1. CH. 8-2 EARLY IMMIGRATION AND URBAN REFORM
AMERICAN HISTORY

2. IRISH AND GERMAN IMMIGRANTS
IRISH IMMIGRATION
Since the 1700s Irish had relied on the potato as their major food crop
—a disease struck the crop severely restricting the harvest
Ruling British government provided little relief
By 1850 about 1 million people died in “The Great Irish Famine”
More than 2 million people left to save themselves
Nearly 1.5 million ended up in the USA

3. GERMAN IMMIGRATION
Germans fled for economic depression and overpopulation
Other reasons included religious persecution, harsh tax laws or military service, failed revolution (1848)
Germans came to America searching for free land and business opportunities

4. PUSHED AND PULLED
“Push-pull model of immigration”
Factors that cause people to leave their homeland are “pushes”
Factors that cause people to move to a particular country are called “pulls”
Various pushes and pulls led a record number of immigrants to the USA
3 million Irish and Germans by 1860

5. THE LIVES OF IMMIGRANTS
HOSTILITY TOWARD THE IRISH
Many immigrant groups in the USA faced DISCRIMINATION (treatment based on race, gender, class, etc.)
Reasons for discrimination:
Shear numbers – 1.3 million
Poverty – Irish would work for low wages—threat to American workers
Roman Catholic (major religion in USA was protestant)

6. NATIVISM—opposition to immigration
Change in American thinking
THE KNOW-NOTHINGS
Anti-immigrant sentiment was promoted by well-funded and well-organized groups
KNOW-NOTHINGS—group earned its name because when asked about it the answer was “I know nothing”

7. The Know-Nothings reorganized into a political party called THE AMERICAN PARTY
Remarkable political success in a short time—40 congressional seats
The American Party ran a presidential candidate in 1856
Disagreements over slavery and other issues fractured the party and it ceased to exist by the Civil War

8. A DIFFERENT GERMAN EXPERIENCE
Germans didn’t experience discrimination
Germans-middle class and Protestant
Irish-poor and Catholic
Germans could afford to travel far inland
Many settled in the mid-west
Large German communities from NY to TX
Germans worked as farmers, artisans, factory workers, and other jobs

9. REFORM, URBANIZATION, AND INDUSTRIALIZATION
1800—1 in 20 Americans lived in urban areas
1860—1 in 6 did
Urbanization and industrialization caused major social change and resulted in important reform movements
GROWING CITY POPULATIONS
Many Irish settled in northeastern cities such as New York and Boston

10. By 1850—Irish immigrants accounted for 25% of the population in these cities
Today—New York and Boston still have large Irish populations
URBANIZATION AND REFORM
American cities were home to some tremendously wealthy people
Richest 1% of the people controlled 50% of the wealth in a city
The vast majority of urban Americans were very poor.

11. The plight of tenement dwellers sparked preliminary efforts at reform
Local Boards of Health were established to set sanitation rules
Enforcement was uneven—poorer neighborhoods received less attention than rich ones.
Conditions in poorer districts would remain unsatisfactory through the mid-1800s

12. INDUSTRIALIZATION AND REFORM
—number of people working in manufacturing rose from 5% to 30%
Farmers worked for themselves and kept their profits
People were now WAGE-EARNERS (paid a set amount by the owner)
Instead of making things they needed, people had to buy items with the limited wages they earned

13. In addition to immigrants—many Americans were leaving the farms to work in the factories
URBAN WORKING CLASS—new social class; many poor and uneducated. Many were immigrants.
Relatively wealthy business owners wanted to maximize their profits
The results were low wages, long hours, unsafe working conditions
Workers began to organize in groups to demand higher wages, shorter hours, and safer conditions

14. The efforts by workers to improve their situation was one of the great reform movements of the Reform Era
Known as “Labor Movement”
Began late 1820s
Most organizations were local and short-lived
1834—first attempt to create a national labor organization
In New York City, several groups merged to form the NATIONAL TRADES UNION
It lasted until the Panic of 1837 (economic crisis-1/3 of Americans lost their job)

15. Labor movement face fierce opposition from business owners
Ten-Hour Movement—campaign to change length of workday to 10 hours instead of 12 or more
1837—President Andrew Jackson declared a 10-hour workday for some federal workers
1840—President Martin Van Buren extends policy to more federal workers
Mid-1840s—NH becomes first state to mandate a 10-hour work day
THE END