09/03 Bellringer 5+ sentences! http://ghhsah2.com/bellringers “…Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I life my lamp beside the golden door!” -inscription on the Statue of Liberty America is often described as a “nation of immigrants”. What do you think this means? Do you believe it is true?
Key Concepts Immigration moving to live permanently in a foreign country Urbanization a population shift from rural to urban areas that leads to a growth in cities
Immigrants in this era tended to be: Young Male Limited skills Catholic or Jewish Limited English Little education From 1880 to 1921, a record 23 million immigrants arrived in the U.S
Most “new immigrants” were coming from southern and eastern Europe
Immigrants had to be employable and have at least $25 75% of all immigrants entered the USA through the immigration center at Ellis Island, in New York Immigrants had to pass a health examination…sick people were not let in Immigrants had to be employable and have at least $25
Nativism Viewing immigrants with a sense of fear, suspicion, and hostility Prejudices based on ethnicity, religion, political and social beliefs Anger over job competition let to nativist demanding a quota system
“Immigrants Not Welcome”
The Gilded Age experienced massive urbanization City growth was due to rural Americans moving to cities and immigrants entering the USA
Mass transit (trolleys, rail lines, subways) Steel cable bridges Steel helped cities build up Cities needed: Mass transit (trolleys, rail lines, subways) Steel cable bridges Skyscrapers with elevators Most cities were organized in a circle around a business district (“downtown”)
Cities were not prepared for rapid growth -slums -unclean -overcrowded -fire & crime City services (housing, transportation, water, sanitation) are stretched to the limit