Chapter 20: Immigrants and Urban Life

​Between 1865 and 1914, 25 million Europeans immigrated to the United States.

By the late 1890's, more than half of all immigrants were from Southern and Eastern Europe

More than 70% of them were men

​Wars

Forced Military Service

Famine or High Food Prices

Religious Persecution

Overpopulated

Availability of Jobs in USA

​Most immigrants booked passage in steerage, the cheapest accommodations available

Passage to the United States often cost a life's savings

Entire families would often save enough to send one or two family members

​Ellis Island- Port where new immigrants landed in New York Harbor

Immigrants filed past a doctor for an initial inspection

Many were turned away for various reasons. (Contagious diseases or legal problems.)

Only Two Percent were turned away

​Due to huge number of immigrants, inspectors had two minutes to complete the examination process.

Many feared being sent back home

Some immigrants had their names changed because inspectors did not have the patience to try and spell their "Foreign Names."

Although, some immigrants changed their name on their own to fit in

​Polish names drop the Ski... Laskowski to Laskow

German names changed from Schmidt to Smith

Scandinavian names changed from Johannsson to Johnson

French names changed from Bleu to Blue

Spanish names changed from Blanco to White

Jewish names dropped the Berg and Steins from their surname.

The goal of this was to "Sound American" and assimilate to American society.

​Most immigrants settled in the nations cities

Immigrants made up a large percentage of New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit

Immigrants tended to move into ethnically similar neighborhoods. (Ex, Little Italy, Chinatown)

​Many immigrants lived in crowded Tenement Buildings

Families shared living space while decent lighting and fresh air were scarce

Tenements were very unhealthy places to live

​Danish Immigrant

Rich to Poor to Middle Class

Photographed life of immigrants in tenements and slums

Wrote the book, "How the Other Half Lives.

​Lack of indoor Plumbing

No Ventilation

No electricity

Light and heat from oil only

No furniture

No safety codes

​Mid 1800's, China's population is exploding

Country suffered from poverty, unemployment, and famine

Thousands came to USA

Railroads

Western cities

Some American Businesses would not hire them, so they opened up their own businesses

​Nativism- extreme dislike of immigrants

First surfaced in 1840/50's against Irish

Then focused on Jews, Asians, Catholics, and Eastern Europeans

Feared influx of Catholics would Destroy the Protestant United States

Labor Unions thought immigrants undermined American workers because they worked for low wages

​Chinese Exclusion Act- (1882)law banning Chinese immigration for 10 years and prevented Chinese already in USA from becoming citizens

Congress renewed law for decades

Theodore Roosevelt agreed to limit Japanese immigration if San Francisco would end school segregation