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The Trip by Steamship: Atlantic: one week Pacific: 3 weeks Most travelled in steerage; disease killed some before arrival Sanitation was poor Immigrants were not allowed on deck

Challenges Immigrants Faced: Find a home Find a job Intermingling with alien languages & cultures Most sought out people who shared language and religious beliefs Developed ethnic communities Pooled money to build churches & synagogues Many Native Born citizens felt threatened by increasing diversity Thought way of life was changing

Nativists were primarily PROTESTANT; objected to Jewish & Catholic Immigrants Thought Catholics would undermine the ideas of Protestant Founding Fathers Immigration Restriction League lobbies Congress to consider literacy test for all immigrants Immigration Increases = Anti-Immigrant Sentiment Rises: Nativism Emerges Called for immigration restrictions Many favored immigrants from the “Right” countries (Anglo-Saxons) Many immigrants did not want to give up cultural identity Natives = viewed USA as a MELTING POT Natives thought that immigrant languages & customs should be abandoned

Chinese workers accepted lower wages Depression of 1873: intensified anti-Asian sentiment Native Born Workers feel their jobs are threatened by Chinese workers Banned Chinese immigration: ( except teachers, students, merchants, government officials) Law was not repealed until 1943 ☻ ☻ 1882: Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act 1906: Japanese students in SF are segregated in separate schools Japanese government limited immigration in return for desegregation Gentleman’s Agreement ☻ ☻

America 1900 Video: Start 58:22: End 114

Natural & Economic Disasters in Europe Promise of Industrial Jobs in the USA Urban Growth in USA; Million from

Causes & Effects of Urbanization in America Cities were cheapest & most convenient for immigrants; Mostly in Northeast & Midwest Americanization Movement: assimilate people of other cultures into dominant cultures- sponsored by government & native citizens Mechanization in Farming: less laborers needed to work the land, farms merged, people moved to cities to work

: 200,000 African Americans Move North or West from the South ☻ Reasons for leaving the South: -racial violence -economic hardship -political oppression -Racial Tension Increases -Competition between African- Americans & White Immigrants for jobs -segregation & discrimination

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Cities did not have an effective political structure Political parties gained control and became political machines Built like a pyramid Precinct workers were at the bottom Tried to obtain votes in neighborhoods Ward Boss is next Tried to obtain votes in all the precincts City Boss at the top City BossWard Boss Precinct Workers

Person who controls the activities of the political party throughout the city Had large influence even if they did not become mayors Controlled government jobs Business licenses Gave money schools, hospitals They were paid extremely well Many times they earned people’s trust ☻

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Political bosses often used illegal means to gain power Used fraud to try and win an election Often times used fake names They used their political influence for personal gain – Graft Ex: Construction company charges excessively and the machine gets the profit Accepted bribes and other illegal ways of obtaining money

Many of the same problems were happening in national politics Patronage was a big problem Giving jobs to people who helped get a candidate elected Reformers wanted civil service jobs to go to the most qualified person Wanted an examination to help make this decision

Garfield known as a reformer elected with V.P. Arthur to help balance his views ☻ Arthur becomes more of a reformer and passes a civil service law Helps to make the jobs more honest and efficient Also makes politicians more reliant on big business

Although President Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau, he died as a result of the incompetence of his medical staff, including experts such as the Surgeon General and Alexander Graham Bell, whose crude metal detector failed to locate the bullet because Garfield was lying on a metal-spring mattress. The following entertaining illustration of the events leading to the twentieth president's demise is taken from The Big Book of Losers, one volume in Factoid Books' tremendously entertaining nonfiction comic-book-format "Big Book" series. Click Here: Click Here: