History 1302

Dr. James Patterson

Urbanization
 Rural/Urban Ratio: 1860-1920

100
83
80 67
60 49 51

40 33
17
20
0
1860 1900 1920

RURAL URBAN
 The Factory and the City Reinforced
Each Other's Growth.

By1920, more than 50% of the

U.S. resided in urban (city) areas.
 European Immigration

25 million immigrants entered

the U.S. between 1866 and
1915.
Why do they come?
Has this changed today?
 The Statue of Liberty
“Give me your poor,
your tired, your huddled
masses yearning to be
free. The wretched
refuse of your teeming
shore. Send them, the
homeless, tempest -
tossed to me. I lift my
lamp beside the golden
door.” Still true today?
Copyright + 1999 by Harcourt Brace & Company All rights reserved
 European Immigration

25million between 1866

and 1915
Why do they come?

Prior
to 1896--mostly
"good" immigrants—from
northern and western Europe
 European Immigration

25 million between 1866

and 1915
Why do they come?
Prior to 1896--mostly
"good" immigrants
After1896--primarily
"bad" immigrants—from
southern and eastern Europe
 Sources of Immigration
More Italians lived in New York City than in Naples, Italy.
More Irish lived in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland.
New York City had the largest Jewish community in the world.
Copyright + 1999 by Harcourt Brace & Company All rights reserved
 Perceived Problems of
"Bad" Immigrants

Did not speak English

 Perceived Problems of "Bad"
Immigrants

Did not speak English

Oftenilliterate in their own
language
1
5
 Perceived Problems of "Bad"
Immigrants

Did not speak English

Often illiterate in their own language

Were not Protestant

Jewish
Orthodox Catholic
 Perceived Problems of
"Bad" Immigrants

Did not speak English

Often illiterate in their own
language
Were not Protestant
– Jewish and Orthodox Catholic

Noexperience with
democracy
 Perceived Problems of
"Bad" Immigrants

Did not speak English

Often illiterate in their own language
Were not Protestant
– Jewish and Orthodox Catholic
No experience with democracy

Slow to assimilate
 Perceived Problems of
"Bad" Immigrants

Did not speak English

Often illiterate in their own language
Were not Protestant
– Jewish and Orthodox Catholic
No experience with democracy
Slow to assimilate
– Enclaves, intermarriage,
language, newspapers,
ethnic clothing, holidays
The Nativism of "Real" Americans
Greets the New Arrivals
Xenophobia--fear of takeover
Competition for jobs
Derogatory nicknames
– Kike, Wop, Dago,
Greaseball,
Chink, Bohunk
Blamed for all of
America's ills
“Looking Backward”
The Jewish race often experienced
prosperity sooner than other, so-called,
"bad" immigrants, because they:
migrated as entire family units
were used to city life
had cultural values emphasizing
skills useful in the U.S.
planned on permanent
residence--brought life
savings with them
formed support groups
 Urban Lifestyle of the
Lower Socio-economic
Group
Need for multiple paychecks
Splintering effect on family
Drudgery of housework
Substandard housing
Poor health
 An Immigrant Mother’s Lament

• I have a little boy at home, a pretty

little son;
• I think sometimes the world is mine
in him, my only one.
• 'Ere dawn my labor drives me
forth-tis night when I am free;
• A stranger am I to my child. And
stranger my child to me.
 Urban Health Issues
• Outhouses
• Smokestacks
• Polluted drinking water
• Irregular garbage pickup
• Disease
• Drug use, alcoholism
• Gangs, crime
• Traffic congestion
• Fire
 Urban Health Issues
• Horse manure
– (150,000 work horses @ 20 lbs. each in NY City)
– Breeding ground for flies, disease
– Dried horse dung travelled by wind.
• Dead horses
• Noise pollution
 A horse carcass lies in the street in a
New York tenement district about 1900.
Copyright + 1999 by Harcourt Brace & Company All rights reserved
 Other Ills

• Hunger
• Factory injuries
• Child labor / unattended
children at home
• Political corruption
Here are two Jacob Photographing Poverty in the Slums of
Riis photographs, New York
“Five Cents a Spot”
and “Home of an
Italian Ragpicker.”
Home, Sweet Home
 Mulberry Street in New York City about
1900.
Copyright + 1999 by Harcourt Brace & Company All rights reserved
 New York,
1905

The intersection of Orchard and Hester Streets on

New York’s Lower East Side
Overcrowded Tenements
San Antonio,
1879

Mexican Americans in San Antonio continued to

conduct their traditional market bazaar well after the
incorporation of this region into the United States.
History 1302
Dr. James Patterson