of Rhodes Statue of Liberty Statue of Liberty Facts • Official dedication ceremonies held on Thursday, October 28, 1886 • Total overall height from the base of the pedestal foundation to the tip of the torch is 305 feet, 6 inches • There are 154 steps from the pedestal to the head of the Statue of Liberty • There are seven rays on her crown, one for each of the seven continents, each measuring up to 9 feet in length and weighing as much as 150 pounds • Total weight of the Statue of Liberty is 225 tons (or 450,000 pounds) • At the feet of the Statue lie broken shackles of oppression and tyranny • “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempesttost to me; I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” – Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”