Unit 5: An Industrial America Part I: Immigrants and Urbanization

Important Inventions  after the Civil War, the country continued to become industrialized, especially in the North  in 1844, Samuel Morse transmitted the first telegraph message in America  in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words into a telephone saying, Mr. Watson, come here I want to see you  both of these inventions made it possible for businesses to communicate more easily and on a broader scale

Important Inventions  they also encouraged emigration as people were more willing to move west now that they were better able to talk to family back east  in 1879 Thomas Edison made his first successful test of the electric light bulb  transformed the lives of workers by allowing factories to extended their hours past sunset  cities eventually get too big to grow horizontally

Important Inventions  invention of the elevator by Elisha Otis allowed them to start growing vertically with the development of taller buildings  the invention of the typewriter increased the rate at which letters and documents could be written

Growing Cities  combination of lower farm prices and higher demand for factory workers caused many people to move from the country to the city  cities also grew with increase in number of immigrants

Immigrants  between 1865 and 1920 close to 30 million people entered the country  at first immigrants came from Northwestern and Central Europe and countries such as Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland  in the 1890s the source of immigrants shifted to Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe and the countries of Italy, Greece, and Russia

Ellis Island  people came to the US because it was seen as the land of opportunity  a potato famine in Ireland drove many Irish farmers to the US  the industrialization of Europe reduced the need for farmers who heard of the abundance of land in the US and decided to try their luck in the New World  most entered through Ellis Island in New York City

Ellis Island  in 1886 France gave the US the Statue of Liberty, which came to symbolize the US as a place of refuge and hope  all new immigrants had to go through a physical examination  if found to have a contagious disease such as tuberculosis, they would be quarantined or deported  also had to answer questions concerning connection to someone already in America and employment

Ethnic Communities  many immigrants experienced culture shock because they were used to small farming communities and entered the US through its bustling cities  settled in the cities but in smaller communities or ethnic ghettos previously established by other immigrants from their country

Ethnic Communities  these different ethnic neighborhoods developed cultural pluralism in America as many different cultures exist side by side  America has often been called a melting pot, alluding to the idea that the US is a place where different cultures blend together to form an American culture

Immigration Problems  many Americans thought immigrants took jobs away from natural born citizens  saw desire to cling to cultural heritage as a sign of disloyalty to the United States  Catholic heritage of many immigrants clashed with Protestant background of American citizens

Nativism  those who opposed immigration were known as nativists  fought for the rights of native-born Americans, though not Native Americans  developed into a secret society known as the Know Nothing Party because whenever they were asked about the organization they responded with “I know nothing”  often resulted in violence and discrimination against immigrants

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)  Asians were most different immigrant group and thus the most persecuted  claimed that Asians were physically and mentally inferior to Americans  Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country – not repealed until 1943

Living and Working Conditions  lived in small, overcrowded apartments called tenements  large families crowded into one-room apartments that were unsanitary and unsafe  worked in sweatshops that were poorly lit, poorly ventilated and unsafe  worked for long hours with little pay

How the Other Half Lives  plight of immigrants inspired reformers to help alleviate their problems  1870 Jacob Riis photographed immigrants for his book How the Other Half Lives  exposed the terrible living and working conditions faced by immigrants

Social Gospel  people who believed their Christian faith required them to take an active role in social issues  focused on the gospel ideas of charity and justice

Hull House  in 1889 Jane Addams settled in the middle of a poor neighborhood in downtown Chicago  established a settlement house or community center for immigrants  became known as the Hull House and eventually offered child care centers, offices to help people find jobs, and health care clinics  by 1910 there were more than 400 settlement houses in the United States

Suburbs  development of the electric trolley, subway, and train made it easier for people to live outside the city while still working and pursuing leisure activities in it  development of suburbs led to increased divisions between economic classes  poor lived in the city while rich lived outside it

Leisure Activities  farmers had little time for leisure activities and played only when work was done  in the factory, work was finished at a certain time so places of leisure began to develop in the city  men found saloons to be great places to drink, socialize, and talk politics  women enjoyed dance halls and cabarets where they watch musical shows and try the latest dances

Leisure Activities  families went to amusement parks and vaudeville shows where they got to ride the latest roller coaster and watch the newest variety act  America’s first movie The Great Train Robbery opened in 1903  spectator sports such as boxing, horse racing, and especially baseball became popular  cities also developed parks as places of leisure, the most notable being Central Park in New York City, designed by Frederick Olmstead