A Growing America Immigrants and Urban Life

Arriving in America Between 1880 and 1924 over 25 million immigrants came to the U.S. Other than jobs, some immigrants left their their country because of persecution. Persecution is unfair treatment or punishment.

Reasons for immigrants coming to the U.S. 1. Jobs 2. To escape famine. 3. To escape persecution. 4. Greater political freedoms.

Immigration Station Immigration stations were U.S. ports where immigrants had to enter and be checked in before entering the U.S. Two immigration stations. Ellis Island & Angel Island.

Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York Island where mostly European Immigrants came.

Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco where mostly Chinese Immigrants came.

Where did they go after they got here. Immigrants headed for the slums of big cities and lived together in ethnic groups. Ethnic group – a group of people that share a same culture.

Growing Cities

Moving to the cities By the turn of the century, more people moved to the cities than to rural areas. Reasons people were moving to the cities: a)There weren’t many jobs in rural areas. b) Fewer farm workers were needed after the advancement of farm equipment.

A Good Location By the end of the 19 th century cities were growing as the factories and businesses got larger. Chicago grew larger because of three reasons: a)Location near transportation routes b)Natural Resources c)Lake Michigan

How factories, mills, and stockyards helped with the growth of Chicago. The three major businesses in Chicago: a)Factories (cut logs into lumber) b)Mills (turned wheat and corn into food.) c)Stockyards (held thousands of animals.) A stockyard is a fenced in area where large numbers of animals, such as pigs and cattle, are kept until they are used for food or moved to another place.

The Growth of Chicago Many people move to Chicago to find jobs. Between 1870 – 1920 Chicago grew from a population of 300,000 to about 2.7 million.

Changes in Cities With the increase in population in big cities there was a need to find ways to build buildings that could take up less room but still up a large number of people. Skyscrapers were created to solve this problem. A skyscraper is a very tall building. The first skyscraper in the U.S. was built in Chicago.

Electricity in the Cities Electricity made city living more exciting and luxurious. Three items that electricity improved in big cities: A) Elevators ( carried people quickly from floor to floor.) B) Electric lights (lit theater and shopping signs) C) Rapid Transit (made it faster to travel through the city)

The Problems with Growing Cities As cities got busier, they also got more crowded and noisier. Those who had trouble finding housing moved to the slums. A slum is a poor, crowded part of the city.

The problem with slums: A) Buildings were built quickly and cheaply. B) Were overcrowded C) Buildings were unsafe (could catch fire and most had no fire escapes)

Helping Each Other Many immigrants depended on help from each other and reformers to find jobs. Settlement houses were community centers that were set up to help immigrants. Hull House was one of the first settlement houses created by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Star.

Ways that Hull House helped immigrants A) Taught immigrants English B) Gave immigrants Health Care C) Helped immigrants find jobs.

Steel City Pittsburgh was nicknamed “Steel City” because they were a large producer of steel. Pittsburgh had two major rivers and also natural resources nearby. The main resource was coal. With the growth of railroads, bridges, skyscrapers, and factories steel was in high demand.

Time of Reform

Factories and their dangers With the growth of cities, more adults and children went to work in factories. Jobs were not safe, and worker could easily be hurt. Factories dumped dirt and poisons in city water, smokestacks blew soot and smoke into city air. People who lived near cities got sick

Progressives Progressives were people that wanted to protect workers and consumers. Things progressives did to help workers: a)Wrote stories b)Took Pictures c)Convinced lawmakers to protect workers and pass child labor laws.

The Muckrakers A muckraker is someone who “rakes up” or points out unpleasant truths. Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle which told of unsafe and dirty conditions of a meat packing factory.

Government Reform President Roosevelt worked with Congress to pass The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. These acts said that medicine and foods had to be made without harmful chemicals. The factories where these items were made had to be clean.

The Preservation of Wilderness President Roosevelt also wanted to preserve wilderness areas. He was influenced by John Muir. John Muir was a conservationist who believed natural areas were precious resources.

Roosevelt Creates National Parks Muir took Roosevelt to the current day Yosemite National Park in California. Theodore Roosevelt set aside millions of acres for national parks and wilderness areas.

Working for Equal Rights Even though new laws were passed to help workers and to make food safer, women and African Americans still were not given equal rights. Women were trying to get the right to vote. They wanted Congress to pass an amendment to allow women to vote. They were allowed to vote in certain state elections, but could not vote in national elections.

Women’s Suffrage Carrie Chapman Catt wrote letters and made speeches advocating women’s right to vote. It wasn’t until 1920 that women finally earned the right to vote.

Struggle for Racial Equality In the early 1900’s, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans still faced prejudice. The National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was created to work for equality for African Americans.

Two of the NAACP’s early leaders W.E.B. Du Bois wrote on African American life and the need for change. Booker T. Washington started a school to educate and give Job Training to African Americans.

The Great Migration With the movements for African American equality increasing, the Ku Klux Klan grew. The Ku Klux Klan once again started a reign of terror in the South. This led to a great number of African Americans moving North. The Great Migration was the movement of large numbers of African Americans from the South to the North in search of work and opportunity.

The Constitutional Amendments of the Progressive Era 16 th Amendment – Congress created an income tax. 17 th Amendment – Direct election of senators. 18 th Amendment – Prohibited the manufacturing and distributing of alcohol. 19 th Amendment – Allowed women to vote in National elections.