People on the Move

Immigration, Industrialization, Urbanization

Immigration

Why? A chance to improve

“Rags to Riches” Golden opportunity

NYC=“Golden Door” Free land

Homestead Act School, no forced time

in military, could take part in democracy, increased freedom

Who? EXAMPLES: Potato famine in Ireland (1845-

1852) Ireland loses 25% of its

population Germans from Russia Pogroms, violent massacres of

Jews, in Russia (1880s) 2 million emigrated

Italy, fleeing rural poverty & high taxes More than 4 million came to U.S.

between 1880 & 1924

Immigration

Old Immigration (Thru 1880)

Northern or western Europe Irish & German

Literate & skilled Mostly families Quick to assimilate Experience w/

democracy

New Immigration (1880-1920)

Southern or eastern Europe

Fewer Protestants; more Catholics & Jews

Many were illiterate & unskilled

“Birds of passage” Young, single men, planning

to return Less willing to assimilate;

more “clannish” Often poor

1882—Chinese Exclusion Act 1886—Statue of Liberty put in place in NY Harbor 1890—Roughly 10 million immigrants have arrived since the end of the Civil War 1892—Ellis Island opens

70% of immigrants came thru NYC 1892—Gov’t requires all immigrants to pass

physical exam 1910—Mexican Revolution leads to increased # of immigrants from Mexico

Immigration

The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things

Uncle Sam’s Boarding House

Reality….

Jacob Riis, photographer, NYC

OMAHA1860 1,8831880 30,518

1900 102,555

The “Great American

Desert” “Rain follows the plow” New states

Kansas (1861), Nebraska (1867), Colorado (1876), North Dakota & South Dakota (1889), Montana (1889), Oklahoma (1907)

Land taken from Indians through war & declared “public domain” Buffalo Soldiers Little Bighorn, AKA “Custer’s Last Stand (1876) Indian Wars are over after Wounded Knee Massacre (1890) Turner Thesis declares that frontier is closed (1893)

The Shores Family in Custer County, Nebraska

Cherry County Homesteaders

Near Broken Bow

Hilton Family; Custer County

Results

BY 1900: U.S. population triples between 1850 & 1900

23 million to 76 million Frontier closed; Indians forced to assimilate

Increased diversity in the Plains & West Looking for a new frontier

Increased urbanization leads to problems…. Overcrowding, tenements, sanitation issues, crime, corruption, poverty

Nativism/anti-immigration Push for assimilation

Salad bowl or melting pot? U.S. becomes industrial giant, but…

Low wages, long hours, increase in strikes/protests Need for reform

Lack of government involvement/regulation; “laissez-faire”