What Was Life Like in the Cities?

IMMIGRATION NOTES

“OLD IMMIGRANTS”
(1840 – 1870) / “NEW IMMIGRANTS”
(1880 – 1920)
Came mostly from North West Europe.
¨  Britain
¨  France
¨  Scandinavia
→ most were farmers who came for land / Came mostly from South and East Europe and
¨ Italy
¨ Greece
¨ Russia
¨ Poland
¨ Ireland
→ most came for jobs (industry)
¨  PUSH FACTORS: reasons people LEFT their countries.
Ø  Emigrate: means to leave a country
¨  PULL FACTORS: reasons people were ATTRACTED TO a new country
Ø  Immigrate: means to enter a country
PUSH FACTORS / PULL FACTORS
Ø  Most immigrants were small farmers. Overcrowding leads to a scarcity (shortage) of land.
Ø  Political persecution
Ø  Religious persecution
§  Pogroms in Russia – organized, methodical attacks on Russian Jews
Ø  Mexican Revolution: causes famine and disorder
Ø  China: poverty
Ø  Crop failures throughout Europe and Potato Famine in Ireland / Ø  Promise of political and religious freedom
Ø  Industry: Jobs available in factories
Ø  Homestead Act: United States government is giving away land in the Great Plains

Quote: “First the streets were not paved with gold. Second, the streets were not paved at all. Third, they expected me to pave them.”

DREAM VS. REALITY
Ø  Wealth ($) – “streets paved with gold”
Ø  Better living conditions
Ø  Political and religious freedom
Ø  Equality
Ø  Cheap land in the west
Ø  Good jobs / Ø  Low paying jobs
Ø  Discrimination
Ø  Poor living conditions:
- tenements/slums
Ø  Land was not inexpensive

WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE IN THE CITIES?

POSITIVES / NEGATIVES
Ø  Jobs
Ø  Cheap housing
Ø  More production
Ø  Opportunity
Ø  Entertainment
-  baseball, football, & basketball
-  vaudeville ( shows that included comedians, singers, dances and acrobats)
-  Ragtime ( a new kind of upbeat music) / Ø  Poverty
Ø  Overcrowding
Ø  Crime and violence
Ø  Tenements
Tenements -1 or two rooms per family.
Ø  - no bathrooms
Ø  - no windows
Ø  - no garbage collection
Ø  - disease was commonplace.
Ø  - pollution from factories
-
Ø 

RESTRICTIONS ON IMMIGRATION

Many nativists resented the wave of “new immigrants” coming into the United States.

Ø  They thought they were culturally different and would never assimilate.

Ø  They resented that many immigrants accepted low wages.

Pressured by nativists Congress passes a series of laws to limit immigration…….

1)  Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – an act that barred the immigration of Chinese laborers

2)  Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907) an unofficial agreement between the United States and Japan.

3)  Literacy Test (1917) – after numerous vetoes, Congress passes a law that denies entry into the United States to anyone who can not read their own language

4)  Quota Act (1921 &1924) – allows only a certain amount of people from each country into the United States. This act favors immigration from northern and western Europe