CHAPTER 16THE TRANSFORMATION OF

AMERICAN SOCIETYSection 1

The New Immigrants

The Lure of America• Old Immigrants (1800-1880)– More than 10 million, mostly Protestants

from northwestern Europe• New Immigrants (1891-1910)– More than 12 million, mostly Catholics,

Orthodox or Jewish from southern or eastern Europe

– What were two major reasons for moving to the U.S.?

– Some people made enough $$ to go back home while others stayed

– By early 1900s, over 60 percent of people living in 12 largest U.S. cities were immigrants

Arriving in America• First steps in U.S. for new immigrants –

Angel Island (SF Bay) or Ellis Island (NY Harbor)

• Ellis Island– Opened in 1892, near the Statue of Liberty– Order of events

• Physical exam, interview with immigration inspector

– Reasons why people could be sent back• Mental disorders or other contagious diseases;

criminal records; no means to support themselves– Most were allowed to stay

http://www.ellisisland.org/photoalbums/ellis_island_then.asp

New Life in America• An improvement but most still

struggled• Typical Immigrant Life – – Worked low-paying unskilled jobs– Small apartments in crowded

neighborhoods or slums• Immigrant Communities – – Lived with their own people, made the

transition easier financially and culturally

New Life in America• Assimilation – – Giving up the practices of your

homeland to blend into American culture

– Many names were Americanized– Done more by children. Why?

Nativist Response• Many saw immigrants as a threat• Therefore, they were blamed for… – Social problems – crime, poverty, violence,

radical political ideas – Economic problems – many argued their

willingness to work cheaply took away jobs and lowered pay

• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – – Denied citizenship to people born in China– Prohibited immigration of Chinese laborers– Led to increased violence against Chinese

• Why were the Chinese excluded and not other ethnicities?

Nativist Response• Immigration Restriction League – – Wanted to impose a literacy test on all

immigrants• Legislation was passed by Congress but

vetoed by President Grover Cleveland• Benefits of immigration – – Rapid industrialization would have been

impossible without help of immigrant workers– Added aspects of new cultures to American

life

CHAPTER 16THE TRANSFORMATION OF

AMERICAN SOCIETYSection 2

The Urban World

The Changing City• Cities before 1860 – compact, few

buildings taller than four or five stories• Between 1865 and 1900, percentage

doubled• Skyscrapers – multi-story buildings built to

allow more people in cities– Steel frames– Brought more workers to city business districts

• Elisha Otis – – Invented the elevator in 1852 that allowed

people and materials to be moved easily

The Changing City• Mass transit – – Public transportation such as electric

commuter trains, subways and trolley cars

– Allowed people to travel longer distances to get to work

• Suburbs – – Residential neighborhoods on the

outskirts of a city

Upper Class Life• Urban upper class took on a new

look in late 1800s–Nouveau riche – French for “newly

rich”– Examples – Carnegie, Rockefeller

and Vanderbilt• What is conspicuous

consumption?

Middle Class Life• Rise of modern corporations brought

accountants, clerks, engineers, managers and salespeople into the middle class

• Professionalization – set standards for professions, brought more respect to these jobs

• Middle Class Women

Life in the Cities• Living conditions for working-class city-

dwellers became worse• Tenements – – Poorly-built apartment buildings, home to

many immigrants in large cities like New York City

– As many as 12 families lived on a single floor of a tenement

– Raw sewage and garbage• African Americans faced worst

discrimination

Drive for Reform• Settlement houses – Community-service centers in poor

neighborhoods• Jane Addams – Started Hull House in a Chicago immigrant

neighborhood– Goals – provide opportunities to poor,

improve living conditions

CHAPTER 16THE TRANSFORMATION OF

AMERICAN SOCIETYSection 3

Daily Life in the Cities

Education/Publishing• Education– Compulsory education laws – required parents

to send children to school• Publishing– Large increase in literacy and newspapers– Circulation wars – • Battles between newspapers in the same

city for readers• Example – Pulitzer’s World against Hearst’s

New York Journal– Yellow journalism • Use of sensational news stories, fancy

graphics, photos and cartoons

Leisure Time• Frederick Law Olmsted – – Designed Central Park in NYC and

helped start the City Beautiful movement

• Entertainment– Vaudeville “light play” – • Variety show that featured wide selection

of short performances– Ragtime – • New type of music that was radically

different from anything else• Scott Joplin – the King of Ragtime