Chapter 15

Push / Pull Factors Religious persecution Rising population Radical political movements Poor economic times The belief was that jobs were plentiful in America Laws protected liberty and freedom for white Americans

Ellis Island and Angel Island Ellis Island: off the coast of Manhattan; processed up to 6,500 immigrants a day during the late 1800s. Angel Island: an immigrant processing island off the coast of San Francisco; processed about 50,000 Asian immigrants between 1910 – 1940.

Melting Pot The combination of many cultures during this time of immigration - a uniquely American thing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpggZ9hDxC4 5

Immigration Restriction The Gentlemen’s Agreement: An agreement between the US and Japan after the Russo-Japanese War in which the Japanese agreed to withhold passports from laborers intending to migrate to the US and the US agreed not to FORMALLY limit Japanese immigration. Only educated or skilled Japanese could immigrate to the US. The Chinese Exclusion Act: a ten year period of limitation on Chinese immigrants to 105 per year, and was strengthened in 1884 with additional provisions that limited the ability of any person of Chinese descent - regardless of their country of birth - to freely leave and enter the United States.  The law also gave evidence of white Americans' economic concerns because it specifically targeted Chinese laborers, blocking them from entering American ports.  When the law was due to expire in 1892, it was revived for another ten years under what was known as the Geary Act, which barred Chinese from testifying in court, and also required all Chinese to carry resident passports, with the harsh penalty of deportation enacted if they were found without them - at any time.  The Geary Act was renewed in 1902 with no terminal date attached. It lasted for 41 years. 6

Urban Problems Mass transit: needed to get people from one part of the city to another – trains, trolleys, and metro systems Tenements: poor housing that were overcrowded and unsanitary Sanitation: Sewers and plumbing had to be created to keep up with the exploding populations in cities Crime increased Fires and other natural disasters destroyed whole sections of cities overnight

Urbanization Growth of cities Occurred mostly in the Northeast and Midwest at the turn of the century As well as immigrants, American farmers were moving to cities in large numbers

The Social Gospel Movement Preached salvation through service to the poor Helped the urban poor / established settlement houses Mostly middle-class, college-educated women

Jane Addams and Hull House Progressives, like Jane Addams, started settlement houses Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago where the mission was to “Aid in the solutions of life in a great city, to help our neighbors build responsible, self-sufficient lives for themselves and their families.” ~Jane Addams Offered book readings, kindergarten, nursery school, teen boys club, sewing and cooking classes, lectures from local professors, art classes, culture nights, and other programs. It soon became clear that the object of the settlement program should be to "help the foreign-born conserve and keep whatever of value their past life contained and to bring them into contact with a better class of Americans." ~Jane Addams

Hull House circa 1930

Hull House Nursery, 1890s

Hull House, 1900

Hull House Library 14

Americanization Movement The attempt to help or force immigrants to assimilate into American culture and society Public schools Cooking, sewing, etiquette, and hygiene Many immigrants resisted this and wanted to hold on to their cultures

Nativism Overt favoritism toward native-born Americans

15-3 in “Americans”

Gilded Age Late 1800s-early 1900s Large groups of people move to cities (urbanization) and the city governments cannot keep up with population growth Political Machines rise and take care of the large populations of new people

Political Machines Ward Bosses Citizens Groups of politicians who gained control of cities by offering services to voters in return for votes or financial support They were structured like pyramids: City Officials Ward Bosses Citizens

Corruption in Machines Many leaders in political machines were corrupt – they took money for social services but also for themselves Graft: the illegal use of political influence for personal gain Favors, bribes, and kickbacks

Boss Tweed William M. Tweed Head of Tammany Hall in NYC Powerful Democratic Machine between 1868-1871 Led the Tweed Ring: group of corrupt politicians in NY Used Patronage: gave gov’t jobs to people who helped him get elected

New York County Courthouse Cost $3 million to build Charged taxpayers $13 million The Tweed Ring and builders shared the $10 million The share that went to the builders was a “kickback” “Extortion” is the illegal use of one’s official position to obtain property or funds

A Cartoonist that brought Tweed’s actions to the public through his artwork in the newspapers.

Civil Service Replaces Patronage People did not agree with the practice of patronage Civil Service jobs were created and given to the people who were most qualified to do them

Government Job Reform Several Presidents made rules about local government workers Hayes: investigated corruption in NYC’s custom house and fired workers Garfield: strongly supported reforms and was killed by a member of the opposite party for his views

America after Garfield Garfield was killed by someone who called himself a Stalwart: people who wanted to keep things the same as it had been Garfield’s VP (Arthur) was a Stalwart before Garfield was killed but when he became president he changed his stance He had congress pass the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883

Pendleton Civil Service Act People who wanted a Civil Service job (a job who is paid with taxpayer money) had to pass an exam Made politics more honest and efficient Forced politicians to look elsewhere for campaign funds

Political Unrest Democrat Grover Cleveland won the election of 1884 and wanted to lower taxes but Congress would not let him Benjamin Harrison won the election of 1888 (with more electoral votes but less popular vote) and passed the McKinley Tariff Act which raised taxes to their highest point

More Politics 1892: Cleveland was elected again (only one to serve 2 non-consecutive terms as President) He was unable to lower taxes 1896: William McKinley became President and he raised taxes again

Trends in Politics Government became much bigger and costly Government became more honest and efficient Taxes went up

Presidents Washington Harrison Adams Tyler Jefferson Polk Madison Monroe Q. Adams Jackson Van Buren Harrison Tyler Polk Taylor Fillmore Pierce Buchanan Lincoln

Presidents Continued Johnson McKinley Grant Hayes Garfield Arthur Cleveland B. Harrison McKinley