1. Immigration
&
Urbanization

2. A. Immigration of the Gilded Age

4. “New Immigrants” Immigrants coming from new countries
Italy
Russia
Austro-Hungarian Empire
Very different religions and cultural backgrounds
Were seen as lower level “races” than Western European immigrants
1880’s – 19% of immigrants
1900 – 66% of immigrants
25% of the immigrants will return home

5. Why were they coming? Population of the Old World growing rapidly
American Food Exports
Industrialization
60 million Europeans will be uprooted
Half will come to the U.S. with
“America Fever”
Many came for the idea of the “land of opportunity”
Some came to escape religious persecutions
Jews

6. Immigration on the West Coast
Mainly Chinese immigrants
Some Japanese
1870’s on Chinese families now immigrating
Faced horrible discrimination
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – 1st time a race is barred from entering the U.S.

7. Fighting Exclusion U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark(1898)
Fought for 14th amendment rights
Set an important legal precedent for citizenship
If you were born here you were a CITIZEN
But Exclusion still legal

8. Ellis Island (1892) Main processing facility on the East Coast
Processed 70% of all immigrants
Had medical inspections
Sent home any
undesirables
(2%)

9. Angel Island West Coast Ellis Island
Would hold the Chinese appealing the Exclusion Act

10. The Immigrant Lifestyle
Ethnic Neighborhoods
Tried to preserve traditional cultures
Speaking native languages
Established their own schools
Had businesses that catered to just them
Low Wages, Unskilled Labor source
Used as “Scabs”
Mulberry Street Bend 1900 “Little Italy”
Children will lose the traditional culture and become more mainstreamed

12. The Nativist Reaction?
Anglo-Saxon Americans feared being outbred and outvoted
Saw New Immigrants as scum
1882 law began restricting immigration
American Protective Association (1887)
In 1886 the Statue of Liberty given to the U.S
Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

13. Immigrant Advocates Tammany Hall and other Political Machines
Helped immigrants find jobs and become citizens
Settlement Houses
Helped immigrants adjust to life in the United States
Ex: Jane Addams’ Hull House

14. B. Urbanization of the Gilded Age

15. Urban Growth:

16. Characteristics Megapolis - Sprawling Urban Area
- Grew both up and out
- 1st Skyscraper built in Chicago in 1885

17. Mass Transit
- Sprawling suburbs needed to connect to city centers
- Electric Trolley
- Bridges

18. 3. Economic and Social Opportunities
- Jobs attracted people to the cities
- Urban lifestyle was very attractive
- Electricity, Indoor Plumbing,
Telephones
- Department stores
(Macy’s)

19. Pronounced Class Distinctions
- Wealthy had their own distinct neighborhoods
- Poor lived in the “Slums” in buildings called tenements

20. Immigrant Family Lodgings

21. - Most tenements were overcrowded, had poor ventilation and were dangerous
- 1879, NYC passed the Dumbbell Tenement Plan to try to improve conditions

23. Squalid Living Conditions
- No waste in the countryside
- LOTS of waste in the cities
- Impure water, uncollected garbage, unwashed bodies, and animal droppings littered the cities
- Led to the spread of diseases like cholera and tuberculosis

24. - Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives tried to expose the squalid living conditions
Five Cent Lodgings
Bandit’s Roost

25. New Opportunities for Women
Political Machines
Ethnic Neighborhoods

26. Amusement in the Cities
More Americans have more leisure time
Want to find amusement
Vaudeville
Circus
Professional Sports
Baseball
Games
Croquet
Bicycles