Immigration and Urbanization

The Gilded Age:

Old

an

d N

ew

Im

mig

ran

tsOLD IMMIGRANTS

(1800-1880)

mostly Protestantsfrom northern & western Europe (Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Sweden)

many settled in the Midwest and Great Plains and became farmers

NEW IMMIGRANTS

(1880 - 1920)

mostly Catholic & Jewish persons from southern & eastern Europe (Italy, Greece, Mediterranean Region, Poland, Russia)

many settled in northeastern and Midwestern cities and worked in factories

Reasons for Immigration

Advances in technology led to cheaper, regular steamship service

Letters from people already there encouraged it

Emigration laws were relaxed in home countries

There were few immigration laws in many countries being entered

Some groups were fleeing persecution & genocide

HOPE of economic opportunity and a better life

ImmigrationOnly about 1/2 of total emigrants

ended up in U.S.

Other destinations included Canada, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand

ImmigrationImmigrants left

home with hope and dreams, but very little money or clothing.

They arrived at their destinations virtually penniless.

ImmigrationShips were very

crowded. Most immigrants traveled in steerage – the lowest habitable deck on the ship.

There was very little outside light, ventilation was poor. One toilet per 47 passengers at best, sometimes one toilet per 1000 passengers.

Disease was rampant in steerage.

Most landed at immigration centers where they were questioned and underwent a medical exam. Convicts

and diseased persons were deported.

Immigrant communities in cities eased the transition to American life as immigrants could relate to familiar

people, language, customs and food.

Living in the City“Most urban-dwelling immigrants lived in tenement buildings – run-down, low-rent apartment buildings

clustered together in the poorest parts of town. Tenements typically had six or seven floors, each of which usually contained four four-room apartment. The buildings’ first floors usually housed one or two

shops with attached living quarters, in which the shopkeepers and their families lived. On the remaining floors, large families – often paying

boarders – crammed in notoriously overcrowded apartments, which typically cost $10 to $20 a month

to rent. One New York City social worker counted 1,231 people living in just 120 rooms in one part of

the city.”From: Teacher’s Curriculum Institute “History Alive” program. The United States Coming of Age: 1890-1920, pg. 18.

The Dumbbell Tenement was a contest design winner by James Ware. It was designed to pack a maximum amount of people into a

minimum amount of space while still complying with sanitary standards.

“5 cents a spot lodging. Illegal, but used by many immigrants, especially those without families”

Immigrants filled unskilled positions in city mills & factories as farmland was taken by "old" immigrants. They

filled jobs “natives” wouldn’t take due to low wages and poor working conditions.

Tailoring was a special skill. Many Jewish immigrants sewed from their apartments to earn money.

Many children went to work. Textile work was the most common form of work for children because their fingers could easily thread the machines and they could crawl

under the machines to clean the floors of scraps, thread, dust and debris.

Pin Setters

“Newsies”

Immigrants who could afford to send their children to school often sent them to parochial school – a school that taught the family’s religious and cultural values.

Immigrants banded together to help each other, forming lodges

and mutual aid societies.

Middle class, college educated women

volunteered their time and resources to help

immigrants, sometimes creating settlement

houses.

Jane Addams at Hull House

Settlement houses were places where immigrants could learn

English, citizenship, how to obtain employment, etc.

One of the most famous settlement houses is

Jane Addams’ Hull House.

Children sometimes went to local parks, but also played in the streets or alleys.

NativismNativists (“natives” born in America)

did not like immigrants for a number of reasons including:• religious prejudice

• racial prejudice

• fear that immigrants would steal their jobs

• fear that immigrants would try to take over the government

• fear that immigrants would corrupt their children.

NativismNativists formed anti-immigrant societies such

as the old “Know Nothing Party.”

They carried out acts of violence toward immigrants and, successfully, pressured Congress to pass anti-immigration laws.

Congress barred “convicts, insane persons, and persons living on charity” and passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 barring Chinese from entering the country. As a result, “new” immigration peaked in 1882.

Congress also barred “skilled workers under contract” from entering the country in 1885.

ImportanceImmigration had a huge economic

impact upon America. Workers consume, as well as produce, goods. New technology combined with a huge immigrant labor force made mass production possible, making goods available to and cheaper for everyone.

Immigration truly “built” America.