Copyright © 2004 South-Western Immigration and Urban Life Chapter 19
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Immigration and Urban Life Voices from the past: There were nine in the family: husband, wife, and aged grandmother, and six children; honest, hard-working Germans, scrupulously neat but poor. All nine lived in two rooms, one about ten feet square that served as parlor, bedroom, and eating room, the other a small half-room made into a kitchen…That day the mother had thrown herself out of the window, and was carried up from the street dead. She was discouraged, said some of the other women from the tenement… -Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York – 1890
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Immigration Objectives for today: 1. To identify the reasons that immigrants came to the United States. 2. To distinguish between the old and new immigration. 3. To understand the anti-immigrant sentiment that has existed in America. Text: Chapter 19
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Review Urbanization The changing concentration of population in 19 th century America: Percent living in cities greater than 10,000: 1790 – 3% 1890 – 28% Percent living in cities greater than 100,000: 1790 – 0% 1890 – 15% : NYC – 460% growth Chicago – 5500% growth
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Reasons to Emigrate PUSH Hunger – Irish potato famine Unemployment/ overcrowding – Sicilian Italy Religious/ethnic persecution – Jewish pogroms in E. Europe and Russia Political persecution – Communist Revolution in Europe, Russia PULL Jobs – industrialized America, Gold Rush, railroads Religious/political freedom – Pilgrims, Jews, Catholics Education – F-1 students from India, China, Taiwan, Korea
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Old vs. New
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Old vs. New OLD – North and West Europe 1830 – 1880 NEW – South and East Europe 1880 – Present Irish: New York City, Boston Fled potato famine in Ireland Persecuted as Catholics Italians: New York City, Boston, Philadelphia Unemployment, overpopulation Persecuted as Catholics, dagos Germans: Midwest: Cincinnati, Milwaukee, St. Louis Crop failure, political persecution Distinct German flavor Jews: New York City Religious persecution, poverty, pogroms Resentment toward Jews Chinese: Pacific Coast Poverty; Gold Rush, railroads Persecuted for accepting low wages Slavs: New York City Poverty, political persecution Came from different countries
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Old vs. New Ethnic Neighborhoods Little Italy Lower East Side Chinatown Found all over the U.S. – SF, San Jose, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Seattle, LA In these neighborhoods, immigrants practiced their old ways of life. Their native language was spoken. Churches, synagogues, clubs (Colombo Club, Oakland), newspapers were re-created.
Copyright © 2004 South-Western
From their website: The Colombo Club is one of the largest social clubs in America founded by Italian pioneers for the purpose of providing a social center for themselves, their families, and their guests. The Colombo Club is a private club that was founded in Oakland California in The purposes of the Club are entirely social in scope, dedicated to the moral and physical well being of its members, the promotion of the best interests of the community, and the highest ideals of American citizenship.
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Anti-Immigration Why are immigrants often blamed for societal problems? (crime, teen pregnancy, failing schools, etc) Public Resentment Difficulty or refusal to assimilate Accepting low wages Religious differences (Catholics, Jews) Questionable socialist and anarchist beliefs Easy scapegoats for the disruption of industrialization Examples: APA (American Protective Association) – anti-Catholic Chinese Exclusion Act – halted all immigration from China for 10 years
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Homework Americanization: becoming American Learn to read and write English Learn customs, history, government of U.S. Preserve ones culture Be bilingual
Copyright © 2004 South-Western Homework Assimilation or Multiculturalism? Discuss your idea of becoming American. Assimilation – adapt and become like the most common concept of being American; melting pot Multiculturalism – retain the culture you came from and adopt a second culture; patchwork quilt 1 page, typed