Chapter 15

Immigrants and Urbanization

Section 1-New Immigrants• 1870-1920 approximately 20 million

Europeans arrived• Shift- now from southern and eastern Europe

rather than northern Europe• Push- rising population- scarcity of land-

pogroms- political unrest- unemployment• Pull- plenty of jobs, join family members

Chinese and Japanese

• Much smaller numbers than Europeans• Gold rush brought Chinese• Railroads• After railroads completed- farmers, mining domestic

service- Severely limited by the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882

• 1882 Japanese allowed their people to move to Hawaii to work on plantations. When US annexed Hawaii, the emigration continued to the west coast.

West Indies and Mexico• 1880-1920 over a quarter of a million immigrated

from the West Indies. Scarce jobs- US had an industrial boom, therefore more jobs than people.

• Mexicans- came for work and to flee political turmoil.

• 1902 National Reclamation Act- irrigate arid lands and turn them to farmland- drew many Mexicans to work.

• 7% of Mexico’s population came here over the next 20 years.

Life in the New land• A difficult Journey• Steamship- Atlantic one week- Pacific three

weeks• Steerage- disease- death• Ellis Island- inspected- about 2% were denied

entrance- Usually because of disease.• Had to be healthy, able to work and have

$25.00, not be a felon.• 17 million passed through Ellis Island

• Angel Island- west coast’s equivalent to Ellis Island- Located in San Francisco Bay.

• Much harsher treatment than Europeans: detailed questioning

• If admitted: find place to live, job, unfamiliar language and culture.

• Developed ethnic neighborhoods, social clubs, aid societies- built churches and synagogues- even newspapers in their native language.

• Hyphenated Americans• Nativism- Xenophobia

• Immigration Restrictions• Melting pot vs. salad bowl• Nativism-believed that Anglo-Saxons were

superior. Did not object immigration from “the right” countries . Prescott F Hall, founder in 1894 of Immigration Restriction League-very WASP- Anti Catholic, Anti Jewish

• Desirable to the Nativists were British, German and Scandinavian

• American Protective Association 1887- very anti Catholic- many institutions refused to admit Jews.

• Influenced by these movements Congress passed laws requiring literacy tests.

• If you could not read 40 words in English or your native language, you were denied entry.

• President Cleveland vetoed the bill. A similar bill would pass over Wilson’s veto in 1917.

Anti-Asian Sentiment• Nativist allied with labor movement- fear of lost jobs or

lower wages• Workingmen’s Party- Denis Kearney- headed the anti

Chinese movement in California.• 1882- Chinese Exclusion Act- banned entry of almost all

Chinese- 1892- extended for another ten years- not repealed until 1943. (China was our ally during WWII)

• San Francisco- put Japanese kids in separate schools. T. Roosevelt worked out deal with the Japanese- known as the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907- limit unskilled Japanese from coming in return for desegregating schools.

Section 2- The Challenges of Urbanization

• Immigrants Settle in the Cities• Cheapest and most convenient place to live.• 1910- As many Irish in NYC as in Dublin• By 1910- immigrants made up half the

population of 18 major US cities

• The Americanization Movement- designed to assimilate people into the American Culture

• Schools- teach English, US history, government, cooking, etiquette

• Many did not wish to abandon their old ways• Ethnic neighborhoods became the norm. Soon,

overcrowded, slums developed.• Migration from country to city:• Technology forced some into unemployment- steel plow,

reaper. So moved to the city to seek work• Segregation and discrimination were the norm• Racial tension grew between blacks and whites over

jobs.

Urban Problems• Housing: two options- buy on outskirts of the

city (transportation problem) rent boarding house room in central city. (overcrowding)

• Jacob Riis- photographer- tenements- 2-3 families occupying a single family dwelling.

• Un sanitary• No garbage collection, poor sewage facilities,

rats, windows nailed shut to keep out smell

Transportation

• Mass transit:• Street cars- SF and Boston

• Water- safe drinking water• Homes seldom had indoor plumbing• Usual method was a bucket of water from a

central communal source• Effort to control diseases like cholera and typhoid

(waterborne diseases)• Filtration in 1870s- chlorination in 1908

Sanitation

• Manure• Trash collection• Chamber pots

• Crime• Pickpockets/thieves• NYC first police department 1844• Most cities had none

• Fire: limited water supply contributed to this problem

• Use of candles and kerosene lamps and heaters

• Closely packed wooden buildings• Great Chicago Fire of 1871

Reformers mobilize• Social Gospel movement- preached salvation through

service to the poor.• Established Settlement Houses: community centers in

the slums to assist people especially immigrants. • Run by middle-class college educated women• Classes in English, health and general aid.• Founded in 1886 by Charles Stover and Stanton Coit in

NYC• Jane Addams- founded Hull House• By 1910 there were about 400 settlement houses in

the US.

Section 3- Politics in the Gilded Age• The Emergence of Political Machines• Organized group that controlled the activities of a

political party in a city, offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support.

• Role of the Political Boss- not necessarily the Mayor. Controlled access to municipal jobs and business licenses. Influenced courts and other city agencies. Roscoe Conkling of NYC build parks, schools orphanages, and hospitals

• Not only $ that motivated city bosses. Solving urban problems reinforced voters’ loyalty and extended their influence.

Immigrants and the Machine

• Many precinct captains and bosses were first or second generation immigrants.

• Few had much formal education.• Could talk to immigrants in their own

language• Helped with citizenship, jobs, housing etc.• In return immigrants provided votes.

• Big Jim Pendergast- city boss Kansas City- by 1900 controlled entire state’s politics

Harry Truman

Municipal Graft and ScandalTo win elections some used fake names of voters- multiple ballots- the dead votingGraft- illegal use of political office for personal gain

• Politicians granted favors to businesses in return for cash also bribes to look the other way for illegal activities.

• ****Until 1890- police were hired and fired by political bosses.

• Tweed Ring Scandal• Wm. Tweed- Boss Tweed head of Tammany

Hall- powerful Democratic machine who were constantly defrauding the city.

• NY County courthouse- billed taxpayers 13 million- actual cost was 3 million

• Thomas Nast- political cartoonist- helped break the Tweed ring. Tweed indicted on 120 counts of extortion and fraud and was sentenced to 12 years in jail. Sentence was reduced to one year- immediately arrested on release. He escaped to Spain. Rearrested after being recognized in a Nast cartoon.

• Political corruption had become a national issue.

Civil Service replaces Patronage

• Patronage: giving government jobs to people who helped a candidate get elected.

• Evolved from Spoils System of Andrew Jackson• As a result, many were not qualified for the

jobs they held…. Even at the highest level.• Patronage vs merit system

• Rutherford B. Hayes- couldn’t convince congress for the need of the merit system.

• So he appointed independents to his cabinet.• He set up a commission to investigate customs

houses.• As a result, Hayes fired two top officials of

NYC’s customs house. These jobs were controlled by the Republican Party.

• This enraged Roscoe Conkling (senator and city boss) His followers were known as the Stalwarts.

• When Hayes decided not to run again in 1880, free for all at Republican convention between Stalwarts and the reformers. No resolution so:

• Convention settled on independent James A Garfield from Ohio (tied to Reformers) and as his VP Chester A. Arthur ( a Conkling supporter)

• Garfield gave reformers most of the patronage jobs,,, thus angering the Starwarts.

• July 2, 1881- Train Station in DC Garfield was shot twice by Charles Guiteau, whom Garfield had turned down for a job.

• “I did it and I will go to jail for it. I am a Stalwart and Arthur is now president.”

• Once Arthur became president he became a reformer. His first message to congress was to pass a Civil Service Law.

• Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883• Bipartisan civil service commission make

appointment to federal jobs via a merit system based on performance and examination.

• By 1901- 40% of all federal jobs had been classified as Civil Service jobs.

• Because politicians could no longer demand cash to keep jobs, politicians turned to other means to raise money. They turned to wealthy business owners

• Business Buys Influence• Republicans wanted high tariff- Dems wanted

no tariff because it caused prices to rise.

• 1884- Grover Cleveland (Democrat) elected president. First time in 28 years.

• Cleveland tried to lower tariff rates, but congress refused to support him.

• 1888- ran again against Benjamin Harrison, grandson of Wm. Henry Harrison. He was financed by big business who wanted higher tariffs.

• Cleveland won the popular vote, but Harrison won the electoral college.

• He signed the McKinley Tariff Act which raised tariffs to their highest level.

• In 1892 Cleveland was elected again- only president to serve two non-consecutive terms.

• He supported a bill (Wilson-Gorman Tariff) to lower tariffs, but refused to sign it because it had a provision for an income tax. It became law without the president’s signature.

• 1897- McKinley became president and promptly raised tariffs again.

• Attempts to reduce the tariff failed, but reform was far from dead.