CHAPTER SEVEN –
IMMIGRANTS AND
URBANIZATION
Section 1 – The New Immigrants
Through the “Golden Door”


Immigrants come to America with the promise of a
better life
Sought to escape difficult conditions = famine, land
shortages, or religious/political persecution
Europeans


1870 – 1920 approximately 20 million Europeans
arrived in the United States
First wave of immigration (pre-1890) immigrants
came from Western Europe

Post 1890 = Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia

Arrived to the East Coast through Ellis Island
Europeans

1.
2.
3.
4.

Why leave home?
To escape religious persecution
To escape rising populations
Too few jobs
Too little lands for farming
From 1800 – 1900 the population of Europe grew
from about 200 – 400 million
Chinese and Japanese



Wave lasted from 1851-1883, entered U.S.A
through Angel Island
300,000 Chinese – came seeking fortune, after
gold was found in California
Chinese helped to build the railroads including the
first transcontinental railroad
Chinese and Japanese



1920 more than 200,000 Japanese lived on the
West Coast
Japanese emigration boom came after U.S.A.
annexed Hawaii in 1898
Came to U.S.A searching high wages than were
being paid in Japan
The West Indies and Mexico


1.
2.
3.

1880 – 1920 about 260,000 immigrants arrived in the
eastern and southeastern U.S. from the West Indies.
West Indies =
Jamaica
Cuba
Puerto Rico
Came in search for work in America during its’
“Industrial Boom”
The West Indies and Mexico


Mexicans came in search for work too
700,000 Mexicans emigrated to America based on
favorable farming opportunities
Life in the New Land, a Difficult Journey

By the 1870’s nearly all immigrants traveled by
steamship – One week trip from Europe / Three
weeks from Asia
Ellis Island

Read Ellis Island section on pages 256-257
Angel Island

Read Angel Island section on page 257
Cooperation for Survival

1.
2.
3.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Many immigrants sought out people who
Shared their cultural values
Practiced their religion
Spoke their native language
Once they formed a community they
Built churches or synagogues
Formed social clubs and aid societies
Founded orphanages and old people’s homes
Established cemeteries
Created newspapers in their home languages
The Rise of Nativism


Native-born people saw new immigrants as a threat
to the American way of life
Gave rise to anti-immigrant groups, felt the new
immigrants were less desirable than those who had
come before (mostly British, German and
Scandinavian)
Anti-Asian Sentiment



1.
2.
3.
4.
Native born workers feared losing jobs to Chinese
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act – put an end to open
immigration to all Chinese
Allowed to enter
Students
Teachers
Merchants tourists
Government officials
The Gentlemen’s Agreement



Caused by nativism, and fear of losing jobs
1906 Japanese children were segregated in San
Francisco schools
1907-1908 – Japan’s gov’t agreed to limit
emigration of unskilled workers to the U.S.A in
exchange for the repeal of the San Francisco
segregation order
CHAPTER SEVEN –
IMMIGRANTS AND
URBANIZATION
Section 2 – The Challenges of Urbanization
Urban Opportunities


Technological boom contributed to urbanization (the
growth of cities)
Urban centers were located in the Northeast and
Midwest
Immigrants Settle in Cities

1.
2.
Most Immigrants become city dwellers
Cheapest; most convenient places to live
Offered unskilled laborers steady jobs
Immigrants Settle in Cities

1.
2.
Americanization movement – assimilate wideranging cultures into the dominate culture
Sponsored by the government and concerned
citizens
Taught skills needed for citizenship; American
history and government
Immigrants Settle in Cities


1.
2.
Many immigrants did not wish to abandon their
traditions
Ethnic communities provided the social support of
people from their home country
Allowed them to speak their own language
Practice their own customs and religions
Migration from Country to City


Farming technology reduced the need for laborers
on farms
Many Southern farmers who lost jobs were African
American
Migration from Country to City


1.
2.
3.


1890-1910 – 200,000 African Americans moved north
and west (Chicago & Detroit)
African Americans looked to escape
Racial violence
Economic hardship
Political oppression
Segregation and discrimination were the reality in
Northern cities too.
Job competition created deeper tensions between
blacks whites and immigrants
Migration from Country to City


Segregation and discrimination were the reality in
Northern cities too.
Job competition created deeper tensions between
blacks white immigrants
Urban Problems


More people… more problems
How to provide so many residents with essential
services and a quality standard of living?
Housing

1.
2.
As the urban population increased; new types of
housing were designed
Row houses; single family dwelling w/a shared
sidewall
Tenements; overcrowded and unsanitary
Transportation

1.
2.

Mass transit; moved large numbers of people along
fixed roads; enabled workers to go to and from
work
Street cars (San Francisco1873)
Electric Subways (Boston 1897)
Linked cities and neighborhoods together and to
outlying cities
Water




Providing safe drinking water was a serious issue
1840’s and 1850’s New York and Cleveland built
public waterworks
Filtration started in the 1870’s, chlorination began in
1908
Early 20th century many residents still had no access to
safe water
Sanitation

By 1900 cities developed sewer lines and created
sanitation departments
Crime

1.
2.
3.

Populations increased crime increases
Pickpockets
Thieves
Murderers
New York City introduces professional police
officers
Fire



Major fires occurred in almost every large American
city from 1870-1880’s
Wooden dwellings replaced with brick, stone or
concrete structures
1853 Cincinnati – first professional fire department,
by 1900 most major cities followed Cincinnati’s lead
Reformers Mobilize

Social welfare reformers targeted urban poverty as
their key issue
The Settlement House Movement


Social Gospel Movement – preached salvation
through service to the poor
Settlement Houses – community centers in slum
neighborhoods that provided assistance to people
in the area - immigrants
The Settlement House Movement


1.
2.
3.
Operated by middle-class college-educated women
Settlement houses provided
Education (English, health, and painting)
Cultural
Social services (nurses; support for deserted
women
Jane Addams page 266