Ch. 15 Immigrants and Urbanization, Section 1 The New Immigrants

Bridge to Chapter 15

Preview Ch. 15
Industrialization created new job opportunities, mostly in cities. To fill these jobs, migrants from rural part of the United States and immigrants—primarily from southern and eastern Europe—flocked to urban areas. This rapid urban growth created ongoing challenges for cities. You will learn about these significant developments in the next chapter.

Ch. 15 Overview
Immigrants and Urbanization

Starting With the Student
Why are the topics “immigrants” and “urbanization” linked together in the title? Then, discuss the following questions:
What does Horace Greeley’s statement mean?
What new problems might new immigrants face?

Section 1 The New Immigrants
Section 2 The Problems of Urbanization
Section 3 The Emergence of the Political Machine
Section 4 Politics in the Gilded Age

Previewing the Chapter
There are four sections in this chapter listed on p. 436.
As the chapter progresses, list the reasons why immigrants left their native lands.
What facts can be noted about immigrants from the timeline?

More About. . .
The Statue of Liberty
This was a gift from the people of France commemorating that country’s historical alliance with the United States during the American Revolution. The statute’s pedestal is inscribed with a poem by Emma Lazarus that ends with the words: “Give me your tired, your poor,/Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,/. . . I lift my land beside the golden door!’”

Living History
Tracing the Growth of a Town, p. 437
Alternative Assessment
The following list is a way of gathering information for a biography of a town or neighborhood:
Use the local newspaper, library, or museum to find books, maps, and other information.
Prepare questions and then interview older members of the community, perhaps tape-recording their comments.
Visits schools, places of worship, the Chamber of Commerce, and other sites of local interest.
Check your own family’s sources for photographs and memorabilia.

Project Planning Guide
Step 1 Students prepare a list of persons and places to visit.
Step 2 Students gather information from the persons and places they have listed in Step 1.
Step 3 Students organize the data they have collected.
Step 4 Students write a summary of the town’s past and predict the town or neighborhood’s future.

Section 1 The New Immigrants
Overview
To summarize the various parts of the world from which immigrants came to the “golden door.”
To describe the journey immigrants endured and how they passed through the immigration stations.
To explain the kinds of discrimination immigrants faced and the actions taken by nativists.

A – E, Geography Skillbuilder

Focus & Motivate
Starting With the Student
A video that is helpful for this section is: “From China to Chinatown” to learn about American attitudes toward Chinese immigrants.

Objective 1 Instruct
Through the “Golden Door”
Discussing Key Ideas
Immigrants come from Europe, Japan, China, the West Indies, and Mexico.
Some immigrate because of overpopulation, famine, or religious or political persecution.

History From Visuals
Where They Came From and Where They Settled, 1900
Reading the Map
The map, bar, graph, and pie chart present essentially the same information in different ways in order to make the material easier to understand. For example, the green is used on the pie chart to represent the Irish and that it is used again in the bar graphs to show Irish immigrants.

Extension
Use a world almanac to find the latest U.S. immigration figures. Then prepare a bar graph showing the percentage of immigrants from each continent.

Objective 2 Instruct
Life in the New Land
Starting With the Student
What is the most difficult journey that you have ever undertaken?
How does your most difficult journey compare with the kind of journey immigrants faced.
Have students tell what hardships endured by immigrants were similar to hardships they faced on their journey.

Discussing Key Ideas
Immigrants endure a frightening and uncomfortable journey in crowded, unsanitary quarters.
Immigrants on both coasts have to pass a physical exam, prove they are literate in a language, meet legal requirements, and have at least $25.00
The newcomers seek out people of their own native culture.

More About. . .
The Transatlantic Journey
Toward the end of the 1800s, the price for a steerage ticket across the Atlantic was only $15.00, considerably less than it had been at the start of the 1800s. Why the cheaper fare? Toward the end of the century, the United States was exporting to Europe bulky raw materials, such as cotton, timber, tobacco, and wheat. On the return trip, the shops carried less bulky luxury items, such as china, linens, and wines. That left plenty of room for passengers.

More About. . .
Ellis Island
The buildings on Ellis Island were restored in the 1980s, and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened in 1990. Compare Ellis Island in New York Harbor with Angel Island in San Francisco Bay by making a chart listing similarities and differences between the two places.

Ellis Island
&
Angel Bay

More About. . .
The Generation Gap
On of the problems faced was the generation gap that arose between themselves and their children. The parents seldom sounded like the teachers at school and did not look like the people whose pictures appeared in newspapers. The children, eager to move into the mainstream of American life, were often embarrassed by their parents. Furthermore, the children frequently stopped reciting their traditional prayers and speaking their parents’ native tongue. This greatly saddened the parents, who wondered if the price of coming to the Untied States was too high.

Objective 3 Instruct
Immigration Restrictions
Discussing Key Ideas
As increasing numbers of immigrants enter the country, anti-immigrant sentiment grows.
Asians are discriminated against more than whites, and from 1882 until 1943 most Chinese immigration is banned.
The Gentleman’s Agreement limits Japanese immigration.

On the World Stage
Russo-Japanese War
Critical Thinking
Analyzing Issues
Distinguish between mediating a foreign dispute and intervening in such a dispute. Suggest recent instances in which American presidents have mediated or intervened.
President Carter mediated the dispute between Israel and Egypt; President Clinton has intervened in Haiti and in Bosnia by sending in American soldiers.

Close
European immigrants, eager to find work and new opportunities, poured into the cities of the East and the Midwest. Anti-Asian sentiment led the United States to ban Chinese immigration for over 60 years and to limit Japanese immigration.