Monday: Discussed the extra credit opportunity about the Civil War veteran of Iowa at 10 Saturday morning. Mr. Bruns presented to us ways to improve out presentations. Were told about incoming project. Either a chapter section of family genealogy presentation.
Tuesday: Mr. Bruns presented to us while we took notes.
Wednesday: Took notes on presentation
Thursday: Took notes on the presentation
Friday: Took notes on the presentation
Key Questions:
Ch. 7.1:
Why did immigrants come to the US?
*Came for jobs and sometimes to reunite with family
*Famine
*Land Shortages
*Religious political persecution
*In debt or in trouble
*More opportunities-$$-The American Dream
*Farming (Homestead Act), mining, working on the railroad, cattle ranching, factory work
*Reunite with family
Where did immigrants come from?
*Germany
*Italy
*Great Britain
*Ireland
*Europe
*China
*Japan
Old Immigrants: W.A.S.P.
W- white
A- Anglo
S- Saxons
P- Protestants
Nativism- Comes across that we are welcoming but we are welcoming to the WASP immigrants not the new immigrants
Steps To America
Step One- Leaving America
*It was common for one person from a family to come to America first
*They would save to eventually bring others
*From 1900-1910, almost 95% of the immigrants arriving at Ellis Island were joining either family or friends
*In 1901, between 40% and 65% came either on prepaid tickets the money sent to them from the United States
Step Two- On Board the Ship
*A ticket to American cost 30% (per person)
*Three types of accommodations-first class(Very nice), second class(Pretty nice), and steerage (terrible)
*Only steerage passengers were processed at Ellis Island
*First and second class passengers were quickly "inspected" on board the ship
*Larger ships could hold from 1,500 to 2,000 immigrants, netting a profit of $45,000 to $60,000 for a single, one-way trip
Steerage-
*For many immigrants, the experience of steerage was a nightmare
*At one time, the average passenger mortality rate was 10 percent per voyage
*Conditions were extremely overcrowd, dark, unsanitary
*In spite of miserable conditions, the immigrants had faith in the future
*Crossing the Atlantic could take anywhere from a week to more than a month, depending on the ship and weather
*They would play cards, sing, dance and talk
Step Three- Inspection
*Passengers were inspected for contagious diseases such as cholera, plague, smallpox, typhoid fever, yellow fever, scarlet fever, measles, and diphtheria
*If immigrants had any of the diseases they would be deported
*Sick children age 12 or older were sent back to Europe alone
Thursday-
Step Four- Beyond Ellis or Angel Island
*As they left Ellis Island, the next stop was the Money Exchange
*Cashiers exchanged paper money, from countries all over Europe, for American dollars
Ellis
*originally 3.3 acres
*January 1892- first station opened
*Known as the "six second medical exam
*Who passed went on to Great Wall
*Arrivals were asked 29 questions"The Island of hope, the island of tears"
Angel
*Chinese immigrants came through
What problems/issues did immigrants face on the trip over and once they got here?
Why were immigrants disliked-
*Taking jobs
*Hurt Labor Unions
*Racism
*Looked different
Chinese Exclusion Act- 1882
Banned all Chinese immigration to the US from 1882-1902
Gentleman's Agreement- 1907
*Informal agreement between the US and Japan
*The US would not restrict Japanese immigration and Japan would not allow further immigration to the U.S.
*The goal was to reduce tensions between the U.S. and Japan
Why did some people want to put restriction on immigration? What were those restrictions?
We were racist
Didn't want them taking our jobs
Ch. 7.2
Why did cities grow so quickly in the late 1800's and early 1900's?
*Immigration
*Farmers moved to the city
*African-Americans moved to the cities
*Cities offered more jobs and opportunities
*Cities offered more entertainment
What problems did cities face due to the rapid increase in population?
*Cramped, old, dirty housing-tenement
*Lack of good transportation (horses with manure everywhere)
*Lack of safe drinking water
*Disease was common
*Streets were filthy
*Crime
Fires- Cities were destroyed
What did some people do to try to help the bad situation in the cities?
*Tenements- Solutions
*Cities put restrictions on building wood-frame structures in the center of the city- so fires wouldn't spread to quickly
*Cities encouraged the construction of lower-income dwellings on the city's outskirts- so the fire wouldn't spread to so many buildings
*The Tenement House Act of 2867 defined a tenement for the first time and set construction regulations
*Among these were the requirement of one toilet per 20 people
*Tenement House Law-190
*Outlawed the construction of new tenements on 25 foot lots and mandated improved sanitary conditions, fire escapes, and access to light
*Current tenements were updated and more than 200,000 new apartments were built over the next 15 years
*Most tenements were destroyed in the 1920's and especially the 1930's with FDR's New Deal
*The first fully government-built public housing project opened in New York City in 1936
*Lack Of Transportation- Solutions
*Electric streetcars- late 1800's, early 1900's
*Automobiles
*There were 300 cars in the United States in 1895, 78,000 in 1905, 459,000 in 1910 and 1.7 million in 1914
*Subways- New York City- 1904
*Airplanes- 1903- Wright Brother
*Buses- 1925
Lack Of Safe Drinking Water- Solutions
* In late 1800's, scientist had proven that diseases were spread through unsafe drinking water
* In early 1900's, chlorine was added to the water to help eliminate disease
*Federal regulation of drinking water quality began in 1914 which continued to strengthen over the decades
*Disease was common and streets were filthy- Solutions
*Add chlorine to water
*Horses being replaced. eliminating the manure problem
*Introduction of indoor plumbing
*George A. Waring Jr.- New York City- 1895
*Organized modern recycling, street sweeping, and garbage collection
Crime- Solutions
*Organized Police Force
*Police became full time employees of the city- not volunteers
*In 1838- Boston established the first American police force
*New York City- 1845
*Chicago- 1851
*By the 1800's all major U.S. cities had municipal police forces in place
*1911- Fingerprints are first accepted by U.S. courts as a reliable means of identification
*Teddy Roosevelt- created bicycle unit - designed to control streets
Fires- Solutions
*Better building codes
*Full time, paid firefighters
*In 1853- Cincinnati became the first full-time, paid fire fighters in the U.S.
Poverty- Solutions
*Labor Unions
*Minimum wages
*Shorter hours
*Child labor laws
Ch. 7.3
* The Gilded Age- 1870's-1900
*Gilded- To be covered with gold
What was the political machine and what did they do for a city?
*Political Machine- A political organization, usually controlled by a single "boss", that controlled votes and had administrative control of a city, county, or state
*These organizations proved social services and jobs to people (recent immigrants) in exchange for votes
*Very corrupt
*Came about due to the rapid increase of population of cities and poor government in the 1800's
*Died out in the early 1900's
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