1. Unit 3: Birth of Modern America

2. Chapter 10
Urban America

3. I. Immigration

4. European Immigration 1. New Immigrants
a. Over the course of the 19th century, the sources of immigrants for the United States changed (Old Immigrants = North & Western Europeans
b. “New immigrants” came from southern and eastern Europe

6. New Immigrants into the US
U.S. Immigration Statistics: Origin (in percentages)
Decade
Total
Northern/ W. Europe
East/Central/ S. Europe
Canada and Latin America
Asia
2,314,824
      87.8
      01.4
      07.2
       02.8
2,812,191
      73.6
      14.4
       04.4
5,246,130
      72.0
      18.2
      08.1
       01.3
3,687,546
      44.5
      51.9
      01.1
       01.9
8,795,386
      31.7
      60.8
      04.1
5,735,811
      17.4
      58.9
      19.9
       03.4
4,107,209
      28.7
      36.9
       02.4

7. Not all immigrants came to US

8. 2. Push/Pull Immigration Factors - US
Push Factors
= factors that cause someone to leave their native country
Pull Factors
= factors that draw people into a specific country
Farm poverty – (New ag techniques in these European regions removed the need for thousands of farm laborers)
Wars & compulsory military service
Political tyranny
Religious Persecution
Lack of social mobility
Repealed emigration laws
Economic opportunity (plenty of work, plenty of land)
Higher standard of living
Democratic political system
Freedom of speech/religion
Social mobility !!!
Few immigration restrictions (needed workers thanks to industrialization!)

9. Pull
Push

10. Those hateful bullies have gone too far
Those hateful bullies have gone too far. First they rode through town shouting terrible things about us. Next, they wrecked our synagogue. Now they break into our homes! The police do nothing to stop them. I'm afraid it is time to leave.
--Nina, Russia, 1890
Push or Pull?
Jewish men look at the damage to a building after Russians ransacked their village.

11. 3. The Atlantic Voyage a. difficult, long
b. most in steerage: most basic, cheapest accommodations on the ship

12. Typical ship

13. 4. Ellis Island NY
a. Most European immigrants disembarked and were processed at Ellis Island
b. immigrants were subject to a medical exam; provided various documentation
c. Families could become separated
Renze Kampstra and family

14. 5. Ethnic Cities – allowed immigrants to adjust to US
a. most settled in cities
- cheapest housing
- most economic opportunities
- convenience to transportation
b. often lived in neighborhoods separated by ethnic group (see pg 347) = preserved their culture
c. Immigrants adjusted well if..
- learned English quickly
- adapted to American culture
- they had marketable skills or $
- settled among members of their own ethnic group

15. Mulberry Street – New York City’s “Little Italy” c 1900

16. Little Italy Today

17. St. Patrick’s Cathedral

18. Hester Street – Jewish Section

19. 1900 Rosh Hashanah Greeting Card

20. Pell St. - Chinatown, NYC

21. B. Asian Immigration 1. Push/Pull Factors behind Asian Immigration
Push Factors
Pull Factors
CHINESE
High unemployment
Poverty
Famine
Taiping Rebellion 1850 – against Chinese gov’t – 20 million dead – thousands flee to US
JAPANESE
Industrialization/empire building caused hardships
Discovery of Gold in CA
Jobs with Central Pacific RR (Transcontinental RR)
Few immigration restrictions

22. a. Modeled after New York’s Ellis Island
2. Angel Island
a. Modeled after New York’s Ellis Island
b. point of entry for the majority of Asian immigrants

23. In America, we are all immigrants – or children of immigrants
In America, we are all immigrants – or children of immigrants. Do you know where you came from – and when?

24. C. Resurgence of Nativism 1. Nativism
a. favoring the interests of native-born people over foreign born people and a desire to limit immigration
b. 1840s-50s: focus on Irish
c. Late 1800s: focus on Asians, Jews, E. Eur.
d. Reasons for opposing immigration
- feared influx of Catholics would give Catholic Church too much power in US gov’t
- labor union opposition b/c immigrants work for low wages, become strikebreakers – undermine all efforts of unions to achieve higher pay, fewer working hrs, better working conditions

25. 2. Anti-Immigrant Organizations
a. American Protective Assoc. - goal to stop Catholic immigration
b. Workingman’s Party of California – goal to stop Chinese immigration
3. Anti-immigration laws
a – immigration ban on convicts, paupers, mentally disabled + 50¢ tax
b – Chinese Exclusion Act – ban Chinese immigration & prevent Chinese already here from becoming citizens

26. Nativism Lives On……

27. II. Urbanization
Chicago

28. The City as a New “Frontier?”
New Use of Space
New Class Diversity
New Architectural Style
New Energy
New Symbols of Change & Progress
The City as a New “Frontier?”
New Culture (“Melting Pot”)
Make a New Start
New Form of Classic “Rugged Individualism”
New Levels of Crime, Violence, & Corruption

29. Americans Migrate to the City 1. Statistics
a. 1840: 131 US cities; 1900: 1700 US cities
b. Growth of old cities

30. 2. Immigrants flock to city factories
a. Lack $$ to buy farms
b. Lack education for higher-paying jobs
3. Standard of living better in US
a. Work long hrs for low pay but….
b. Social Mobility
- Europe: rigid social class system
- US: accepted that all could rise in society – possible to move from working class to middle class

31. Struggling Immigrant Families

32. 3. Rural Americans move to cities
a. More jobs, higher pay
b. More amenities: lights, running water, modern plumbing
c. More to do: museum, libraries, theaters

33. Home Insurance Building, Chicago, IL
B. New Urban Environment
1. Skyscrapers
a. Thanks to steel, durable plate glass, elevators
b. Necessity: expensive/scarce land – build up, not out
c. NYC = most skyscrapers c.
The First
Home Insurance Building, Chicago, IL

34. Louis Sullivan 1856 – 1924 The Chicago School of Architecture
Form follows function!

35. Louis Sullivan: Bayard Bldg., NYC,1897

36. Louis Sullivan: Carson, Pirie, Scott Dept. Store, Chicago, 1899

37. Frank Lloyd Wright 1869 – 1959 “Prairie House” School of Architecture
“Organic Architecture”
Function follows form!

38. Frank Lloyd Wright: Allen-Lamb House, 1915

39. Frank Lloyd Wright: Hollyhock House [Los Angeles], 1917

40. Frank Lloyd Wright: “Falling Waters”, 1936

41. Interior of “Falling Waters”

42. F. L. Wright Furniture

43. F. L. Wright Glass Screens Prairie wheat patterns.

44. Frank Lloyd Wright: Susan Lawrence Dana House, Springfield, IL - 1902

45. Frank Lloyd Wright: Johnson Wax Bldg. – Racine, WI, 1936

46. Frank Lloyd Wright: Guggenheim Museum, NYC - 1959

47. a. Horsecar 1890 = 70% urban traffic
2. Mass Transit
a. Horsecar 1890 = 70% urban traffic
So what’s the problem?
Horses deposited tons of feces and gallons of urine on the streets every day (each horse = 24 lbs manure/day)
A horse could work only part of the day, but would eat all day
A horse car could run all day, but it would require many changes of horses
A line's investment in horses could be wiped out by diseases like the Great Epizootic of 1872.
Horses could not pull cars up steep hills
When they died, were left on streets to decompose
History of the Horsecar

48. b. Cable Cars Electric Trolley Car Cable Car - Began in SF
- Pulled along tracks by underground cables
c. Electric Trolley Car – Frank J. Sprague
Electric Trolley Car
Cable Car

49. Late 19th century street congestion

50. d. Relieving Congestion on City Streets
- Chicago: Elevated Trains
- NYC, Boston: Subways
Chicago’s “EL”
NYC’s Subway

51. C. Separation by Class 1. High Society a
C. Separation by Class 1. High Society a. wealthiest lived in fashionable districts in heart of cities
Carnegie Mansion, NYC
Palmer Castle, Chicago
Vanderbilt, Chateau, NYC

52. 2. Middle Class
a. Growing: Drs, lawyers, engineers, managers, teachers, social workers, architects
b. Salaries 2x that of avg factory worker
c. Mass Transit allowed them to work in city
center and live outside in the “streetcar suburbs”

53. 3. Working Class a. = majority of city dwellers
b. Many lived in tenements – dark, crowded multi-family apts
c. Kids sent to work in factories
d. Rented space to boarders

54. Tenement Slum Living

55. “Dumbell “ Tenement, NYC

56. “Dumbell “ Tenement

57. Airshaft of a dumbbell tenement, New York City, taken from the roof, ca. 1900

58. Tenement Slum Living

59. Lodgers Huddled Together

60. Labor Force Distribution 1890

61. D. Urban Problems 1. Hazards of City Life a. crime & violence
- nativists blame crime increase on immigrants
- in reality, no significant difference in crime rate in immigrant community/native-born community
- most likely, the increase in minor/major crimes was due the rapid growth of cities

62. The Great Chicago Fire 1871 b. fire! - many wooden structures
- lacked technology in fire-fighting
The Great Chicago Fire
1871

63. c. disease and pollution
- improper sewage disposal (bad drinking water); overcrowding; garbage in the streets
– leads to cholera and typhoid fever
- horse waste left in streets
- smoke, soot, and ash from wood and coal burning fires from factories and homes

64. 2. Rise in Consumption of Alcohol a. contributed to rise in crime rate
b. Jacob Riis’, How the Other Half Lives, documented affect of alcohol abuse
- saloons corrupted politics
- brought suffering to wives/children of drunkards
- corrupted children – sold to minors

65. Jacob Riis: How the Other Half Lives (1890)

66. 1. Political Machines and the Party Boss
E. Urban Politics
1. Political Machines and the Party Boss
a. Political Machine: An organized group that controls a political party in a city and offers services to voters and biz in exchange for political and financial support
1) why? Cities grew faster than gov’t
2) city dwellers needed housing, jobs, etc.
b. Party bosses (ran machines – often the mayor) exchanged services for votes
c. as a result, urban immigrant groups voted for political machines

67. 2. Graft & Fraud – allowed party boss to control cities finances
a. graft: obtaining $ through dishonest or questionable means
b. Fraud
1) accepted bribes for contracts
2) sold permits to friends to operate public utilities (RR, Water)

68. 3. Tammany Hall – NY political machine. a
3. Tammany Hall – NY political machine a. led by corrupt William M “boss” Tweed
b. controlled city services, including the police

69. Boss Tweed
Boss William Tweed raised corruption to an art form. As a member of New York’s Tammany Hall, Tweed and his cronies, including Mayor Fernando Wood, ran New York in the Civil War era as their own private money factory. Tweed once bought 300 benches for $5 each, then sold them to the city for $600 a pop. And that’s just the tip of it. The building of City Hall was a clinic in graft: the city was charged $7,500 for every thermometer, $41,190 for each broom, and $5.7 million for furniture and carpets. One carpenter even received almost $361,000 for a single month’s work. And although he was crooked as a dog’s hind leg, Tweed does get a bit of credit from some historians for under­ taking many important projects that improved life in New York (albeit at enormous financial gain to himself). Tweed’s illicit profits were said to be in the range of $200 million, and that was in the 1860s! The law eventually caught up with the Boss, though, and he died in prison in Fun Facts about Boss Tweed courtesy of Mental Floss
King of Corruption

70. 4. Despite corruption, political machines weren’t ALL bad
a. provided necessary city services
b. helped to assimilate new immigrants to the city

71. III. Gilded Age

72. The Gilded Age refers to a brief time in American history after the Civil War Restoration era. During this time, the United States experienced a population and economic boom, leading to the creating of an incredibly wealthy upper class. The era lasted only a few short years from , before the market crash of 1893 brought a severe depression to the entire country.

74. In the 1800s, cholera, yellow fever and malaria weren’t uncommon in New York, according to David Rosner, a history professor at Columbia University. Part of the reason: trash, which piled up in NYC streets (apparently, the garbage can had not yet been invented). The close-to-200,000 horses in the city also contributed to the mess—used for transportation, each one created 24 pounds of manure a day, and when the beasts died, they’d be left on the streets to decompose. Pigs also roamed Fifth Avenue. As for all that poop: You’d dig a hole and bury it—along with your own mess. Sewers weren’t created until the 1850s.

75. The Agnew Clinic (1889) by Thomas Eakins