1. The New Americans

2. Changing Patterns
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.

3. 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

4. Changing Patterns cont’d
Had many unfamiliar cultural customs
Religiously diverse- Catholics, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians, etc)
Spoke many different languages and dialects

5. Class Task
Turn to pages 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?

6. 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
The journey over

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

8. 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)
Arrival in America

9. Ellis Island Medical 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

12. Insert clip about Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty

13. Becoming Americans “Streets paved with gold”
Immigrants wanted better lives in America
Most settled in cities- 3 out of 9 stayed in NYC

14. 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 $ 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

15. Immigrant Life
Settled in neighborhoods with other immigrants of from same countries
Little 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

16. 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 immigrants
Very poor conditions
Small, overcrowded, dangerous
Diseases spread quickly

17. Primary Resource Analysis
Read the passage from Jacob Riis’, How the Other Half Lives, and answer the following questions:
Why does Riis describe the tenements in which many immigrants live as “dens of death”?
What were living conditions like in many tenements as described by Riis? Use at least 2 examples from the reading.

18. 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 ________________.”

19. 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

20. Reading for Information
Read the passage labeled, “No Longer Welcome” with your partner and answer the following questions:
Why did many Americans oppose immigration?
What business practice did workers’ unions oppose? Why?

21. Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Banned Chinese people from coming to the US for 10 years (and was later extended into 1900s)

22. 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.”

23. 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:
How are the successful Americans treating the new immigrant?
If the Americans looked backward, as the title suggests, what would they see? What is the cartoonist saying?

24. 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

25. 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.

26. Effects on American Culture
Food
Clothing
Language
Art
Music
Effects on American Culture

27. 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

28. 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

29. Hull House

30. 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

31. 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

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

33. 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 rights
Strikes, boycotts, protests, etc
Labor Union Leaders

34. Primary Resource Analysis
Read the excerpt from the speech by Samuel Gompers and answer the following questions:
According to the passage, what do the workers want?
What point is Gompers trying to make in this speech?

35. 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.

36. 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?

37. Essential Question
How has immigration impacted the United States? Give at least three examples.