Life in America at the Turn of the Century

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Life in America at the Turn of the Century

• Minority Issues, Social Life

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A. Minority Issues

• Three groups of people faced minority
• issues during the late 19th century
• 1. Native Americans U.S. govt interaction with
  the Indians mainly focused on getting them onto
  the reservations and assimilating them into the
  American culture. This caused many clashes
  between the two groups.

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2. African Americans

• a. States used segregation to ensure that African
  Americans were treated as second-class citizens.
• i. The separation was a result of customs, which
  means it was de facto (conditions that exist in
  fact, but not actually in law).

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• b. Jim Crow Laws state and local segregation
  laws enacted mostly in the South in the period of
  1876-1965.
• (Du jure segregation)
• c. De facto segregation was occurring in the
  North, too, with segregation and discrimination
  occurring in schools, housing, and employment.

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d. Booker T Washington (1856 - 1915)

• 1. A former slave, Washington would rise to
  prominence in America during the late 1800s.
• 2. He headed the Tuskegee Institute, a college
  for African Americans, which opened in 1881 in
  AL.
• 3. Advocated economic independence for African
  Americans through self-help, hard work, and a
  practical education

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• Imagine this in the heart of the South
• during the Gilded Age
• and Jim Crow
• Can you see the accomplishment
• Tuskegee was????
• Built by the hands and sweat of the tenants..

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3. The Voice of Women

• a. The common belief among Americans was that
  careers and married life did not mix.
• b. Most women who worked were single (This will
  change by the turn of the century, and many
  married women will be working).
• c. Most single female workers were between the
  ages of 16 and 24.
• d. Women were paid 3-5 less a week than men.

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• e. Many were nurses, teachers, clerical workers,
  or telephone operators.
• f. Women also struggled to gain a voice in the
  democratic processes of America.
• g. Susan B. Anthony
  spent over 40 years traveling
  America and
• appearing before Congress, pushing womens
  suffrage.

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• i. Suffrage the right to a voice in government
• ii. 1878- Amendment proposal The right of
  citizens of the United States to vote shall not
  be denied or abridged by the United States or by
  any state on account of sex. (It stalled for the
  2nd time and did not reappear until 1913.)

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• A Immigrants
• Journey to America

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4. Immigrants

• a. Old Immigration vs. New Immigration
• i. Before 1880s, most immigrants were mainly
  from northern and western Europe (old)
• ii. After 1880s, most immigrants came from
  southern and eastern Europe (new)

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Ellis Island

• 1.The most immigrants , about 70, had to pass
• through the inspections at Ellis Island the
  port of entry in New York Harbor.
• 2. Doctors would examine and question each family
  of Immigrants. If an immigrant was found to be
  ill or unfit or had a contagious disease they
  would be placed in quarantine and were often
  returned to their country of origin.
• 3. Government inspectors administered a literacy
  test and all immigrants were to prove that they
  had at least 25.
• 4. Ellis Island at its peak process 11,000
  immigrants a day.

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Ellis Island, New York

• Ellis Island the main point of entry on the East
  Coast.

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• Tactics such as literacy test and health
  certifications were used to stem the tide.
• Anti-Immigration legislation was common but very
  little was passed or had an impact.

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Immigrant being examined and and Americanized on
arrival
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Angel Island

• 1. While most Europeans processed through Ellis
  Island in New York most Asians entered through
  Angel Island in San Francisco bay.
• 2. Angel Island was much more stringent in its
  questioning and examinations of Asian immigrant.
• 3. Asian Immigrants were treated like prisoners
  and as a result riots broke out often over the
  conditions, the most serious occurring in 1919.

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Western Point of entry

• Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, was the main
  point of entry for Asians into the United States.

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Assimilation and conflict

• 1. Immigrants from all regions of the world
  experienced what would be known as Cultural
  Shock or a confusion and bewilderment at a
  culture and language they did not know or
  understand.
• 2. Immigrants tended to settle in areas of the
  cities that shared their language or cultures,
  Little Italy, Germantown, and Chinatown all
  became famous ethnic enclaves.
• 3. Immigrants fought discrimination by creating
  social associations or benevolent societies
  through which they could borrow money, buy
  insurance, find work, etc.
• 4. Ethnic newspapers were established as well as
  schools directed at that cultural group.

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• iii. By 1890, the new immigrants made up
• 70 of the immigrants coming to the U.S.
• iv. Nativism
• New immigrants did not assimilate well
• They filled jobs that many Americans
  would not take.
• Resulted in Nativism-
• prejudice of native-born
• Americans against immigrants

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Assimilation and conflict

• 1. Immigrants from all regions of the world
  experienced what would be known as Cultural
  Shock or a confusion and bewilderment at a
  culture and language they did not know or
  understand.
• 2. Immigrants tended to settle in areas of the
  cities that shared their language or cultures,
  Little Italy, Germantown, and Chinatown all
  became famous ethnic enclaves.
• 3. Immigrants fought discrimination by creating
  social associations or benevolent societies
  through which they could borrow money, buy
  insurance, find work, etc.
• 4. Ethnic newspapers were established as well as
  schools directed at that cultural group.

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Ethnic DiversityLittle Italy in New York
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China Town in San Francisco
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Urban Growth 1870 - 1900

• Which city had the largest population in 1900?
• Who do you think a lot of its residents were?
• How did the people of that area feel about the
  newcomers?

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• Statue of Liberty!
• Medical / legal inspections WHY?!?
• Ethnic enclaves

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• v. Most of the immigrants ended up with
  low-paying jobs, living in terrible conditions.
  It was common for them to end up in cramped and
  overcrowded living areas known as dumbbell
  tenements

Dumbbell Tenement, NYC
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Tenement Slum Living
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Struggling Immigrant Families
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b. Push and Pull Factors of Immigration

• i. Pulled by the promise of the American dream.
• ii. Pushed by famine, racial/religious/political
  discrimination, lack of opportunity in their
  homeland.

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Dumbbell Tenements

• Most were located close to industries and air
  pollution contributed to ill health in children.
• Jacob Riis would expose the problems of tenement
  living in the book How the other half lives.
• High rates of crime, alcoholism, and suicide
  occurred in tenements.

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• HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES READING

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c. Chinese Exclusion Act

• i. Passed in 1882
• ii. Excluded all Chinese laborers for 10 years
• iii. First immigration law passed in the U.S.
  targeted at a specific ethnic group

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• Pacific Chivalry, Thomas Nast, 1869

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d. Immigration Restriction League

• i. Founded in 1894
• ii. Proposed a literacy test that all immigrants
  must pass in order to enter the country
• iii. Vetoed by President Cleveland as narrow
  and un-American

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• A Nation of Immigrants A Cartoonist Looks at the
  Times

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B. Social Life

• 1. Upper-class Americans lived lavishly and got
  richer.
• 2. Middle-class Americans moved to comfortable
  suburbs and commuted on trains to work.
• 3. Lower-class Americans lived in city apartments
  and old neighborhoods that were dilapidated and
  overcrowded.

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• 4. Some urban workers moved into towns with
  housing built specifically for them (company
  towns)
• 5. Others found apartments and tenements
  (low-cost apartments that were overcrowded)

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• 6. A glance at life in the city
• a. Hundreds of people were packed into
• places intended only for a few families.
• b.. Due to poverty, overcrowding, and neglect,
  city neighborhoods began to decline.
• c. Trees and grass disappeared soot
• filled the air creating dark and foul
• conditions in the light of day.

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• 7. Jane Addams page 231
• a. Settlement house large
• buildings in urban immigrant
• neighborhoods that provided
• services for neighbors
• and sought to remedy poverty.
• b. What was the name of the settlement
• house founded by Jane Addams? Where
• was it located?
• c. What were Addams goals (What did
• she hope to do/provide for the people she
  
• was helping?)

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• 8. Social Gospel
• During the late 1800s and on into the 20th
  century, people began protesting the way of life
  forced upon the financially misfortunate
  Americans.
• One result of this was a new movement known as
  Social Gospel, which urged people to apply
  Christian principles to the countrys social
  problems.
• Many churches began providing services such as
  job training and education.

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• 9. Changes in Education
• a. As life grew more difficult for those
• with little education, reformers pushed
• to expand the education system.
• b. Compulsory Education Laws required
• students to go to school from 1870-
• 1900, the of students in public
• schools doubled.