Warm-up for 15-1

How do you view the current issue that the
United States faces with immigration? Do you
see it as a problem? What do you think should
be done, if anything at all?
Immigration reasons


famine, land shortages
(pop. growth),
religious/political
persecution
“birds of passage”temporary immigrants,
who came to earn $ then
went home

Europeans



Chinese




Chinese came in smaller #’s originally for
gold rush , ~300,000 between 1851 & 1883
worked on railroads, farms, & in mines
U.S. govt. limited #’s
West Indies (Caribbean)



early immigrants (before 1890) came from
W & N Europe- later from E
~20 million between 1879 & 1920
industrial boom seemed promising for jobs
ex.-Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico
Mexicans

came to find work & escape political turmoil
Life in America
 journeyed by steamship


most traveled in crammed
cargo holds


(1 week in Atlantic, 3 weeks in Pacific)
(dirty, no fresh air, no exercise,
disease)
Ellis Island


immigration station in NY harbor
requirements to be admitted
 pass a physical examination
 legal records proving you had
never been convicted of a felony
 had to have some $ ($25 after 1909)

(~17 million immigrants came
through Ellis Island from 1892-1924)

Angel Island



immigration station in San Francisco Bay
immigrants (Chinese) experienced harsh questioning & long
detention
Survival
once admitted one needed to find a place to live & work
immigrants often sought out people of similar culture- ethnic
communities
 most considered themselves as “hyphenated” Americans
 some natives disliked customs & language- viewed as a threat


Immigration Restrictions
 melting pot- mixture of people of different cultures
& races who blended together by abandoning native
languages & customs
 nativism- favoring native-born over foreign-born
undesirable immigrants included Slavs, Latin, & Asiatic
races
 opposed Roman Catholic & Jewish immigrants
 pressured Congress to pass a literacy test for immigrants

Immigration Restrictions continued
 Chinese Exclusion Act- (1882-1943) banned entry
to Chinese (some exceptions)
 Gentlemen’s Agreement- 1907 U.S. – Japan deal to
limit emigration of unskilled workers in return for
the repeal of segregated schools in San Francisco
Warm-up for 15-2

What do you think it would be like to adjust to
a school in a foreign country? How might you
help a foreign student adjust to school in the
United States?




Urbanization- the growth of cities
cities offer cheap living & unskilled jobs to immigrants
Americanization movement- education program designed to help immigrants
assimilate to American culture
ethnic communities allow immigrants to hold on to language & customs
Migration to cities

inventions of 1800’s made farming more efficient = fewer laborers needed

rural people flock to cities
Mulberry Street, NYC (1900)
Urban Problems
 Housing
row housing- single-family
houses sharing side walls
 tenements- multifamily
urban dwellingsovercrowded & unsanitary


Transportation
mass transit- systems
designed to move large #’s
of people along fixed routes;
ex- street cars, electric subways
 cities have difficulties
meeting demands of
expanding populations

Urban Problems Continued
 Water

late 1800’s- most homes did
not have indoor plumbing
 citizens collected water in pails
from street faucets
 filtration & chlorination (1908)
introduced to make water safer

Sanitation

as cities grew, they became
harder to clean
 ex. -horse manure, sewage
flowed through open gutters,
factories spewed smoke, & people
dumped their garbage in the
street
Urban Problems Continued
 Crime

grows as city populations grow
 (NYC organizes 1st full-time police
force in 1844)

Fire

limited water supply, houses
made of wood, & use of candles
& kerosene pose hazards
 (The Great Chicago Fire 1871 &
The San Francisco Earthquake
1906)
 (Cincinnati, Ohio introduces 1st
city paid fire department in 1853)
Reformers Mobilize
 Social Gospel movementmovement based on
belief that Christians
have a responsibility to
improve working &
living conditions
 settlement housescommunity centers in
slum neighborhoods


provided educational,
cultural, & social services
for immigrants
Jane Adams- activist &
prominent member of
movement
Chicago Settlement House
Warm-up for 15-3

Have you ever given a gift to someone with the
intention of getting something in return? Do
you believe that such a practice is common
among politicians today? Explain
The Gilded Age- period from 1870’s to 1890’characterized
by extravagant displays of wealth and excess of America’s
wealthy
Emergence of Political Machines
 cities grew rapidly under inefficient govt.
 political machines- organized group that controls a
political party in a city
"The Breakers", a Gilded Age mansion
in Newport, Rhode Island
How a political machine works
 offer services to voters & businessmen in exchange for
political & financial support
 organized like a pyramid w/ city boss at the top
 bosses had control over municipal jobs, business licenses,
& local courts
 solved urban problems & gave $ to schools & hospitals
which extended influence
 helped immigrants w/ naturalization, housing, & jobs


graft- illegal use of political influence for personal
gain, ex- kickbacks
William “Boss” Tweed




head of Tammany Hall from 1869-1871
NYC Democratic political machine
cartoonist Thomas Nast helped arouse suspicion of graft
(Tweed was eventually indicted on 120 counts of fraud &
extortion)
Civil Service Replaces Patronage
 patronage- giving of govt. jobs to people who had
helped a candidate get elected


(spoils system- Andrew Jackson)
reformers wanted a merit system of hiring most
qualified in govt. /civil service- nonmilitary govt.
jobs
Cartoon on Arthur's
Patronage: Arthur's political
career began when Ulysses S.
Grant appointed him as port
collector for New York's
harbors. His penchant for
staffing his office with
Republican political cronies
resulted in his firing by
President Hayes in 1878.

Rutherford B. Hayes- 19th
U.S. President (1877-1881) R



named independents to his
cabinet
set up commissions to fight
corruption
James A. Garfield- 20th U.S.
President (1881) R


gave most of his patronage
jobs once elected
shot & killed by a lawyer he
had turned down for a job

Chester A. Arthur- 21st U.S. President (1881-1885) R



converted reformer
Pendleton Civil Service Act- est. bipartisan civil service
commission to make appointments to govt. jobs by
means of a merit system (test)
*leads to alliance between govt. & big business*
Starting with (from left to right) John D.
Rockefeller,
Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and J.P.
Morgan

Grover Cleveland- 22nd & 24th
U.S. President (1885-1889)
(1893-1897) D


*only president to serve 2
nonconsecutive terms
went against big business & tried
to lower tariffs
 high tariffs increased prices, but
protected domestic industries

Benjamin Harrison- 23rd U.S.
President (1889-1893) R



supported by big business he
raised tariffs once in office
lost popular vote, but won electoral
vote
grandson of William Henry Harrison
*spirit of reform would live on into
the 20th century