Immigration

in the 1900s

“Old Immigration”When the 13

colonies were established, most

immigrants to America were

from England.

Between 1840-1850, 1.5 million immigrants came to America. Nearly ½ were from Ireland due to the potato famine of that

country. Most settled in New York City or Boston

Ireland

England

France

“New Immigration”By 1920, most

immigrants coming to the United States were

from southern and eastern Europe

Italy

Poland

Greece

Russia

Most immigrants came from Italy, Poland or Hungary and many were Jews

New Immigration

The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor was the symbol of America to many immigrants looking for a new life

A Land of Hope

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teaming shore. Send these, the homeless, the tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

-- Statue of Liberty

Immigrants coming into New York were stopped at Ellis Island

Ellis Island

Incoming immigrants were given a physical to check for

diseases and their criminal record was checked

Ethnic Cities – Little Italy

Little Italy, New York City, circa 1901

By the late 1800s, immigrants made up a great portion of the country’s largest cities, including New York City, Chicago and Boston

Ethnic Cities - ChinatownImmigrants

lived in their own separate

neighborhoods – like Little

Italy or Chinatown –

and kept many of their former

traditions.

Chinatown, New York City

Tenement dwellingsImmigration led to a massive increase in the number of slums in U.S. cities.

Tenements – cheaply built apartment buildings – were often overcrowded

and lacked many necessities.

Jacob RiisHow the Other Half Lives

Jacob Riis was a journalist whose books gave a vivid account of the life for ethnic groups of New York City

living in this tenement slums

Child LaborImmigrant children were put to work in

sweatshops – businesses with harsh working

conditions

Businesses wanted to hire children because they were a cheap source of labor.

Triangle Shirtwaist FactoryThe Triangle Shirtwaist

Factory fire in New York City in 1911 was the largest industrial disaster in the history of New York City

When a fire broke out in the factory,

workers were locked in and could not get out.

The Rise of NativismThe flood of immigrants into

the U.S. worried many Americans who felt their way

of life could be changed.

Nativism is an extreme dislike for foreigners by native-born

people and a desire to limit immigration.

The Rise of Nativism

New immigrants were easy scapegoats for the fear of social change that many

experienced due to the rapid changes based on the

Industrial Revolution.

Workers blamed immigrants for low wages or shortages of employment. A resentment of foreigners crept into America’s attitudes.

Asian ImmigrationDuring the late 1800s, the west coast (California) saw a boom in the amount of immigrants coming from Asia.

Most Chinese immigrants came to America because

over-crowding in China led to high unemployment, poverty

and famine.

Chinese Exclusion ActThe Chinese Exclusion Act

was the law passed by Congress that greatly reduced the amount of Asian immigrants coming to America in the late 1800s.

The law barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and

prevented the Chinese from becoming U.S. citizens.

Summary• Beginning in the late 1800s, most immigrants coming

to the U.S. were from southern and eastern Europe• Immigrants lived in their own separate neighborhoods

and kept many of their former traditions.• Immigration led to a massive increase in the number

of slums and tenement buildings in U.S. cities.• Workers blamed immigrants for low wages or

shortages of employment. A resentment of foreigners crept into America’s attitudes.

Urban Lifein theU.S.

in the 1800s

With the great increase in urban populations, there was

an increase in urban problems such as crime, violence,

disease and air pollution

Urban Problems

Native-born Americans often blamed immigrants for the increase in crime.

Government interventionAs the 20th century (1900s) began, many people

began to see that the poor people living in urban areas were in need of help.

They began calling on the government to take a more active role in regulating the economy and

helping those in need.

Settlement HousesSettlement Houses

were places in poor neighborhoods that

provided services such as medical care, childcare,

libraries, and classes in English

The most famous settlement house was Chicago’s Hull House (above), which was

started by Jane Addams

Jane AddamsFounder of the U.S. Settlement

House movement, and one of the first women to be awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize

In 1889 she co-founded Hull House in Chicago the first settlement house in the United States.

Lillian WaldLillian Wald was a nurse, social worker, public health official, teacher, writer, women's rights activist, and the founder of American community nursing.

Her unselfish devotion to humanity is recognized around the world and her visionary programs have been copied everywhere.

Urban ReformsReform efforts gave rise to the Salvation Army beginning in 1878. It offered a practical aid and religious counseling to the urban poor.

The YMCA tried to help organized Bible studies,

prayer meetings, citizenship training and

group activities.

SkyscrapersAs cities grew, engineers and

architects developed new approaches to housing and transportation for a

large amount of people

With a limited amount of land

and space, businesses had to build up, not out. This led to the building of

skyscrapers.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Flatiron_Building_1910.jpg

Bell develops telephone

The free enterprise system helped to lead to new inventions by private businesses. One of the most dramatic inventions of the late 1800s was in the field of communications.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell developed the first telephone, which revolutionized

communication by increasing the scale and speed of nationwide communications.

"Mr. Watson -- come here -- I want to see you."

Edison and the Light BulbIn 1879, American inventor Thomas

Edison developed the first light bulb. The invention led to the wide spread use of electrical power and factories being able to run at night.

Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding

1,093 U.S. patents in his name.

This in turn produced more jobs and more

product, which led to lower prices.

The Bessemer ProcessThe Bessemer Process was the innovation that made it cheaper to produce steel

It was used in the U.S. by Andrew

Carnegie to build his steel empire

The Wright Brothers

A major advancement occurred in the field of transportation occurred on December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina when the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane

Rise of Mass Transit System

1910 – First Trolley Car

1909 – New York City Subway

As cities like New York City, Chicago and San Francisco grew, they moved to improve transportation

This led to the development of mass transit to move large

amounts of people around cities quickly.

Time Zones developed

Summary• With the great increase in urban populations, there

was an increase in urban problems such as crime, violence, disease and air pollution

• With a limited amount of land and space, businesses began to build skyscrapers.

• Settlement houses were places located in poor neighborhoods that provided numerous community services for immigrants coming into the country

• New inventions such as the light bulb, the telegraph, the telephone, the trolley car and railroads helped to increase the nation’s productive capacity and improve communication and transportation

The Birthof

Unions

The Industrial Revolution

By 1900, the U.S. was the leading industrial nation in the world as millions left rural areas to work in the city

This happened due to an abundance of natural resources, a booming

population, new inventions and the free enterprise system

Free Enterprise SystemThe free

enterprise system is the

economic system in which the citizens of a nation are free

to run a business (or

enterprise) the way they want

The system is based on the laissez-faire theory, meaning a business

will succeed or fail and the government will not interfere

Early UnionsThe free enterprise system meant that businesses

made their own rules

Without government interference, business owners could pay their workers what they wanted

and make them work as long as they wanted

Industrialization during the late 1800s contributed to the development of organized labor because it

created low-wage, low-skill jobs that made employees easy to replace.

Suppressing the Unions

• Union organizers were blacklisted, making it impossible for them to get a job

• Businesses locked workers out and refused to pay them• Workers were forced to sign contracts saying they

would not join a union

Karl Marx

Marx argued that free market capitalism, like previous socio-economic systems, will inevitably produce

internal tensions which will lead to its destruction

Karl Marx was the German philosopher, whose ideas

are credited as the foundation

of modern communism.

Marx believed that workers would eventually revolt, take control of factories, and overthrow the government. Once the workers did this, the new workers-led government would take all private property and distribute wealth evenly among every citizen.

Marxism

Marxism greatly influenced European unions and led to numerous revolutions in Europe in the mid-1800s. When immigrants came to the U.S. from Europe, many feared they would bring their ideas of workers revolutions with them, leading to a distrust of many Americans of immigrant workers.

Mary Harris “Mother” JonesMother Jones was the nation’s most

prominent woman union leader during the American Industrial Revolution

Jones became an organizer for the United Mine

Workers

She traveled to numerous mining camps to see conditions miners had to endure. She gave fiery speeches for miners to unite to fight for better working conditions and better pay.

Great Railroad Strike of 1877In 1877, a economic recession

led to some railroads cutting wages, triggering the first nationwide labor strike. It

became known as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

Some workers turned violent and numerous states

had to call out their state militias to stop the violence.

Knights of LaborIn response to the Great

Railroad Strike of 1877, labor organizers formed the first

nationwide industrial union – the Knights of Labor.

The Knights called for an eight-hour workday, supported the use of arbitration AND began to organize strikes.

Haymarket RiotThe Haymarket Riot was the disturbance that took place on May 4, 1886, in Chicago, and began as a rally in support of striking workers.

A bomb was thrown during the rally, which started a riot. Eight men were convicted and four of them were executed. One of the

men who was arrested was a member of the Knights of Labor.

Union membership declined because more people saw unions as being Un-American

Impact of Haymarket Riot

Eugene V. DebsEugene V. Debs was the powerful

leader of the American

Railway Union.

Debs would run for president four times as a candidate for

the Socialist Party

American Federation of LaborThe American Federation

of Labor was the union of over 20 trade unionsSamuel

Gompers was the union’s first leader.

Gompers believed unions should stay out of politics and that they should negotiate rather than go on strike.

Pullman StrikeThe Pullman Strike

refers to a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred near Chicago in 1894.

Following the firing of union workers, Debs

organized a strike that shut down the nation’s railroads

and threatened the economy.

IWW (Wobblies)The International Workers of the World (IWW) is the union

created in Chicago in 1905 that was made up primarily of

socialists and anarchists

The IWW called for all workers to be united as a

class and no wage system

Women’s Trade Union LeagueIn the early 1900s, women were

paid less than men, and most unions did not include women.

As a result, in 1903 the Women’s

Trade Union League was

formed

This was the first union organized to address women’s labor issues.

Summary• The free enterprise system is based on the laissez-faire

theory, meaning that the government should not interfere with or regulate business

• Industrialization contributed to the development of labor unions because it created low-wage, low-skill jobs that made employees easy to replace

• The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 led to the first nationwide industrial union – the Knights of Labor

• Samuel Gompers formed the American Federation of Labor, the largest trade union in the nation