Urban America Chapter 13 - PowerPoint Presentation

Urban America Chapter 13 ImmigrationSection 1 Go Hornets

Immigration In the late 19th new immigrants flooded into America and settled into ethnic neighborhoods in the large cities. American feared that these new immigrants would not adapt to the American culture, but would become harmful to the American society. They came for better jobs, to escape the European class system, overpopulation in their countries and to escaped military service in their home countries. Most came over on steamships and after 14 days from Europe would end at Ellis Island, NY for processing to America.

Ellis Island

Immigration Ellis Island saw about 12 million people from 1892-1954. Most (over half)immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe. It took them about a day to be processed for life in America. They were medically examined and if they failed inspection, they may be sent back to Europe. When they left they often did not go far, but settled in large towns that already had large ethnic populations of their nationality. How well they adjusted depended on how quickly they learned English and adapted to American culture.

Immigration B y the mid 1800s the Asian population in America grew dramatically due to civil unrest in their country. Many came over to work on the railroad. By the early 1900 they were joined by the Japanese who came to America for economic opportunity. They came to the Angel Island facility off of San Francisco to await their immigration hearings. the large influx of immigrants led to strong feelings of nativism in America. The nativist had an extreme dislike for immigrants which led to the desire to cut off immigration into the United States. The Labor Unions oppossed immigration because they believed that the immigrants would work for low wages and cause Americans to lose their jobs

Angel Island

Immigration In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act which barred Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented those already here from becoming citizens. In 1906 in the city of San Francisco there was an order that all Chinese, Japanese and Korean children had to attend a racial segregated Oriental School. President Theodore Roosevelt got the city to rescind the order with a promise to curtail the immigration of Japanese into the country.

Urban America Chapter 13 Urbanization & The Gilded Age Section 2 Go Hornets

Urbanization Native born Americans and immigrants were drawn to the cities by the availability of jobs in industry. In the big cities the wealthy people and the working class lived in different areas as did the middle class.The rich often lived in the fashionable districts in the heart of the city in palatial homes . The middle class moved away from the city’s center and into early suburbs . The working class could not afford their own homes and lived in tenement areas in the old parts of downtown. A growing number of women were taking jobs outside of the home. If they were educated it meant teaching and clerical work or domestic work or long hours in factories if they weren’t. Most women filled these roles especially the immigrant women.

Urbanization city living posed the risk of crimes, violence, fire, disease and pollution. The poor were most often the ones living in areas where these problems were the greatest. Little care was given to the problems in these areas because the people were viewed as unimportant. This just further acerbated the problem. The cities were also dealing with the issue of moving massive amounts of people around the city quickly. San Francisco built cable cars, Richmond had electric trolleys while Boston and New York built subways for underground travel.

The Gilded Age While Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest) was prevalent during this time others believed that steps needed to be taken to help those less fortunate.People like Andrew Carnegie paid for public libraries in many cities and practiced public philanthropy(giving to those with need)

The Gilded Age The plight of the urban poor prompted some to find new ways to aid those in need. The Salvation Army combined faith and interest in reform. It offered practical aid and religious counseling to the urban poor. Jane Adams opened a settlement house in Chicago known as the Hull House to act as a community center where reformers resided and offered everything from medical care, to kindergarten, and recreational programs for the poor. It served to inspire others to open community houses .

Urban America Chapter 13 The Rise of Segregation &Democratic Reforms Section 3 Go Hornets

Populism & the Rise of Segregation After the civil War southern states had passed laws that continued to erode African American rights and introduce segregation. In the North African Americans were barred from many places but in the South segregation (separation) and discrimination were often enforced with laws. These laws became known as the Jim Crow Laws which got it name from a derogatory term for blacks. Southern segregation and discrimination laws were part of everyday society.

Populism and the Rise of Segregation Plessy v. Ferguson was a Supreme Court case that involved Homer Plessy sitting in a whites only train car.He challenged the Jim Crow law due to the fourteenth amendment thinking the Supreme Court would demand his rights of citizenship over segregation laws. The outcome however was the Court upholding the ability to racially segregate as long as all else remained equal (it wasn’t).

Populism and the Rise of Segregation Segregation was not going to go unchallenged by many of the early civil rights advocates such as Ida B. Wells, Mary Terrell and W.E.B. Dubois.These tireless workers would push the early framework for racial acceptance and were responsible for such institutions as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) who fought for the civil and legal rights of black Americans.

Urban America Chapter 13 Democratic ReformsSection 4 Go Hornets

Democratic Reforms (in Wisconsin) During the Progressive Era the reform movement was to make political system more democratic and responsive to the citizens. Wisconsin became a model of progressive reforms with their new government reforms. Wisconsin had a direct primary where all the party members could vote on who ran in the general election (as opposed to a small group deciding this for the whole party).

Democratic Reforms (in Wisconsin) They also pushed for additional reforms; the initiative , the referendum , and the recall . The initiative permitted a group of citizens to propose legislation and the state legislators had to vote on it . The referendum that citizens could directly vote on proposed laws without going through the House first. The recall provided voters an option to demand a special election to remove an elected official from office before his or her term had expired.

Democratic Reforms (in Wisconsin) Progressives also targeted the Senate for reform. The Senators were originally elected by the House and not the citizens. This opened the process to corruption from businesses interest so to counter this reformers pushed for direct election of Senators by the states voters . This would later be adopted by the federal government and become the 17 th amendment to the Constitution.

Social Reforms Other reforms in industry and labor laws involved the reforms against child labor and health and safety codes. Child labor was prevalent in industry such as coal mines were 9 and 10 year olds stayed down in mines for 10 or more hours a day. The working conditions in many industries were unregulated by the government so they had no reason to change. Accident victims received no compensation when harmed in factories due to unsafe working conditions. Social reforms would come slow in these areas due to the publics need for the jobs and the government refusal to regulate business. Quiz next slide