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Immigration World Conditions – Europe – Jews from Eastern Europe
Rising population/economic competition Sought political freedom Asia – Chinese seek fortune Japanese farming as cheep labor Mexico – Industrial hopes West Indies as labor Political unrest at home
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All faced tough lives and poverty
Difficult Passage – Long voyages Illness Arrival – Ellis Island – Physical exam 2% denied Must have financial means Angel Island – Tougher restrictions Worse holding conditions Many more rejected All faced tough lives and poverty
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The Melting Pot Nativism – A rise in anti-immigration sentiment
Western European preference Religious persecution – Jews Catholic Immigration Restriction League – Required literacy tests Vetoed – though may have been followed anyway Chinese Exclusion Act – Banned Chinese except teachers, merchants, students, and tourists – 1943 Gentlemen’s Agreement – Japan limits immigrants for current citizen rights – repeal of San Francisco segregation order
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Urbanization City Settlement – Segregation
Nativism leads to cultural separatism Industrialism draws people to cities Social networks Problems become evident – Fires, water, sanitation, crime, crowding Chicago fire /100,000 San Francisco 1,000/200,000 Tenements, Row housing = slums Immigrants crowd into old housing Transportation
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Social Gospel Movement
Poor become overwhelming – Draw on tax payers Illness and disease Housing Employment needs Education Assimilation/Americanization movement British example of social welfare Settlement Housing/Jane Addams Outreach to minorities
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The Gilded Age Social Darwinism breeds greed - Political Machines –
Clever politicians Offer help Need network for election Spoils system perpetuates Immigrants feed into problem Corruption goes on ignored Grafts become the norm Bosses and scandals – Boss Tweed and City Hall $10 mill stolen Others follow similar pattern Tweed flees and is caught from cartoon
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Presidents take the lead
Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877 – Proposed reform Fear of loss to congress stifles proposals Spoils system/patronage remains Customs gain attention Senator Conkling and Stalwarts object James Garfield, 1881 – Seen as a reformer Many object, even within party Assignation in a subway Arthur seen as one less ambitious Chester A. Arthur, 1881 – Change of heart Pendleton Civil Service Act Independent choices on each ones’ merit
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