Module 4 

Immigrants from Europe  

• 1870-1920 -> 20 million Europeans arrived in the US 
• Before 1890 most came from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and northern Europe  
• After 1890 most came from Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia  
• Why did they come? 
• Escape religious persecution  
• Rising populations in Europe  
• Work (Land of new opportunities) 
• Independence and freedom  

Chinese Immigrants 

• Arrived on the west coast  
• Come in search of wealth (gold rush)  
• Many helped build RRs then turned to farming, mining, and domestic service  
• Immigration was sharply limited by Congress in 1882  

Japanese Immigrants 

• Arrived on the west coast 
• Many were recruited to Hawaii by Hawaiian planters 
• Came to the mainland in search of high American wages  

Mexican Immigrants 

• Came in search of work and to flee political turmoil  
• 1910-1930 -> about 7% (700,000) of its population arrived in the US  

A Difficult Journey -> nearly all arrived by steamship 

• One week across the Atlantic  
• Three weeks across the Pacific  
• Hundreds were crowded into cargo holds and rarely allowed on deck creating less than desirable travel conditions  

Ellis Island -> chief US immigration station from 1892-1924 in New York Harbor, 17 million immigrants passed through its gates  

• Had to pass inspection which usually lasted about 5 hours  
• Physical Examination -> any serious health problems were sent home  
• Government Inspection -> checked documents and legal requirements for entering the US  
  • Had to prove you had never been convicted of a felony  
  • Prove that you were able to work  
• A literacy requirement was eventually added (1917) in which you had to be able to read  your native language 
• Had do have some money ($25 by 1909)  
• Only about 2% had to return home  

Angel Island -> immigration station in San Francisco where Asians entered the US 

• Unlike at Ellis Island, immigrants experienced harsh questioning and a long detention while gov. Officials decided whether or not to admit them  
• Filthy, ramshackle buildings 
• Chinese were confined like prisoners  

Cooperation for Survival  

• Culture Shock -> confusion and anxiety resulting from immersion in a culture whose ways of thinking and acting they didn't understand  
• Ethnic Communities -> sprang up in the areas that had large concentrations of immigrants  
• Served as life rafts for many people  

Immigration Restrictions  

• Melting Pot -> a mixture of people of different cultures and races who blended by abandoning their native languages and customs  
• Native  Born Americans often disliked the immigrant's unfamiliar customs and languages and viewed them as a threat to the American way of life  
• Nativism -> overt favoritism toward native born Americans  
• Many Americans feared the growing number of Catholics and Jews entering the country  
• Preferred immigrants were WASPs (White Angle-Saxon Protestants)  
  • Angle-Saxons -> Germanic ancestors of the English  

Anti-Asian Sentiment -> rose from their unfamiliar language and customs along with their markedly different looks  

• Chinese Exclusion Act -> 1882, banned the entry to all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials for 10 years  
• In 1892, it was extended another 10 years and then in 1902 it was extended indefinitely  
• Wasn't repealed until 1943 
• Gentlemen's Agreement -> 1907-08, Japanese government agreed to limit emigration of unskilled workers to the US in exchange for the repeal of the San Francisco segregation order  

Urbanization -> growth of cities, occurred in the Northeast and Midwest mostly 

• Immigrants settled in cities because they were the cheapest, offered unskilled jobs, and had ethnic communities 
• Americanization Movement -> education program designed to help immigrants assimilate to American culture to help them become citizens 
• Migration from the country to the city 
• Advancements in farming technology meant less laborers were needed 
• African Americans moved in an effort to escape racial violence, economic hardship, and political oppression  

Urban Problems 

• Housing -> cities lacked adequate housing and transportation which led to overcrowding issues 
• Row Houses -> single family dwellings that shared side walls with other similar houses 
• Dumbbell Tenements -> long, narrow, five or six story buildings that were shaped like dumbbells 
  • The central part was indented on either side to allow for an air shaft and an outside window for each room 
  • Airshafts became garbage dumps and windows were nailed shut 
• Both row houses and tenements overcrowded with immigrant families lading to horrid living conditions  
• Transportation -> cities struggled to repair old transit systems and build new ones in order to meet the demands of a growing population 
• Mass transit -> transportation system designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes 
  • 1873 -> San Francisco introduced electric street cars 
  • 1897 -> Boston introduced the Subway 
• Water -> many people had no indoor plumbing and would have to get their water by bucket from faucets on the street while those with piped water found it was inadequate 
• Water was often not safe to drink causing cholera and typhoid fever 
• Filtration (1870s) and chlorination (1908) were introduced to clean up the water supply 
• Sanitation -> hose manure filled the streets, sewage flowed through open gutters, factories spewed foul smoke into the air, and people dumped their garbage on the streets 
• By 1900, many cities had developed underground sewer lines and created sanitation depts. To regularly collect garbage  
• Fire -> major fires occurred in almost every large American city during the 1870s and 1880s 
• Lack of Water -> wood buildings packed closely together, and the use of candles and kerosene heaters contributed to the fire problem 
• Professional Fire Departments -> automatic sprinklers, and the use of brick, stone, and concrete all helped reduce fires 
• Crime -> pickpockets and thieves flourished in urban crowds and con men took advantage of immigrants while gangs – controlled areas of cities 
• Cities created full time police forces 

Reformers Mobilize  

• Social Gospel Movement -> preached salvation through service to the poor 
• Settlement Houses -> community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided assistance to people in the area, especially immigrants  
• Provided educational, cultural, and social services  
• Jane Addams -> founded Chicago's Hull House in 1889  
• Helped to cultivate social responsibility toward the urban poor

Gilded Age -> time period in the late 1800s in which there was a lot of political corruption and corporate financial misdealing that allowed some to live very extravagant lives while most Americans struggled  

Political Machines -> an organized group that controlled the activities of a political part in a city and offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support  

• Organized like a pyramid 
• City Boss -> controlled thousands of municipal jobs, including those in the police, fire, and sanitation depts  
  • Also controlled business licenses, inspections, and influenced the courts  
  • By solving problems bosses could reinforce voters' loyalty, win additional political support, and extend their influence  
• Ward Bosses 
• Precinct Workers  
• Immigrant Support -> machines helped immigrants become naturalized, find places to live, and get jobs in return for votes  
• Many political bosses were 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants  
• Election Fraud -> loyalty of voters wasn't always enough to win elections  
• Padded list of eligible voters to rig elections  
• Graft -> using political influence or knowledge for personal gain  
• Kickbacks -> the return of part of a payment as a result of a secret agreement  
• Both graft and kickbacks made many individual politicians very wealthy  
• Tweed Ring -> group of corrupt politicians led by William Marcy Tweed  
• Between 1869-1871 they pocketed as much as $200 million from New York City taxpayers in the form of kickbacks and payoffs  
• Tammany Hall -> name of the power Democratic political machine in New York led by Tweed  
• The Tweed Ring was finally broken up in 1871 and Tweed was sentenced to 12 years in prison  
  • Political cartoonist Thomas Nast played a big role in bringing Tweed to justice  

Civil Service Reform -> the desire for power and money that made local politics corrupt also infected national politics  

• Patronage (spoils system) -> the giving of government jobs to people who had helped the candidate get elected  
• Led to incompetence and fraud while also interfering with the daily functioning of government  
• Merit System -> jobs in civil service (government administration) would go to the most qualified no matter what political views they held or who recommended them  
• Rutherford B. Hayes -> after winning the election of 1876 he pushed for civil service reform, but Congress refused to support his ideas  
• Did name independents to his cabinet and cleaned up the nation's customs houses (notoriously corrupt)  
• Election of 1880 -> Hayes chose not to run again which sparked a fight in the Republican party between the stalwarts (opposed changes to the spoils system) and the reformers  
• James Garfield -> neither the stalwarts of reformers had enough to nominate a candidate of their liking so Garfield, who was seen as an independent on civil service reform became his nominee  
• Chester A. Arthur -> a stalwart, was nominated as Garfield's VP to offset some of Garfield's perceived reform leanings  
• After being elected President Garfield would give most of his patronage jobs to reformers  
• Garfield's Assassination -> July 2, 1881, he was shot by Charles Guiteau, a man he had turned down for a job, at a DC train station  
• Didn't die till September 19  
• Chester A. Arthur Presidency -> after assuming the presidency he changed from stalwart to reformer  
• Pendleton Civil Service Act -> 1883, authorized a bipartisan civil service commission to make appointments to federal jobs through the merit system  
  • Today President names fewer than 1,000 officials that neither require Senate confirmation or implementation of civil service laws  

Business Buys Influence -> with employees no longer a source of campaign contribution, politicians turned to big business 

• Tariff -> tax on imports, supported by manufacturers and opposed by consumers 
• Big business hoped the government would preserve, or even raise, tariffs 
• 1884 -> Grover Cleveland became the first Democratic president in 28 years, and he tried to lower the tariff, but congress refused 
• 1888 -> Benjamin Harrison, who's campaign was being financed by large companies that wanted higher tariffs, ran against Cleveland and his low tariff platform 
• Harrison lost the popular vote but won the electoral vote 
• McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 -> raised tariffs to their highest levels ever  
• 1892 -> Cleveland is elected president again, only president to ever serve two nonconsecutive terms 
• Wilson-Gorman Tariff -> lowered the tariff, but Cleveland refused to sign it because it created a federal income tax 
  • Congress passed it without Cleveland's signature 
• 1896 -> William McKinley is elected president and he raises tariffs once again