Westward Movement after Reconstruction

1. Westward Movement after Reconstruction • After the Civil War, westward movement of settlers increased • People began to populate the region between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, especially the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains • Settlers included large numbers of Southerners and African Americans

2. Westward Movement after Reconstruction • Moved west for several reasons: • 1) Southerners sought to rebuild lives after Civil War • 2) Newly-freed slaves (African Americans) saw economic opportunities that were nonexistent in the South

3. Westward Movement after Reconstruction 3) Passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 • This law gave free public land in the western territories to settlers who would live on and farm the land 4) New technologies (i.e. railroads and the mechanical reaper) opened new lands in the West • made farming more prosperous

4. Westward Movement after Reconstruction • How did this westward movement impact Native Americans? • Severe Native American opposition to expansion • Forced relocation from tribal lands to reservations • Reduced population from warfare and disease • Assimilation attempts and lifestyle changes (“Christianization”) • Significant reduction of homelands due to broken treaties

5. Post Reconstruction and Industrialization

6. Tenement

7. Urbanization and Growth of Cities • Population boom also took place in the East; contributed to the growth of cities, especially: • Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York • Reasons for urbanization: • Specialized industries developed, which created factories (steel  Pittsburgh; meat-packing Chicago) • Increase in immigrant population • Americans moving from rural to urban areas looking for jobs

8. Urbanization and Growth of Cities • Factories in large cities provided jobs • Rapid industrialization and urbanization led to overcrowded neighborhoods • Living conditions in cities were often cramped and unsanitary, especially for immigrant families

12. Urbanization and Growth of Cities • The rapid growth of cities caused housing shortages and the need for new public services, such as • sewage • water systems • public transportation – trolleys and streetcars

13. How would these change life in the city?

15. Bell Ringer 2/6 • Timeline Practice: Number the following events in order with 1 being the earliest event and 7 being the latest event. • Jim Crow Laws • Stamp Act • Articles of Confederation • Louisiana Purchase • House of Burgess established • Kansas-Nebraska Act • Emancipation Proclamation

17. Immigration • Before 1871, most immigrants to America came from northern and western Europe: • Germany • Great Britain • Ireland • Norway • Sweden • Between 1871 until 1921, most immigrants to America came from southern and eastern Europe • Greece • Italy • Poland • Russia • Present day Hungary and Yugoslavia • China and Japan

18. Immigration to the US

19. Immigration • Increase in immigration due to: • Desire for religious freedom (pull) • Escape from oppressive governments (push) • Hope for economic opportunities (pull) • Immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Islandin New York Harbor • The Statue of Libertywas often the first view for immigrants after their voyage across the Atlantic • 40% of Americans can trace roots to ancestors who came through Ellis Island

24. Find a partner and answer questions 1-20 on the following test:

26. Answers to Immigration Test Mouth Eye Nose Spoon Chimney Ear Filament Stamp Strings Heel Trigger Tail Leg Shadow Ball (in hand) Net Forearm Horn Arm (in mirror) Diamond

27. Immigration • Upon their arrival, immigrants began the process of assimilation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32l3sTFRFX8 • This was called the American “melting pot” • Immigrants often settled into ethnic neighborhoods in cities • However, immigrant families worked hard to learn English, adopt American customs and become American citizens • Public schools played a crucial role in assimilating immigrants into American society

28. Immigration • Contributions of immigrants: • Chinese workers helped build Transcontinental Railroad • Worked in textile and steel mills in the Northeast • Worked in the clothing industry in NYC • Slavs, Italians, Polish worked in coal mines in the East • All worked at great personal risk in hazardous conditions and for very low wages

29. Immigration • Think-Pair-Share: Find a partner and answer the following question: “How did Americans react to the increase of immigrants coming to the United States?” • Brainstorm as many ideas as you can think of

30. Immigration • Despite their hard work and contributions, immigrants often faced discrimination and hostility • Fear and resentment that immigrant workers would take jobs for lower pay than Americans • Prejudice based on cultural and religious differences Nativism= prejudice against the “wrong groups” coming to America • Increasing pressure led Congress to limit immigrant through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

32. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: • -Ban on all immigration from China (except for students, teachers, merchants, and tourists) • -Barred Chinese immigrants from U.S. citizenship • - Not repealed until 1943 • Immigration Restriction Act of 1921: • -Set up a quota system limiting who and how many immigrants could come to the U.S. • - Aimed at people from Eastern Europe.

34. Think-Pair-Share • What problems existed in the cities? • What could be done to solve those problems?

35. Reform Movements • What problems existed in the cities? Reformers tried to solve the problems of the urban poor – “social responsibility” • Social Gospel movement • Settlement Houses: educational, cultural (Americanize), and social services (day care) • Jane Addams – Hull House (Chicago)