Unit 3: Birth of Modern America

Chapter 10 Urban America

I. Immigration

European Immigration 1. New Immigrants a. Over the course of the 19th century, the sources of immigrants for the United States changed (Old Immigrants = North & Western Europeans b. “New immigrants” came from southern and eastern Europe

New Immigrants into the US U.S. Immigration Statistics: Origin (in percentages) Decade Total Northern/ W. Europe East/Central/ S. Europe Canada and Latin America Asia 1861-1870 2,314,824       87.8       01.4       07.2        02.8 1871-1880 2,812,191       73.6       14.4        04.4 1881-1890 5,246,130       72.0       18.2       08.1        01.3 1891-1900 3,687,546       44.5       51.9       01.1        01.9 1901-1910 8,795,386       31.7       60.8       04.1 1911-1920 5,735,811       17.4       58.9       19.9        03.4 1921-1930 4,107,209       28.7       36.9        02.4

Not all immigrants came to US

2. Push/Pull Immigration Factors - US Push Factors = factors that cause someone to leave their native country Pull Factors = factors that draw people into a specific country Farm poverty – (New ag techniques in these European regions removed the need for thousands of farm laborers) Wars & compulsory military service Political tyranny Religious Persecution Lack of social mobility Repealed emigration laws Economic opportunity (plenty of work, plenty of land) Higher standard of living Democratic political system Freedom of speech/religion Social mobility !!! Few immigration restrictions (needed workers thanks to industrialization!)

Pull Push

Those hateful bullies have gone too far Those hateful bullies have gone too far. First they rode through town shouting terrible things about us. Next, they wrecked our synagogue. Now they break into our homes! The police do nothing to stop them. I'm afraid it is time to leave. --Nina, Russia, 1890 Push or Pull? Jewish men look at the damage to a building after Russians ransacked their village.

3. The Atlantic Voyage a. difficult, long b. most in steerage: most basic, cheapest accommodations on the ship

Typical ship

4. Ellis Island NY a. Most European immigrants disembarked and were processed at Ellis Island b. immigrants were subject to a medical exam; provided various documentation c. Families could become separated Renze Kampstra and family

5. Ethnic Cities – allowed immigrants to adjust to US a. most settled in cities - cheapest housing - most economic opportunities - convenience to transportation b. often lived in neighborhoods separated by ethnic group (see pg 347) = preserved their culture c. Immigrants adjusted well if.. - learned English quickly - adapted to American culture - they had marketable skills or $ - settled among members of their own ethnic group

Mulberry Street – New York City’s “Little Italy” c 1900

Little Italy Today

St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Hester Street – Jewish Section

1900 Rosh Hashanah Greeting Card

Pell St. - Chinatown, NYC

B. Asian Immigration 1. Push/Pull Factors behind Asian Immigration Push Factors Pull Factors CHINESE High unemployment Poverty Famine Taiping Rebellion 1850 – against Chinese gov’t – 20 million dead – thousands flee to US JAPANESE Industrialization/empire building caused hardships Discovery of Gold in CA Jobs with Central Pacific RR (Transcontinental RR) Few immigration restrictions

a. Modeled after New York’s Ellis Island 2. Angel Island a. Modeled after New York’s Ellis Island b. point of entry for the majority of Asian immigrants

In America, we are all immigrants – or children of immigrants In America, we are all immigrants – or children of immigrants. Do you know where you came from – and when?

C. Resurgence of Nativism 1. Nativism a. favoring the interests of native-born people over foreign born people and a desire to limit immigration b. 1840s-50s: focus on Irish c. Late 1800s: focus on Asians, Jews, E. Eur. d. Reasons for opposing immigration - feared influx of Catholics would give Catholic Church too much power in US gov’t - labor union opposition b/c immigrants work for low wages, become strikebreakers – undermine all efforts of unions to achieve higher pay, fewer working hrs, better working conditions

2. Anti-Immigrant Organizations a. American Protective Assoc. - goal to stop Catholic immigration b. Workingman’s Party of California – goal to stop Chinese immigration 3. Anti-immigration laws a. 1882 – immigration ban on convicts, paupers, mentally disabled + 50¢ tax b. 1882-1902 – Chinese Exclusion Act – ban Chinese immigration & prevent Chinese already here from becoming citizens

Nativism Lives On……

II. Urbanization Chicago

The City as a New “Frontier?” New Use of Space New Class Diversity New Architectural Style New Energy New Symbols of Change & Progress The City as a New “Frontier?” New Culture (“Melting Pot”) Make a New Start New Form of Classic “Rugged Individualism” New Levels of Crime, Violence, & Corruption

Americans Migrate to the City 1. Statistics a. 1840: 131 US cities; 1900: 1700 US cities b. Growth of old cities

2. Immigrants flock to city factories a. Lack $$ to buy farms b. Lack education for higher-paying jobs 3. Standard of living better in US a. Work long hrs for low pay but…. b. Social Mobility - Europe: rigid social class system - US: accepted that all could rise in society – possible to move from working class to middle class

Struggling Immigrant Families

3. Rural Americans move to cities a. More jobs, higher pay b. More amenities: lights, running water, modern plumbing c. More to do: museum, libraries, theaters

Home Insurance Building, Chicago, IL B. New Urban Environment 1. Skyscrapers a. Thanks to steel, durable plate glass, elevators b. Necessity: expensive/scarce land – build up, not out c. NYC = most skyscrapers c. The First Home Insurance Building, Chicago, IL

Louis Sullivan 1856 – 1924 The Chicago School of Architecture Form follows function!

Louis Sullivan: Bayard Bldg., NYC,1897

Louis Sullivan: Carson, Pirie, Scott Dept. Store, Chicago, 1899

Frank Lloyd Wright 1869 – 1959 “Prairie House” School of Architecture “Organic Architecture” Function follows form!

Frank Lloyd Wright: Allen-Lamb House, 1915

Frank Lloyd Wright: Hollyhock House [Los Angeles], 1917

Frank Lloyd Wright: “Falling Waters”, 1936

Interior of “Falling Waters”

F. L. Wright Furniture

F. L. Wright Glass Screens Prairie wheat patterns.

Frank Lloyd Wright: Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, IL - 1902

Frank Lloyd Wright: Johnson Wax Bldg. – Racine, WI, 1936

Frank Lloyd Wright: Guggenheim Museum, NYC - 1959

a. Horsecar 1890 = 70% urban traffic 2. Mass Transit a. Horsecar 1890 = 70% urban traffic So what’s the problem? Horses deposited tons of feces and gallons of urine on the streets every day (each horse = 24 lbs manure/day) A horse could work only part of the day, but would eat all day A horse car could run all day, but it would require many changes of horses A line's investment in horses could be wiped out by diseases like the Great Epizootic of 1872. Horses could not pull cars up steep hills When they died, were left on streets to decompose History of the Horsecar

b. Cable Cars Electric Trolley Car Cable Car - Began in SF - Pulled along tracks by underground cables c. Electric Trolley Car – Frank J. Sprague Electric Trolley Car Cable Car

Late 19th century street congestion

d. Relieving Congestion on City Streets - Chicago: Elevated Trains - NYC, Boston: Subways Chicago’s “EL” NYC’s Subway

C. Separation by Class 1. High Society a C. Separation by Class 1. High Society a. wealthiest lived in fashionable districts in heart of cities Carnegie Mansion, NYC Palmer Castle, Chicago Vanderbilt, Chateau, NYC

2. Middle Class a. Growing: Drs, lawyers, engineers, managers, teachers, social workers, architects b. Salaries 2x that of avg factory worker c. Mass Transit allowed them to work in city center and live outside in the “streetcar suburbs”

3. Working Class a. = majority of city dwellers b. Many lived in tenements – dark, crowded multi-family apts c. Kids sent to work in factories d. Rented space to boarders

Tenement Slum Living

“Dumbell “ Tenement, NYC

“Dumbell “ Tenement

Airshaft of a dumbbell tenement, New York City, taken from the roof, ca. 1900

Tenement Slum Living

Lodgers Huddled Together

Labor Force Distribution 1890

D. Urban Problems 1. Hazards of City Life a. crime & violence - nativists blame crime increase on immigrants - in reality, no significant difference in crime rate in immigrant community/native-born community - most likely, the increase in minor/major crimes was due the rapid growth of cities

The Great Chicago Fire 1871 b. fire! - many wooden structures - lacked technology in fire-fighting The Great Chicago Fire 1871

c. disease and pollution - improper sewage disposal (bad drinking water); overcrowding; garbage in the streets – leads to cholera and typhoid fever - horse waste left in streets - smoke, soot, and ash from wood and coal burning fires from factories and homes

2. Rise in Consumption of Alcohol a. contributed to rise in crime rate b. Jacob Riis’, How the Other Half Lives, documented affect of alcohol abuse - saloons corrupted politics - brought suffering to wives/children of drunkards - corrupted children – sold to minors

Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives (1890)

1. Political Machines and the Party Boss E. Urban Politics 1. Political Machines and the Party Boss a. Political Machine: An organized group that controls a political party in a city and offers services to voters and biz in exchange for political and financial support 1) why? Cities grew faster than gov’t 2) city dwellers needed housing, jobs, etc. b. Party bosses (ran machines – often the mayor) exchanged services for votes c. as a result, urban immigrant groups voted for political machines

2. Graft & Fraud – allowed party boss to control cities finances a. graft: obtaining $ through dishonest or questionable means b. Fraud 1) accepted bribes for contracts 2) sold permits to friends to operate public utilities (RR, Water)

3. Tammany Hall – NY political machine. a 3. Tammany Hall – NY political machine a. led by corrupt William M “boss” Tweed b. controlled city services, including the police

Boss Tweed Boss William Tweed raised corruption to an art form. As a member of New York’s Tammany Hall, Tweed and his cronies, including Mayor Fernando Wood, ran New York in the Civil War era as their own private money factory. Tweed once bought 300 benches for $5 each, then sold them to the city for $600 a pop. And that’s just the tip of it. The building of City Hall was a clinic in graft: the city was charged $7,500 for every thermometer, $41,190 for each broom, and $5.7 million for furniture and carpets. One carpenter even received almost $361,000 for a single month’s work. And although he was crooked as a dog’s hind leg, Tweed does get a bit of credit from some historians for under­ taking many important projects that improved life in New York (albeit at enormous financial gain to himself). Tweed’s illicit profits were said to be in the range of $200 million, and that was in the 1860s! The law eventually caught up with the Boss, though, and he died in prison in 1878. Fun Facts about Boss Tweed courtesy of Mental Floss King of Corruption

4. Despite corruption, political machines weren’t ALL bad a. provided necessary city services b. helped to assimilate new immigrants to the city

III. Gilded Age

The Gilded Age refers to a brief time in American history after the Civil War Restoration era. During this time, the United States experienced a population and economic boom, leading to the creating of an incredibly wealthy upper class. The era lasted only a few short years from 1877-1893, before the market crash of 1893 brought a severe depression to the entire country.

In the 1800s, cholera, yellow fever and malaria weren’t uncommon in New York, according to David Rosner, a history professor at Columbia University. Part of the reason: trash, which piled up in NYC streets (apparently, the garbage can had not yet been invented). The close-to-200,000 horses in the city also contributed to the mess—used for transportation, each one created 24 pounds of manure a day, and when the beasts died, they’d be left on the streets to decompose. Pigs also roamed Fifth Avenue. As for all that poop: You’d dig a hole and bury it—along with your own mess. Sewers weren’t created until the 1850s.

The Agnew Clinic (1889) by Thomas Eakins