1. Immigrants and Urbanization

2. Story Time!
The year is New York City’s swelling population has created a housing crises. Immigrant families crowd into apartments that lack light, ventilation, and sanitary facilities. Children have no where to play except the streets and are often kept out of school to work and help support their families. You are a reformer who wishes to help immigrants improve their lives….

3. Discussion: Turn and Talk
1. What would you do to improve conditions?
2. What skills do newcomers need to make it?
3. How might immigrants respond to help from an outsider?
4. How do you think you’d react?

4. Why Did The Immigrants Come Here?
Between 1870 & 1920, about 20 million Europeans immigrated to the U.S.
1. Escape religious persecution
2. Improve their economic situation (jobs) (Birds of passage)
3. Experience greater freedom in the U.S.
4. Escape difficult conditions (famine, land shortages – from rising population)

5. To improve their economic situation
Which of the following is a reason why the immigrants did NOT come to America?
To escape persecution
To improve their economic situation
To educate their children in better American schools
To escape difficult conditions

6. A Difficult Journey: Turn and Talk:
What main issues do you think the immigrants faced when coming into the USA?
Which of these do you think would be most difficult for you if you were an immigrant?
How do you think they were treated?
What do you think was the overall American view on immigration at this time? (similar or different from today?)

8. Ellis Island:
Most European immigrants to the U.S. arrived in New York and had to pass through immigration station located on Ellis Island in New York Harbor
Immigrants were carefully health screened and could only bring 100lbs of belongings
Ellis Island - NY

9. Do you think that Americans were excited or upset over immigration?
Not sure 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

10. Passing Inspection:
Officials at Ellis Island decided whether the immigrants could enter the country.
1. Check for serious health problems
2. Document checks
What do you think the requirements for entering the country should have been?

12. What Were the Requirements for Admission?
1. Proving they had never been convicted of a felony?
2. Demonstrating that they were able to work.
3. Showing that they had some money: at least $25 (1909 standard)
Let’s look at an example:

13. Here Are The Exact Questions Used:
1.What is your name?
2. Have you ever been to the America before?
3. Do you have any relatives here? If the answer was yes, then asked where they lived.
4. Is there anyone who came to meet you at Ellis Island?
5. Who paid for your passage?
6. Do you have any money? ( If the answer was yes then immigrant was told: Let me see it.)
7. Do you have a job waiting for you in America?
8. Do you have a criminal record?

14. Edward Ferro: An Italian Immigrant:
“The language was a problem of course, but it was overcome by the use of interpreters…It would happen sometimes that these interpreters – some of them – were really softhearted people and hated to see people being deported, and they would, at times, help the aliens by interpreting in such a manner as to benefit the alien and not the government.” (I Was Dreaming to Come to America)

15. Angel Island: Not all immigrants came through Ellis Island
Angel Island - Immigration station for the Asian immigrants arriving on the West Coast- San Francisco.
Inspection process more difficult than on Ellis Island. (filthy conditions, harsh questioning)

16. Cooperation For Survival:
Think about: Finding a place to live, a job, understanding the language and culture in a new country
Many immigrants settled in communities with other immigrants from same country.

17. Immigration Restrictions:
America started to be called a MELTING POT - Many cultures & races had blended
But, many immigrants refused to give up their culture.

18. The Rise of Nativism:
Some Americans didn’t like so many immigrants living in the U.S.
NATIVISM- preference for native-born Americans.
Nativism
1. Gave rise to anti-immigrant groups
2. Led to a demand for immigration restrictions.

19. Anti-Asian Sentiment:
Chinese immigrants worked for low wages – this took jobs from native born Americans
Labor groups pressured politicians to restrict Asian immigration.
CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT Banned all but a few Chinese immigrants
Not lifted until 1943.

20. Section 2 Objectives: By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:
1. Describe the movement of immigrants to cities and the opportunities they found there.
2. Explain how cities dealt with housing, transportation, sanitation, and safety issues.
3. Describe some of the organizations and people who offered help to urban immigrants.

21. Section 2: The Challenges of Urbanization:

22. Urban Opportunities:
Many immigrants settled in cities in the early 1900’s – work
Cities began to become overcrowded
Urbanization - the rapid growth of cities.
Farmers also moved into the city – new technology = less farming jobs

23. Americanization Movement:
Our government wanted to help immigrants learn more about the USA
Americanization Movement – Was designed to assimilate people of wide-ranging cultures into the dominant culture.
Schools taught them English, American history, and government.

24. Urban Problems: There became serious shortages in housing.
New types of housing were created
1)Row house – apartment type homes
2)Tenement – Multifamily urban houses often overcrowded & unsanitary
Sanitation was a problem

25. Mass Transit: Transportation also became a huge issue.
Cities developed Mass Transit – transportation systems designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes.
More were needed to keep up with demand

26. Urban Problems: Sanitation
Cities had hard time supplying safe drinking water.
People threw garbage out their windows.
Horse manure piled up on the streets
Sewage flowed in streets.
By 1900, many cities built sewers & created sanitation departments.

27. Crime Problems:
Pickpockets and thieves flourished (stealing to survive)
NYC police was relatively small and didn’t make much impact on crime.

28. Fire Problems: The city had limited supply of water.
Most city apartments were made of wood
People also used candles and kerosene lamps for lighting.
Paid fire departments were first created in 1853 (Cincinnati)
The automatic fire sprinkler was also created in 1874.

29. The Great Chicago Fire: 1871
Fire burned for 24hrs.
An estimated 300 people died
100,000 were left homeless
More than 3 square miles of the city center was destroyed.
Property loss was estimated at $200 million.
17,500 buildings were destroyed.

30. Reformers Help the Poor:
Social Gospel movement - Early reform program
Leaders preached that people reached salvation by helping the poor
They established Settlement Houses -
Community centers located in slums that gave support system for poor immigrants.

31. Section 3: Politics in the Gilded Age

32. Political Machines:
Since cities were so crowded, the local government couldn’t control everything
During late 1800’s, many cities were run by a Political Machine - an organized group, headed by a city boss, that controlled activities in a city.
Offered services to voters & businesses in exchange for political or financial support.

33. The Role of the Political Boss:
What else did the bosses do:
1. Controlled access to jobs
2. Built parks, sewer systems, and waterworks.
3. Gave money to hospitals, schools, and orphanages.
So that…..people would vote for them!!

34. Why do you think that people supported the political machines?
Protection
Services
All of the above

35. Immigrants and Bosses:
The immigrants liked the idea of political machines and bosses. Why?
1. Many of the bosses were immigrants themselves– they spoke their language and battled the same hardships.
2. They helped the immigrants with Naturalization – full American citizenship.
3. Helped them get jobs and houses
And in return – VOTES!!!

36. Why did the bosses often relate well to the people?
They liked to be in control
They were once immigrants themselves
They didn’t
None of the above

37. Election Fraud and Graft:
Many Bosses got rich through GRAFT-the illegal use of political influence for personal gain.
Example: By helping a person find work on a construction project for the city, a political machine could ask the worker to bill the city for more than the actual cost of materials and labor.
The worker then “kicked back” a portion of the earnings to the machine.
The NY City Courthouse was built using Graft money

38. Because they were getting things in return
Why do you think that people allowed the bosses to do illegal activities?
Because they were getting things in return
They personally liked the bosses
They didn’t like the government
All of the above

39. The Tweed Ring:
Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed) became the head of Tammany Hall- NYC’s powerful Democratic political machine.
Between Boss Tweed led a group of people (Tweed Ring) in defrauding the city for millions of dollars.

41. What Did Tweed Do? – Story Time!
The NYC Courthouse was being built. The project cost tax payers $13 million, while the actual cost was only $3 million! The difference went to the Tweed Ring. It is estimated that the Tweed Ring stole between $30-$200 million dollars from NYC.

42. Ultimately, who did the Tweed Ring’s actions hurt worse?
Boss Tweed
The city
The government
The taxpayers

43. Eventually…They Got Busted!
In 1871 the ring was broken.
Tweed was indicted on 120 counts of fraud and extortion and was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
His sentence got reduced to 1 year but he got in trouble again and was arrested.
While serving this sentence, he escaped to went to Spain.

44. What is the significance of the word LAW on the torn piece of paper?
What affect do you think Nast wanted to have on his audience?

45. Patronage:
National politics were also corrupt – It’s all about who you know.
Patronage: giving of government jobs to people of the same party who had helped a candidate get elected.
Shouldn’t the job go to the most qualified?

46. Civil Service: Civil Service- Government jobs
Reformers proposed that civil service jobs would go to the most qualified, regardless of political views.

47. It allowed political bosses to control the job market
Why was the “civil service” system a better system than the spoils system?
It wasn’t
It allowed political bosses to control the job market
It allowed the most qualified to get hired
It benefited only the wealthy

48. President Hayes:
President Rutherford B. Hayes attempted to reform civil service
Some members of Republican party objected
He decides not to run for re-election (no support)

49. Garfield’s Assassination:
Stalwarts opposed change in patronage system.
Reformers supported changing the system
New President James Garfield attempts to reform the patronage system and is assassinated
Chester A. Arthur Garfield’s VP - Becomes the new President

50. Why was Garfield assassinated?
He wasn’t liked by the political machines
He had ties to the reform movement
He didn’t deserve to be the President
None of the above

51. Chester A. Arthur in Action:
Arthur’s first message to the Congress was to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Act - Created a civil service commission to give government jobs based on merit, not politics
This caused politicians to turn to big businesses for money