U.S.

History – A Chapter 7

Immigrants
and
Urbanization
252-253-Chapter 7 10/21/02 4:59 PM Page 252 Page 1 of 2

The intersection of Orchard and

Hester Streets on New York City’s
Lower East Side, 1905.

1880 1881 Chester

1877 James A. A. Arthur suc- 1884 Grover 1892 Grover
Rutherford B. Garfield is ceeds Garfield Cleveland 1888 Benjamin Cleveland is
Hayes is elected elected after Garfield’s is elected Harrison is elected elected to a
president. president. assassination. president. president. second term.

USA
WORLD
1880 1890

1876 1884 Berlin 1885 1893 France

Porfirio Díaz Conference Indian National establishes
seizes power meets to divide Congress forms. Indochina.
in Mexico. Africa among
European nations.

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INTERACT
WI T H HI S T O RY

The year is 1880. New York City’s

swelling population has created a
housing crisis. Immigrant families
crowd into apartments that lack light,
ventilation, and sanitary facilities.
Children have nowhere to play except
in the streets and are often kept out of
school to work and help support their
families. You are a reformer who
wishes to help immigrants improve
their lives.

What would you

do to improve
conditions?
Examine the Issues
• How can immigrants gain access to
the services they need?
• What skills do newcomers need?
• How might immigrants respond to
help from an outsider?

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1896 1898 1903 The 1910 The

William Hawaii is Wright Brothers appearance of
McKinley annexed by achieve the Halley’s comet 1912 Woodrow
is elected the United 1900 first successful causes wide- Wilson is elected
president. States. McKinley airplane flight. spread panic. president.
is reelected.

1900 1910

1901 The 1905 Workers revolt in 1908 Oil is 1912 Qing 1914
Commonwealth of St. Petersburg, Russia. discovered dynasty in China Panama
Australia is founded. in Persia. is overthrown. Canal opens.

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The New
Immigrants
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

Immigration from Europe, This wave of immigration helped •Ellis Island •Chinese
Asia, the Caribbean, and make the United States the •Angel Island Exclusion Act
Mexico reached a new high diverse society it is today. •melting pot •Gentlemen’s
in the late 19th and early •nativism Agreement
20th centuries.

One American's Story

In 1871, 14-year-old Fong See came from China to

“Gold Mountain”—the United States. Fong See
stayed, worked at menial jobs, and saved enough
money to buy a business. Despite widespread
restrictions against the Chinese, he became a very
successful importer and was able to sponsor many
other Chinese who wanted to enter the United
States. Fong See had achieved the American dream.
However, as his great-granddaughter Lisa See recalls,
he was not satisfied.

A PERSONAL VOICE LISA SEE

“ He had been trying to achieve success ever since he had first
set foot on the Gold Mountain. His dream was very ‘American.’ He
wanted to make money, have influence, be respected, have a wife and FROM CHINA TO
CHINATOWN
children who loved him. In 1919, when he traveled to China, he could Fong See’s
American Dream
look at his life and say he had achieved his dream. But once in China,
he suddenly saw his life in a different context. In America, was he really rich?
Could he live where he wanted? . . . Did Americans care what he thought?
. . . The answers played in his head—no, no, no.”
—On Gold Mountain

Despite Fong See’s success, he could not, upon his death in 1957, be buried
next to his Caucasian wife because California cemeteries were still segregated.

Through the “Golden Door”

Millions of immigrants like Fong See entered the United States in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, lured by the promise of a better life. Some of these immi-
grants sought to escape difficult conditions—such as famine, land shortages, or
religious or political persecution. Others, known as “birds of passage,” intended
to immigrate temporarily to earn money, and then return to their homelands.

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EUROPEANS Between 1870 and 1920, approximately 20 million Europeans

arrived in the United States. Before 1890, most immigrants came from countries
in western and northern Europe. Beginning in the 1890s, however, increasing
Background
numbers came from southern and eastern Europe. In 1907 alone, about a million
From 1815 to
1848, a wave of people arrived from Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
revolutions— Why did so many leave their homelands? Many of these new immigrants left
mostly sparked to escape religious persecution. Whole villages of Jews were driven out of Russia by
by a desire for
pogroms, organized attacks often encouraged by local authorities. Other Europeans
constitutional
governments— left because of rising population. Between 1800 and 1900, the population in
shook Europe. In Europe doubled to nearly 400 million, resulting in a scarcity of land for farming.
1830, for Farmers competed with laborers for too few industrial jobs. In the United States,
example, the
jobs were supposedly plentiful. In addition, a spirit of reform and revolt had spread
Polish people rose
up against their across Europe in the 19th century. Influenced by political movements at home,
Russian rulers. many young European men and women sought independent lives in America.
CHINESE AND JAPANESE While waves of Europeans arrived on the shores of
the East Coast, Chinese immigrants came to the West Coast in smaller numbers.
Between 1851 and 1883, about 300,000 Chinese arrived. Many came to seek their
fortunes after the discovery of gold in 1848 sparked the California gold rush.
Chinese immigrants helped build the nation’s railroads, including the first
transcontinental line. When the railroads were completed, they turned to farming,
mining, and domestic service. Some, like Fong See, started businesses. However,
Chinese immigration was sharply limited by a congressional act in 1882.
In 1884, the Japanese government allowed Hawaiian planters to recruit
Japanese workers, and a Japanese emigration boom began. The United States’
annexation of Hawaii in 1898 resulted in increased Japanese immigration to the
West Coast. Immigration continued to increase as word of comparatively high
American wages spread. The wave peaked in 1907, when 30,000 left Japan for the
Skillbuilder United States. By 1920, more than 200,000 Japanese lived on the West Coast.
Answers
1. New York
2. Japan
U.S. Immigration Patterns, as of 1900
Scandinavia New York
11% England Italy 5% Settlement figures in thousands
8%
480
425

Ireland Russia 4%
Wisconsin Massachusetts
16% Poland 3.5% 249
242

Mexico
China 1.5% total
Japan
Germany Other
182

82
165

26% 25%
61

135

Illinois
32
28
26
30
23
332

66
42
7

California
72

129
44
40

114
35
10
8

Pennsylvania
64
64
28
23

Ohio
212
205
204

GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER Texas

114

1. Movement Where did the greatest number

72

of Italian immigrants settle?

48

72
66
50

2. Movement From which country did the

55
44

smallest percentage of immigrants come?

SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R28.

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THE WEST INDIES AND MEXICO Between 1880 and 1920, about 260,000
immigrants arrived in the eastern and southeastern United States from the West
Indies. They came from Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other islands. Many West
Indians left their homelands because jobs were scarce and the industrial boom in MAIN IDEA
the United States seemed to promise work for everyone.
Analyzing
Mexicans, too, immigrated to the United States to find work, as well as to flee Causes
political turmoil. The 1902 National Reclamation Act, which encouraged the irri- A What reasons
gation of arid land, created new farmland in Western states and drew Mexican did people from
other parts of the
farm workers northward. After 1910, political and social upheavals in Mexico
world have for
prompted even more immigration. About 700,000 people—7 percent of the pop- immigrating to the
ulation of Mexico at the time—came to the U.S. over the next 20 years. A United States?
A. Answer
The desire to
Life in the New Land escape condi-
tions such as
No matter what part of the globe immigrants came from, they faced many adjust- land shortages,
famine, and
ments to an alien—and often unfriendly—culture.
political or reli-
A DIFFICULT JOURNEY By the 1870s, almost all immigrants traveled by gious persecu-
steamship. The trip across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe took approximately tion; the
prospect of
one week, while the Pacific crossing from Asia took nearly three weeks. land, jobs, or
Many immigrants traveled in steerage, the cheapest accommodations in a higher wages.
ship’s cargo holds. Rarely allowed on deck, immigrants were crowded together in
the gloom, unable to exercise or catch a breath of fresh air. They often had to
sleep in louse-infested bunks and share toilets with many other passengers. Under
these conditions, disease spread quickly, and some immigrants died before they
reached their destination. For those who survived, the first glimpse of America
could be breathtaking.

A PERSONAL VOICE ROSA CAVALLERI

“ America! . . . We were so near it seemed too much to believe. Everyone stood
silent—like in prayer. . . . Then we were entering the harbor. The land came so
near we could almost reach out and touch it. . . . Everyone was holding their
breath. Me too. . . . Some boats had bands playing on their decks and all of them
were tooting their horns to us and leaving white trails in the water behind them.”
European
governments —quoted in Rosa: The Life of an Italian Immigrant
used passports
to control the ELLIS ISLAND After initial moments of excitement, the immigrants faced the
number of anxiety of not knowing whether they would be admitted to the United States.
professionals and They had to pass inspection at immigration stations, such as the one at Castle
young men of
Garden in New York, which was later moved to Ellis Island in New York Harbor.
military age who
left the country.
About 20 percent of the immigrants at Ellis
Island were detained for a day or more before
▼
being inspected. However, only about 2 per-
cent of those were denied entry.
The processing of immigrants on Ellis
Island was an ordeal that might take five
hours or more. First, they had to pass a
physical examination by a doctor. Anyone
with a serious health problem or a conta- Vocabulary
gious disease, such as tuberculosis, was tuberculosis: a
promptly sent home. Those who passed bacterial infection,
characterized by
the medical exam then reported to a gov-
fever and
ernment inspector. The inspector checked coughing, that
documents and questioned immigrants spreads easily
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Many immigrants, like these

▼
arriving at Ellis Island, were
subjected to tests such as the
one below. To prove their mental
competence, they had to identify
the four faces looking left in 14
seconds. Can you do it?

to determine whether they met the legal requirements for

Vocabulary entering the United States. The requirements included
felony: any one of proving they had never been convicted of a felony,
the most serious demonstrating that they were able to work, and showing
crimes under the
that they had some money (at least $25 after 1909). One
law, including
murder, rape, and inspector, Edward Ferro, an Italian immigrant himself,
burglary gave this glimpse of the process.

A PERSONAL VOICE EDWARD FERRO

“ The language was a problem of course, but it was overcome by the use of inter-
preters. . . . It would happen sometimes that these interpreters—some of them—
were really softhearted people and hated to see people being deported, and they
would, at times, help the aliens by interpreting in such a manner as to benefit the
alien and not the government.”
—quoted in I Was Dreaming to Come to America

B. Answer From 1892 to 1924, Ellis Island was the chief immigration station in the
Medical and United States. An estimated 17 million immigrants passed through its noisy,
administrative bustling facilities.
inspections
and, on Angel ANGEL ISLAND While European immigrants arriving on the East Coast passed
Island, harsh through Ellis Island, Asians—primarily Chinese—arriving on the West Coast
questioning and gained admission at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. Between 1910 and 1940,
detention. about 50,000 Chinese immigrants entered the United States through Angel
MAIN IDEA Island. Processing at Angel Island stood in contrast to the procedure at Ellis
Identifying
Island. Immigrants endured harsh questioning and a long detention in filthy,
Problems ramshackle buildings while they waited to find out whether they would be admit-
B What ted or rejected. B
difficulties did
immigrants face in COOPERATION FOR SURVIVAL Once admitted to the country, immigrants faced
gaining admission the challenges of finding a place to live, getting a job, and getting along in daily
to the United life while trying to understand an unfamiliar language and culture. Many immi-
States?
grants sought out people who shared their cultural values, practiced their religion,

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and spoke their native language. The ethnic communities were life rafts for Vocabulary
immigrants. People pooled their money to build churches or synagogues. They synagogue: place
formed social clubs and aid societies. They founded orphanages and old people’s of meeting for
worship and
homes, and established cemeteries. They even published newspapers in their own
religious
languages. instruction in the
Committed to their own cultures but also trying hard to grow into their new Jewish faith
identities, many immigrants came to think of themselves as “hyphenated”
MAIN IDEA
Americans. As hard as they tried to fit in, these new Polish- and Italian- and
Chinese-Americans felt increasing friction as they rubbed shoulders with people Summarizing
C How did
born and raised in the United States. Native-born people often disliked the immi-
immigrants deal
grants’ unfamiliar customs and languages, and viewed them as a threat to the with challenges
American way of life. C they faced?
C. Answer
They helped one
Immigration Restrictions another, forming
ethnic enclaves,
Many native-born Americans thought of their country as a melting pot, a mix- social clubs,
and aid soci-
ture of people of different cultures and races who blended together by abandon- eties.
ing their native languages and customs. Many new immigrants, however, did not
wish to give up their cultural identities. As immigration increased, strong anti-
immigrant feelings emerged.
THE RISE OF NATIVISM One response to the growth in immigration was
nativism, or overt favoritism toward native-born Americans. Nativism gave rise
to anti-immigrant groups and led to a demand for immigration restrictions.
Many nativists believed that Anglo-Saxons—the Germanic ancestors of the
English—were superior to other ethnic groups. These nativists did not object to
immigrants from the “right” countries. Prescott F. Hall, a founder in 1894 of the
Chinese Immigration Restriction League, identified desirable immigrants as “British, Vocabulary
immigrants wait German, and Scandinavian stock, historically free, energetic, progressive.” Nativists progressive:
outside the thought that problems were caused by immigrants from the “wrong” countries— favoring
hospital on Angel advancement
“Slav, Latin, and Asiatic races, historically down-trodden . . . and stagnant.”
Island in San toward better
Nativists sometimes objected more to immigrants’ religious beliefs than to conditions or new
Francisco Bay,
their ethnic backgrounds. Many native-born Americans were Protestants and ideas
1910.
▼ thought that Roman Catholic and Jewish immigrants would undermine the
democratic institutions established by the
country’s Protestant founders. The American
Protective Association, a nativist group found-
ed in 1887, launched vicious anti-Catholic
attacks, and many colleges, businesses, and
social clubs refused to admit Jews.
In 1897, Congress—influenced by the
Immigration Restriction League—passed a
bill requiring a literacy test for immigrants.
Those who could not read 40 words in English
or their native language would be refused
entry. Although President Cleveland vetoed
the bill, it was a powerful statement of public
sentiment. In 1917, a similar bill would be
passed into law in spite of President Woodrow
Wilson’s veto.
ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT Nativism also
found a foothold in the labor movement, par-
ticularly in the West, where native-born work-
ers feared that jobs would go to Chinese
254-259-Chapter 7 10/21/02 5:00 PM Page 259 Page 6 of 6

immigrants, who would accept lower wages. The

depression of 1873 intensified anti-Chinese senti-
ment in California. Work was scarce, and labor
groups exerted political pressure on the govern-
ment to restrict Asian immigration. The founder of
the Workingmen’s Party, Denis Kearney, headed the
anti-Chinese movement in California. He made
hundreds of speeches throughout the state, each
ending with the message, “The Chinese must go!”
In 1882, Congress slammed the door on
Chinese immigration for ten years by passing the
Chinese Exclusion Act. This act banned entry to
all Chinese except students, teachers, merchants,
tourists, and government officials. In 1892,
Congress extended the law for another ten years. In
1902, Chinese immigration was restricted indefi-
nitely; the law was not repealed until 1943.
THE GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT The fears that
had led to anti-Chinese agitation were extended to
Japanese and other Asian people in the early 1900s.
In 1906, the local board of education in San
Francisco segregated Japanese children by putting
them in separate schools. When Japan raised an
angry protest at this treatment of its emigrants,
▼
President Theodore Roosevelt worked out a deal. Under the Gentlemen’s Fear and
Agreement of 1907–1908, Japan’s government agreed to limit emigration of resentment of
Chinese
unskilled workers to the United States in exchange for the repeal of the San
immigrants
Francisco segregation order.
sometimes
Although doorways for immigrants had been all but closed to Asians on the resulted in mob
West Coast, cities in the East and the Midwest teemed with European immi- attacks, like the
grants—and with urban opportunities and challenges. one shown here.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•Ellis Island •melting pot •Chinese Exclusion Act
•Angel Island •nativism •Gentlemen’s Agreement

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS 5. EVALUATING
Create a diagram such as the one Which group of immigrants do you What arguments can you make
below. List two or more causes of think faced the greatest challenges against nativism and anti-immigrant
each effect. in the United States? Why? feeling? Think About:
Causes Effects 4. ANALYZING EFFECTS • the personal qualities of immi-
What were the effects of the grants
1. Immigrants
2. leave their massive influx of immigrants to the • the reasons for anti-immigrant
3. home countries. U.S. in the late 1800s? feeling
• the contributions of immigrants
1. Immigrants face to the United States
2. hardships in the
3. United States.
1. Some nativists
2. want to restrict
3. immigration.

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The Challenges
of Urbanization
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

The rapid growth of cities Consequently, residents of U.S. •urbanization •Social Gospel
forced people to contend cities today enjoy vastly improved •Americanization movement
with problems of housing, living conditions. movement •settlement house
transportation, water, and •tenement •Jane Addams
sanitation. •mass transit

One American's Story

In 1870, at age 21, Jacob Riis left his native Denmark for
the United States. Riis found work as a police reporter, a job
that took him into some of New York City’s worst slums,
where he was shocked at the conditions in the overcrowd-
ed, airless, filthy tenements. Riis used his talents to expose
the hardships of New York City’s poor.

A PERSONAL VOICE JACOB RIIS

“ Be a little careful, please! The hall is dark and you might
stumble over the children pitching pennies back there. Not
that it would hurt them; kicks and cuffs are their daily
diet. They have little else. . . . Close [stuffy]? Yes! What
would you have? All the fresh air that ever enters these ▼
stairs comes from the hall-door that is forever slamming. . . . Here is a door. As many as 12
Listen! That short hacking cough, that tiny, helpless wail—what do they mean? people slept in
. . . The child is dying with measles. With half a chance it might have lived; but it rooms such as
this one in New
had none. That dark bedroom killed it.”
York City,
—How the Other Half Lives
photographed by
Jacob Riis around
Making a living in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was not easy.
1889.
Natural and economic disasters had hit farmers hard in Europe and in the United
States, and the promise of industrial jobs drew millions of people to American
cities. The urban population exploded from 10 million to 54 million between
1870 and 1920. This growth revitalized the cities but also created serious prob-
lems that, as Riis observed, had a powerful impact on the new urban poor.

Urban Opportunities
The technological boom in the 19th century contributed to the growing indus-
trial strength of the United States. The result was rapid urbanization, or growth
of cities, mostly in the regions of the Northeast and Midwest.

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Ethnic enclaves of at
least 20% of population:
New York City, 1910
IMMIGRANTS SETTLE IN CITIES Austro-Hungarian

Most of the immigrants who German

streamed into the United States in Irish
the late 19th century became city Italian
dwellers because cities were the Russian
cheapest and most convenient places Scandinavian
to live. Cities also offered unskilled Nonresidential
laborers steady jobs in mills and fac- Boundary between
tories. By 1890, there were twice as Brooklyn and Queens
many Irish residents in New York City BRONX
as in Dublin, Ireland. By 1910, immi-
grant families made up more than
half the total population of 18 major
American cities.
The Americanization move-
ment was designed to assimilate
FPO
people of wide-ranging cultures into
the dominant culture. This social
campaign was sponsored by the gov- MANHATTAN QUEENS
ernment and by concerned citizens.
Schools and voluntary associations
provided programs to teach immi-
grants skills needed for citizenship,
such as English literacy and American
history and government. Subjects
MAIN IDEA such as cooking and social etiquette
Analyzing were included in the curriculum to
Motives help the newcomers learn the ways of
A Why did native- native-born Americans. A
born Americans
Despite these efforts, many immi-
start the BROOKLYN
Americanization grants did not wish to abandon their
movement? traditions. Ethnic communities pro-
vided the social support of other
A. Answer immigrants from the same country.
To encourage This enabled them to speak their own
newcomers to language and practice their customs
assimilate into GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER
the dominant and religion. However, these neigh- 1. Place What general pattern of settlement do you
culture. borhoods soon became overcrowded, notice?
a problem that was intensified by the 2. Movement Which ethnic group settled in the
arrival of new transplants from largest area of New York City?
America’s rural areas.
MIGRATION FROM COUNTRY TO CITY Rapid improvements in farming tech- Skillbuilder
nology during the second half of the 19th century were good news for some farm- Answers
1. Immigrants
ers but bad news for others. Inventions such as the McCormick reaper and the
often settled
steel plow made farming more efficient but meant that fewer laborers were need- near others of
ed to work the land. As more and more farms merged, many rural people moved similar back-
to cities to find whatever work they could. grounds.
2. Germans
Many of the Southern farmers who lost their livelihoods were African
Americans. Between 1890 and 1910, about 200,000 African Americans moved north
and west, to cities such as Chicago and Detroit, in an effort to escape racial violence,
economic hardship, and political oppression. Many found conditions only some-
what better than those they had left behind. Segregation and discrimination were
often the reality in Northern cities. Job competition between blacks and white
immigrants caused further racial tension.

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Urban Problems
As the urban population skyrocketed, city governments faced the problems of
how to provide residents with needed services and safe living conditions.
HOUSING When the industrial age began, working-class families in cities had
two housing options. They could either buy a house on the outskirts of town,
where they would face transportation problems, or rent cramped rooms in a
boardinghouse in the central city. As the urban population increased, however,
new types of housing were designed. For example, row houses—single-family
dwellings that shared side walls with other similar houses—packed many single-
family residences onto a single block.
After working-class families left the central city, immigrants often took over
their old housing, sometimes with two or three families occupying a one-family
residence. As Jacob Riis pointed out, these multifamily urban dwellings, called
tenements, were overcrowded and unsanitary.
In 1879, to improve such slum conditions, New York City passed a law that set
minimum standards for plumbing and ventilation in apartments. Landlords began
building tenements with air shafts that provided an outside window for each
room. Since garbage was picked up infrequently, people sometimes dumped it into MAIN IDEA
the air shafts, where it attracted vermin. To keep out the stench, residents nailed Identifying
windows shut. Though established with good intent, these new tenements soon Problems
became even worse places to live than the converted single-family residences. B B What housing
problems did
TRANSPORTATION Innovations in mass transit, transportation systems urban working-
designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes, enabled workers to class families
go to and from jobs more easily. Street cars were introduced in San Francisco in face?
1873 and electric subways in Boston in 1897. By the early 20th century, mass- B. Answer
transit networks in many urban areas linked city neighborhoods to one another Transportation
difficulties,
and to outlying communities. Cities struggled to repair old transit systems and to overcrowding,
Sanitation build new ones to meet the demand of expanding populations. and unsanitary
problems in big conditions.
cities were
WATER Cities also faced the problem of supplying safe drinking water. As the
overwhelming. It urban population grew in the 1840s and 1850s, cities such as New York and
was not unusual Cleveland built public waterworks to handle the increasing demand. As late as the
to see a dead 1860s, however, the residents of many cities had grossly inadequate piped water—
horse in the or none at all. Even in large cities like New York, homes seldom had indoor
street. plumbing, and residents had to collect water in pails from faucets on the street
▼
and heat it for bathing. The necessity of
improving water quality to control dis-
eases such as cholera and typhoid fever
was obvious. To make city water safer, fil-
tration was introduced in the 1870s and Vocabulary
chlorination in 1908. However, in the early chlorination: a
20th century, many city dwellers still had method of
purifying water by
no access to safe water.
mixing it with the
SANITATION As the cities grew, so did the chemical chlorine
challenge of keeping them clean. Horse
manure piled up on the streets, sewage
flowed through open gutters, and factories
spewed foul smoke into the air. Without
dependable trash collection, people
dumped their garbage on the streets.
Although private contractors called scav-
engers were hired to sweep the streets, col-
lect garbage, and clean outhouses, they

264 CHAPTER 7
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MAIN IDEA
often did not do the jobs properly. By 1900, many cities had developed sewer lines
and created sanitation departments. However, the task of providing hygienic liv-
Analyzing
ing conditions was an ongoing challenge for urban leaders. C
Effects
C How did CRIME As the populations of cities increased, pickpockets and thieves flour-
conditions in cities ished. Although New York City organized the first full-time, salaried police force
affect people’s
health? in 1844, it and most other city law enforcement units were too small to have
C. Answer much impact on crime.
Lack of clean FIRE The limited water supply in many cities contributed to another menace:
water and
the spread of fires. Major fires occurred in almost every large American city dur-
inadequate san-
itation spread ing the 1870s and 1880s. In addition to lacking water with which to combat
disease. blazes, most cities were packed with wooden dwellings, which were like kindling
waiting to be ignited. The use of candles and kerosene heaters also posed a fire
hazard. In San Francisco, deadly fires often broke out during earthquakes. Jack
London described the fires that raged after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

A PERSONAL VOICE JACK LONDON

“ On Wednesday morning at a quarter past five came the earthquake. A minute
later the flames were leaping upward. In a dozen different quarters south of Market
Street, in the working-class ghetto, and in the factories, fires started. There was
no opposing the flames. . . . And the great water-mains had burst. All the shrewd
contrivances and safeguards of man had been thrown out of gear by thirty sec-
onds’ twitching of the earth-crust.”
—“The Story of an Eye-witness”

At first, most city firefighters were volunteers and not always available when
they were needed. Cincinnati, Ohio, tackled this problem when it established the
nation’s first paid fire department in 1853. By 1900, most cities had full-time pro-
fessional fire departments. The introduction of a practical automatic fire sprinkler
in 1874 and the replacement of wood as a building material with brick, stone, or
concrete also made cities safer.

FIRE: Enemy of the City

The Great Chicago Fire October 8–10, 1871 The San Francisco Earthquake April 18, 1906

• The fire burned for • The quake lasted

over 24 hours. 28 seconds; fires
burned for 4 days.

• An estimated 300 • An estimated

people died. 1,000 people
died.

• 100,000 were left • Over 200,000 were

homeless. left homeless.

• More than 3 square • Fire swept

miles of the city through 5 square
center was miles of the city.
destroyed.

• Property loss was • Property loss was

estimated at $200 estimated at
million. $500 million.

• 17,500 buildings • 28,000 buildings

were destroyed. were destroyed.

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Reformers Mobilize
KEY PLAYER As problems in cities mounted, concerned Americans
worked to find solutions. Social welfare reformers targeted
their efforts at relieving urban poverty.
THE SETTLEMENT HOUSE MOVEMENT An early reform
program, the Social Gospel movement, preached salva-
tion through service to the poor. Inspired by the message of
the Social Gospel movement, many 19th-century reformers
responded to the call to help the urban poor. In the late
1800s, a few reformers established settlement houses,
community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided
assistance to people in the area, especially immigrants.
JANE ADDAMS Many settlement workers lived at the houses so that they
1860–1935
could learn firsthand about the problems caused by urban-
During a trip to England, Jane
Addams visited Toynbee Hall, the ization and help create solutions.
first settlement house. Addams Run largely by middle-class, college-educated women,
believed that settlement houses settlement houses provided educational, cultural, and
could be effective because there, social services. They provided classes in such subjects as
workers would “learn from life
English, health, and painting, and offered college extension
itself” how to address urban
problems. She cofounded courses. Settlement houses also sent visiting nurses into the
Chicago’s Hull House in 1889. homes of the sick and provided whatever aid was needed to
Addams was also an antiwar secure “support for deserted women, insurance for bewil-
activist, a spokesperson for dered widows, damages for injured operators, furniture
racial justice, and an advocate for
from the clutches of the installment store.”
quality-of-life issues, from infant
mortality to better care for the Settlement houses in the United States were founded by
aged. In 1931, she was a Charles Stover and Stanton Coit in New York City in 1886.
co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Jane Addams—one of the most influential members of
Until the end of her life, Addams the movement—and Ellen Gates Starr founded Chicago’s
insisted that she was just a “very Hull House in 1889. In 1890, Janie Porter Barrett founded
simple person.” But many familiar
with her accomplishments consid-
Locust Street Social Settlement in Hampton, Virginia—the
er her a source of inspiration. first settlement house for African Americans. By 1910,
about 400 settlement houses were operating in cities across
the country. The settlement houses helped cultivate social
responsibility toward the urban poor.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•urbanization •tenement •Social Gospel movement •Jane Addams
•Americanization movement •mass transit •settlement house

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. ANALYZING MOTIVES 5. ANALYZING EFFECTS
Re-create the spider map below on Why did immigrants tend to group What effects did the migration from
your paper. List urban problems on together in cities? rural areas to the cities in the late
the vertical lines. Fill in details 19th century have on urban society?
4. EVALUATING
about attempts that were made to Think About:
Which solution (or attempted
solve each problem. • why people moved to cities
solution) to an urban problem
Solutions to discussed in this section do you • the problems caused by rapid
Urban Problems think had the most impact? Why? urban growth
• the differences in the experi-
ences of whites and blacks

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Politics in the
Gilded Age
MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Terms & Names

Local and national political Political reforms paved the way •political machine •James A. Garfield
corruption in the 19th for a more honest and efficient •graft •Chester A. Arthur
century led to calls for government in the 20th century •Boss Tweed •Pendleton Civil
reform. and beyond. •patronage Service Act
•civil service •Grover Cleveland
•Rutherford B. •Benjamin
Hayes Harrison

One American's Story

Mark Twain described the excesses of the late 19th centu-

ry in a satirical novel, The Gilded Age, a collaboration with
the writer Charles Dudley Warner. The title of the book
has since come to represent the period from the 1870s to
the 1890s. Twain mocks the greed and self-indulgence of
his characters, including Philip Sterling.

A PERSONAL VOICE
MARK TWAIN AND CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER
“ There are many young men like him [Philip Sterling] in
American society, of his age, opportunities, education
and abilities, who have really been educated for nothing
and have let themselves drift, in the hope that they will
find somehow, and by some sudden turn of good luck, the
golden road to fortune. . . . He saw people, all around
him, poor yesterday, rich to-day, who had come into sud-
den opulence by some means which they could not have
classified among any of the regular occupations of life.”
—The Gilded Age
▼
A luxurious
Twain’s characters find that getting rich quick is more difficult than they had apartment
thought it would be. Investments turn out to be worthless; politicians’ bribes eat building rises
up their savings. The glittering exterior of the age turns out to hide a corrupt behind a New
political core and a growing gap between the few rich and the many poor. York City shanty-
town in 1889.

The Emergence of Political Machines

In the late 19th century, cities experienced rapid growth under inefficient govern-
ment. In a climate influenced by dog-eat-dog Social Darwinism, cities were receptive
to a new power structure, the political machine, and a new politician, the city boss.

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THE POLITICAL MACHINE An organized group that controlled the activities of

a political party in a city, the political machine also offered services to voters
and businesses in exchange for political or financial support. In the decades
after the Civil War, political machines gained control of local government in
Baltimore, New York, San Francisco, and other major cities.
The machine was organized like a pyramid. At the pyramid’s base were local
precinct workers and captains, who tried to gain voters’ support on a city block or
in a neighborhood and who reported to a ward boss. At election time, the ward boss
worked to secure the vote in all the precincts in the ward, or electoral district. Ward
bosses helped the poor and gained their votes by doing favors or providing services.
As Martin Lomasney, elected ward boss of Boston’s West End in 1885, explained,
“There’s got to be in every ward somebody that any bloke can come to . . . and get
help. Help, you understand; none of your law and your justice, but help.” At the
top of the pyramid was the city boss, who controlled the activities of the political MAIN IDEA
party throughout the city. Precinct captains, ward bosses, and the city boss worked Summarizing
together to elect their candidates and guarantee the success of the machine. A A In what way
did the structure
THE ROLE OF THE POLITICAL BOSS Whether or not the boss officially served of the political
as mayor, he controlled access to municipal jobs and business licenses, and machine resemble
influenced the courts and other municipal agencies. Bosses like Roscoe a pyramid?
Conkling in New York used their power to build parks, sewer A. Answer
Many local
systems, and waterworks, and gave money to
precinct work-
schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Bosses could ers and captains
also provide government support for new busi- formed the base
nesses, a service for which they were often paid of the organiza-
tion. In the mid-
extremely well.
dle were a few
It was not only money that motivated city ward bosses.
bosses. By solving urban problems, bosses could At the top was
reinforce voters’ loyalty, win additional political one city boss.
support, and extend their influence.
IMMIGRANTS AND THE MACHINE Many
precint captains and political bosses were first-
generation or second-generation immigrants.
Few were educated beyond grammar school.
They entered politics early and worked their
way up from the bottom. They could speak to
immigrants in their own language and under-
stood the challenges that newcomers faced.
More important, the bosses were able to provide
solutions. The machines helped immigrants MAIN IDEA
▼ with naturalization (attaining full citizenship), Analyzing
housing, and jobs—the newcomers’ most pressing needs. In return, the immi- Motives
A corrupt 19th-
century boss robs grants provided what the political bosses needed—votes. B B Why did
“Big Jim” Pendergast, an Irish-American saloonkeeper, worked his way up immigrants
the city treasury
support political
by easily cutting from precinct captain to Democratic city boss in Kansas City by aiding Italian, machines?
government red African-American, and Irish voters in his ward. By 1900, he controlled Missouri B. Answer
tape, or state politics as well. Because the
bureaucracy. machines could
provide solu-
A PERSONAL VOICE JAMES PENDERGAST tions to the
“ I’ve been called a boss. All there is to it is having friends, doing things for peo- immigrants’
ple, and then later on they’ll do things for you. . . . You can’t coerce people into most pressing
doing things for you—you can’t make them vote for you. I never coerced anybody problems.
in my life. Wherever you see a man bulldozing anybody he don’t last long.”
—quoted in The Pendergast Machine

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Municipal Graft and Scandal

While the well-oiled political machines provided city dwellers with services,
many political bosses fell victim to corruption as their influence grew.
ELECTION FRAUD AND GRAFT When the loyalty of voters was not enough to
carry an election, some political machines turned to fraud. Using fake names,
party faithfuls cast as many votes as were needed to win.
Once a political machine got its candidates into office, it could take advantage
of numerous opportunities for graft, the illegal use of political influence for per-
sonal gain. For example, by helping a person find work on a construction project
for the city, a political machine could ask the worker to bill the city for more than
the actual cost of materials and labor. The worker then “kicked back” a portion of
the earnings to the machine. Taking these kickbacks, or illegal payments for their
services, enriched the political machines—and individual politicians.
Political machines also granted favors to businesses in return for cash and
accepted bribes to allow illegal activities, such as gambling, to flourish. Politicians
were able to get away with shady dealings because the police rarely interfered.
Until about 1890, police forces were hired and fired by political bosses.
THE TWEED RING SCANDAL William M. Tweed, known as Boss Tweed,
became head of Tammany Hall, New York City’s powerful Democratic polit-
ical machine, in 1868. Between 1869 and 1871, Boss Tweed led the Tweed
Ring, a group of corrupt politicians, in defrauding the city.
One scheme, the construction of the New York County Courthouse,
involved extravagant graft. The project cost taxpayers $13 million, while
the actual construction cost was $3 million. The difference went into the
pockets of Tweed and his followers.
Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, helped arouse public outrage
Vocabulary against Tammany Hall’s graft, and the Tweed Ring was finally broken in 1871.
extortion: illegal Tweed was indicted on 120 counts of fraud and extortion and was sentenced to ▼
use of one’s official 12 years in jail. His sentence was reduced to one year, but after leaving jail, Tweed
position to obtain Boss Tweed, head
was quickly arrested on another charge. While serving a second sentence, Tweed of Tammany Hall.
property or funds
escaped. He was captured in Spain when officials identified him from a Thomas
Nast cartoon. By that time, political corruption had become a national issue.

Analyzing
“THE TAMMANY TIGER LOOSE”
Political cartoonist Thomas Nast ridiculed Boss
Tweed and his machine in the pages of Harper’s
Weekly. Nast’s work threatened Tweed, who reportedly
said, “I don’t care so much what the papers write
about me—my constituents can’t read; but . . . they
can see pictures!”

SKILLBUILDER Analyzing Political Cartoons

1. Under the Tammany tiger’s victim is a torn paper
that reads “LAW.” What is its significance?
2. Boss Tweed and his cronies, portrayed as
noblemen, watch from the stands on the left. The
cartoon’s caption reads “What are you going to do
about it?” What effect do you think Nast wanted
to have on his audience?
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R24.

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Civil Service Replaces Patronage

The desire for power and money that made local politics corrupt
in the industrial age also infected national politics.
PATRONAGE SPURS REFORM Since the beginning of the
19th century, presidents had complained about the problem of
patronage, or the giving of government jobs to people who
had helped a candidate get elected. In Andrew Jackson’s admin-
istration, this policy was known as the spoils system. People
from cabinet members to workers who scrubbed the steps of the
Capitol owed their jobs to political connections. As might be
expected, some government employees were not qualified for
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES (1877–1881)
the positions they filled. Moreover, political appointees,
“ Nobody ever left the whether qualified or not, sometimes used their positions for per-
presidency with less sonal gain.
regret . . . than I do.” Reformers began to press for the elimination of patronage
and the adoption of a merit system of hiring. Jobs in civil MAIN IDEA
service—government administration—should go to the most Analyzing
qualified persons, reformers believed. It should not matter what Causes
political views they held or who recommended them. C C How did
patronage
REFORM UNDER HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR Civil contribute to
service reform made gradual progress under Presidents Hayes, government
Garfield, and Arthur. Republican president Rutherford B. incompetence and
fraud?
Hayes, elected in 1876, could not convince Congress to support
reform, so he used other means. Hayes named independents to C. Answer
By allowing
his cabinet. He also set up a commission to investigate the people to be
nation’s customhouses, which were notoriously corrupt. On the hired for gov-
basis of the commission’s report, Hayes fired two of the top offi- ernment jobs on
cials of New York City’s customhouse, where jobs were con- the basis of
JAMES A. GARFIELD (1881) political beliefs
trolled by the Republican Party. These firings enraged the rather than abili-
“ Assassination can Republican New York senator and political boss Roscoe ty, and by pro-
be no more guarded Conkling and his supporters, the Stalwarts. viding opportu-
When Hayes decided not to run for reelection in 1880, a free- nities for misuse
against than death of influence.
by lightning.” for-all broke out at the Republican convention, between the
Stalwarts—who opposed changes in the spoils system—and
reformers. Since neither Stalwarts nor reformers could win a
majority of delegates, the convention settled on an independent
presidential candidate, Ohio congressman James A. Garfield.
To balance out Garfield’s ties to reformers, the Republicans nom-
inated for vice-president Chester A. Arthur, one of Conkling’s
supporters. Despite Arthur’s inclusion on the ticket, Garfield
angered the Stalwarts by giving reformers most of his patronage
jobs once he was elected.
On July 2, 1881, as President Garfield walked through the
Washington, D.C., train station, he was shot two times by a men-
tally unbalanced lawyer named Charles Guiteau, whom Garfield
had turned down for a job. The would-be assassin announced, “I
CHESTER A. ARTHUR (1881–1885) did it and I will go to jail for it. I am a Stalwart and Arthur is now
president.” Garfield finally died from his wounds on September
“ There doesn’t seem 19. Despite his ties to the Stalwarts, Chester Arthur turned
to be anything else for reformer when he became president. His first message to
an ex-president to do Congress urged legislators to pass a civil service law.
but . . . raise big The resulting Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883
pumpkins.” authorized a bipartisan civil service commission to make

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appointments to federal jobs through a merit system based on candidates’ perfor-

mance on an examination. By 1901, more than 40 percent of all federal jobs had
been classified as civil service positions, but the Pendleton Act had mixed conse-
quences. On the one hand, public administration became more honest and effi-
cient. On the other hand, because officials could no longer pressure employees for
campaign contributions, politicians turned to other sources for donations.

Business Buys Influence

MAIN IDEA

Analyzing With employees no longer a source of campaign contributions, politicians turned

Effects to wealthy business owners. Therefore, the alliance between government and big
D What were the business became stronger than ever. D
positive and the
negative effects of HARRISON, CLEVELAND, AND HIGH TARIFFS Big business hoped the govern-
the Pendleton Civil ment would preserve, or even raise, the tariffs that protected domestic industries
Service Act? from foreign competition. The Democratic Party, however, opposed high tariffs
D. Answer because they increased prices. In 1884, the Democratic Party won a presidential
Positive: More election for the first time in 28 years with candidate Grover Cleveland. As presi-
competent and
honest federal dent, Cleveland tried to lower tariff rates, but Congress refused to support him.
workers. In 1888, Cleveland ran for reelection on a low-tariff platform against the for-
Negative: Closer mer Indiana senator Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of President William
ties between Henry Harrison. Harrison’s campaign was financed by large contributions from
government and
big business. companies that wanted tariffs even higher than they were. Although Cleveland
won about 100,000 more popular votes than Harrison, Harrison took a majority
of the electoral votes and the presidency. Once in office, he won passage of the
McKinley Tariff Act of 1890, which raised tariffs to their highest level yet.
In 1892, Cleveland was elected again—the only president to serve two non-
consecutive terms. He supported a bill for lowering the McKinley Tariff but
refused to sign it because it also provided for a federal income tax. The Wilson-
Gorman Tariff became law in 1894 without the president’s signature. In 1897,
William McKinley was inaugurated president and raised tariffs once again.
The attempt to reduce the tariff had failed, but the spirit of reform was not
dead. New developments in areas ranging from technology to mass culture would
help redefine American society as the United States moved into the 20th century.

1. TERMS & NAMES For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.
•political machine •patronage •James A. Garfield •Grover Cleveland
•graft •civil service •Chester A. Arthur •Benjamin Harrison
•Boss Tweed •Rutherford B. Hayes •Pendleton Civil Service Act

MAIN IDEA CRITICAL THINKING

2. TAKING NOTES 3. EVALUATING LEADERSHIP 5. HYPOTHESIZING
In a chart like the one shown, list Reread the quotation from James How do you think politics in the
examples of corruption in 19th- Pendergast on page 268. Explain United States would have been
century politics. whether you agree or disagree that different if the Pendleton Civil
machine politicians did not coerce Service Act had not been passed?
people. Think About:
4. ANALYZING CAUSES • the act’s impact on federal
Corruption Why do you think tariff reform workers
failed? Support your response with • the act’s impact on political
evidence from the chapter. fundraising
• Republican Party conflicts

Immigrants and Urbanization 271