How the Other Half Lives

• A writer and photographer named Jacob Riis wrote a book about the terrible living conditions of the new immigrants in the US.

• Lewis Hine was also a photographer that took pictures of child labor and helped to create labor law to protect young children.

The Facts• As many as 10 families would live in a small apartment built

for one small family. • At the start of the 1900s, the highest immigrant populations

in the nation resided in four of its largest cities: New York; Boston, Massachusetts; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Chicago, Illinois

• The tenements did not provide adequate water, air, or sewage or garbage removal systems.

• Many people who lived in the slums became victims of crime or disease.

• Landlords took advantage of the high demand and charged high prices for small rooms or even closets!

• As you watch this short video on the next slide think about why these people came to America?

• Were the conditions better here than their home countries?

• Why do you think they lived that way?

Video Clip

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BUkOtWnVak

Write your answers down…

1. Write down one word to describe a feeling you had during the clip.

2. Why do you think people agreed to live this way?

• Now we are going to look at a few pictures• Be ready to answer 1-2 questions about it

picture

Photo by Lewis Hine

• How old are the children in the picture?• Do you think they had a choice to work?

Photo by Jacob Riis

• Why do you think the three boys were sleeping in on the street?

Photo by Jacob Riis

• Do you think it is safe to live in the apartment pictured?

• If more people knew about these kinds of living conditions do you think they would have tried to change it?

THE ANSWER OF LUDLOW STREETFrom Jacob Riis

• That was six years ago—six hard, weary years. They had worked together, he at his push-cart, Sarah for the sweater, earning a few cents finishing “pants” when she could. Little Judah did his share, pulling thread, until his sister came and he had to mind her. Together they had kept a roof overhead, and less and less to eat, till Judah had to give up his cart. Between the fierce competition and the police blackmail it would no longer keep body and soul together for its owner. A painter in the next house was in need of a hand, and Judah apprenticed himself to him for a dollar a day. If he could hold out a year or two, he might earn journeyman’s wages and have steady work. The boss saw that he had an eye for the business. But, though Judah’s eye was good, he lacked the “strong stomach” which is even more important to a painter. He had starved so long that the smell of the paint made him sick and he could not work fast enough. So the boss discharged him. “The sheeny was no good,” was all the character he gave him

• Why was it so hard for the people in the story to find a good paying job?

• Why was the man not able to keep his job as a painter?

• Do you think this was common for immigrants to deal with?

Assignment

• Take a critical stance on the following:Should the government regulate

immigration with things like laws and quotas? Yes or no and explain• Your answer needs to at least 2 full paragraphs

long.