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
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