Immigration and Urbanization: The Largest Mass Movement in History

1. Chapter 7 Notes Immigration and Urbanization

2. The Largest Mass Movement in Human History • 1880 – 1921, 23 million immigrants arrived • The U.S. had no quotas or limits except for Chinese immigrants on the west coast • Most of this 3rd wave came from southern and eastern Europe • The majority were unskilled agricultural laborers with little money or education

3. Push Factors • Agricultural industrialization left many without work on European farms • Disease was rampant; infant mortality was high • Natural disasters, coupled with soaring population led many to seek work elsewhere • Political and religious persecution against Jews, particularly in eastern Europe and Russia

4. Pull Factors: Urban “Opportunities” • Industry boomed in major U.S. cities, so people flocked to where the jobs were. • Amer. farmers (incl. Southern freedmen) were forced out of farms by mechanization. • Promise of better life in America lured many to our shores • Religious and political freedoms • Job opportunities • Farm land (Homestead Act) • Family or friends already here

5. The Journey • Crowded ships, took about two weeks, uncomfortable for most to say the least • About 16 million passed through Ellis Island in New York Harbor • Medical inspections were traumatic, dehumanizing, and discriminatory • Legal inspections involved extensive questioning. The inspectors had your future in the palm of their hands

6. Upon entering the U.S., most settled in areas (ethnicenclaves) with familiar customs, language, etc..

7. Urban Problems • Many families lived in small apartments (tenements) which were very unhealthy. • No ventilation, rats, trash everywhere, and dirty water led to much disease and sickness. • Crime was very common b/c little or no police force and fires plagued the inner cities also.

8. Working Conditions • Most immig. were unskilled and desperate for work, and industry was booming, so lots of jobs were available. • Owners exploited this and paid immig. very little, even though they worked all day. • Conditions were dangerous, unsanitary, and unhealthy (to say the least)

9. The Bright Side • Despite the obstacles immig. workers faced, most were better off than they had been in Europe.

10. Reform • First forms of community centers to help poor are established to help the urban poor. (Social Gospel movement) (Jane Addams and “Hull House”)

11. Nativism • ‘Native born’ Americans viewed these new immig. with fear, hostility, and suspicion. Nativists worked to restrict the number of immigrants entering the U.S. • Literacy tests • Laws like the Dillingham Bill (Established Quotas)

12. Process of Assimilation • 1st = Segregation and Discrimination • By choice or by force, most new immigrants are segregated from the dominant culture, living in crowded, ethnic-specific areas where they feel more comfortable – places where they don’t feel so different culturally • Their native tongue is spoken widely, food, music, etc… is familiar to them, so the transition from the ‘old country’ is not as difficult. • They can also network within these communities to find job opportunities, read news in their home language from their native lands… This is known as the “Salad Bowl” theory and can be seen even today.

13. Process of Assimilation (cont.) • 2nd = Acculturation • Learning / adapting to dominant culture • If you didn’t, it was very difficult to be successful. • You faced ridicule and continued discrim. • Dressing, eating, etc.. like dom. cult.; learning English; getting rid of accents; • This could take a lifetime

14. Process of Assimilation (cont.) • 3rd = Assimilation • Fully integrated (blended in) to dominant culture • Native tongue / language / accents gone. • Customs largely disappear – ‘old ways’ of dress, routines, celebrations, even religion might change. • This may not happen until second or third generation This is known as the “Melting Pot” theory and was (is?) promoted by those in power. (AKA – “Americanization”)

15. Ch. 7, Section 3 Politics in the Gilded Age (Gilded Age = glittering exterior but corrupt and ugly core.)

16. The Political Machine • City politicians offered services to those who supported them. • The “pyramid” was topped by the city boss who controlled the money, who that money would go to, and how it would be spent. (often it was worthy – going to parks, orphanages, schools, etc. But usually the $ was spent to secure their own political gains.)

17. Scandal *election fraud often ensured victory to political machines. (Graft = the illegal use of pol. influence for personal gain) • Politicians granted favors or looked the other way in exchange for cash. Since the “political machine” controlled the police, they got away with it.

18. Pendleton Civil Service Act • All this corruption led the fed. gov. to look at people’s qualifications before appointing them to powerful positions. (not just who you know or who you pay) • This led to public servants being more honest and efficient, but it also forced politicians to get $ from other sources.

19. Big Business gets involved • Wealthy business owners wanted high tariffs, so they padded the purses of presidential candidates in order to win their influence. (today, these are special interest groups and lobbyists)

20. Chapter 8 Notes

21. Technology encouraged more urbanization • Skyscrapers, mass transit, and urban planning allowed millions to successfully live in and around the city.

22. Public Education • Gov. and society at large recognized school as a way to gain status and prosperity. • Passed laws requiring school until the age of 14. • More high schools and colleges were built to teach expanded subjects incl. industrial training. (carpentry, drafting, secretarial training)

23. Af.-Amer. Education • b/c Af.-Amer. were excluded from most secondary public schools (segregation), most never received higher educ. (this contributed to oppression of an entire race!) • Booker T. Washington = Tuskegee Institute – specialty training. • Teach valuable skills in order to get a good job. Financial security will

24. (cont.) bring gradual inclusion into mainstream Amer. life, hence, equality. • W.E.B. DuBois = blacks should get liberal arts degrees (history, sociology, math, etc) so blacks would have good leaders and a more immediate entry into mainstream Amer. life.

25. Mass Culture • Amusement parks, leisure activ., and spectator sports became pop. As people finally have more time away from work. • Newspapers were widely circulated, becoming more of a business. • Advertising, catalogs, and the department store are born out of a healthy consumer economy in urban centers.