Challenges of Urbanization
Challenges of Immigration & Urbanization What issues did many new immigrants & city dwellers face at the turn of the century?
Immigration to the US Millions immigrate through the “golden door” Europeans 20 million immigrate from Most now coming from Ireland, Eastern & Southern Europe, looking for land & work Chinese & Japanese About 500,000 immigrate from Chinese: escaping political turmoil Japanese: higher wages in US Mexicans About 700,000 immigrate from Most looking for work – US encourages them to do field work List the top four immigrant groups (with %) on page 255.
On the East coast immigrants went through… Ellis Island, NY
Ellis Island 1) Medical Examination: check for contagious or debilitating diseases 2) Examination of legal documents: make sure they have no criminal record, have some money, and want to work Once immigrants arrived they went through the following process: Whole process took about 5-6 hours, 17,000 pass through per day. About 20% detained for a day & 2% rejected
On the west coast immigrants went through… Angel Island Immigration Station barracks
Angel Island 1882:Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act banning the entry of all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants & tourists Angel Island was largely set up to stop illegal Chinese immigrants Potential immigrants were given medical exams & quarantined if anything was suspicious Immigrants questioned harshly and held for extended periods up to 2 yrs
Backlash to immigration Backlash against immigrants on East coast, esp. against Jews, Poles, Italians, and Irish, most lived in poor enclaves together On the West coast there was a great deal of anti-Asian sentiment Only “Anglo-Saxon” protestants seen as true Americans Nativist organizations form that want to restrict immigration (get rid of the “wrong” type of immigrant) Rebirth of the KKK Ku Klux Klan, which started as anti-black gains momentum due to immigration backlash
Americanization Movement Most immigrants move into city areas (cheap & easy) Plan to assimilate people into the dominant “American” culture Despite the movement, many ethnic communities spring up (keep own languages & customs)
Challenges of Urbanization Lack of housing in cities, row housing or share housing Lack of clean water & sanitation (causing disease) Increase in fires (no electricity – using candles) Gangs control parts of city - rampant crime
Gangs of New York 1.How were many immigrants treated when they came to America? 1.Explain how cities like New York were lawless? 2.What are overall conditions like in the city? 3.Describe ways the “gangs” make money? Is it brutal?
Social Gospel Movement Preached salvation by helping the poor Reformers establish settlement housing Most well known: Hull House in Chicago founded by Jane Addams