Some 25% of the nearly 20 million who arrived between 1820 and 1900 were “birds of paradise” who eventually returned to their country of origin - Some 25% of the nearly 20 million who arrived between 1820 and 1900 were “birds of paradise” who eventually returned to their country of origin
- Those who stayed struggled to preserve their traditional culture:
- Catholic expanded parochial-school systems
- Jews established Hebrew schools
- Foreign-language newspapers abounded
- Yiddish theaters, kosher-food stores, etc. all attested to the desire to keep old ways alive
- The children of the immigrants grew up speaking fluent English
- They often rejected the Old Country’s manners in their desire to plunge into the mainstream of American life.
Assimilation of immigrants into American society: Assimilation of immigrants into American society:- United States government did virtually nothing
- State governments, usually dominated by rural representatives, did even less
- City governments, overwhelmed, proved woefully inadequate to the task
- By default, the business of ministering to the immi-grants’ needs fell to the unofficial “governments” of the urban political machines—led by “bosses” like New York’s notorious Boss Tweed.
Taking care of the immigrants was big business: - Taking care of the immigrants was big business:
- Trading jobs and services for votes, a powerful boss might claim the loyalty of thousands of followers
- In return for their support at the polls, the boss
- Provided jobs on the city’s payroll
- Found housing for new arrivals
- Tided over the needy with gifts of food and clothing
- Patched up minor scrapes with the law
- Helped get schools, parks, and hospitals built in immigrant neighborhoods.
- Reformers gagged at this cynical exploitation of the immigrant vote, but the political boss gave valuable assistance that was forthcoming from no other source
The nation’s social conscience awakened to the plight of the cities and immigrant masses The nation’s social conscience awakened to the plight of the cities and immigrant masses- Protestant clergymen:
- Sought to apply the lessons of Christianity to the slums and factories
- Walter Rauschenbusch—German Baptist pastor
- Washington Gladden—Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio:
- Both preached the “social gospel”—insisting that the church tackle the burning social issues of the day.
These “Christian socialists” helped prepare the path for the progressive reform movement - These “Christian socialists” helped prepare the path for the progressive reform movement
- Jane Addams dedicated to uplifting the urban masses
- Hull House, Chicago—American settlement house
- Broad reformer who condemned war and poverty
- Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931
- Her pacifism won the enmity of some Americans, including the Daughters of the American Revolution
- Hull House, located in a poor immigrant neighborhood:
- Offered instruction in English
- Counseling to help newcomers cope with American big-city life
- Child-care services for working mothers
Cultural activities for neighborhood residents. - Cultural activities for neighborhood residents.
- Women founded settlement houses in other cities
- Lillian Wald’s Henry Street Settlement, New York, in 1893
- Became centers of women’s activism and social reform
- Hull House’s women successfully lobbied for an Illinois anti-sweatshop law that protected women workers and prohibited child labor—led by Florence Kelley
- For these female reformers and other women, the city offered a new kind of frontier opportunity.
- Women and the work force:
- Strict codes prescribed which women might work and what jobs they might hold:
- Work for wives and mothers was considered taboo.
- The vast majority of working women were single
- Their jobs depended on their race, ethnicity, and class
- Black women had fewer opportunities beyond domestic services
- Native-born women could work as social workers, secretaries, department store clerks, telephone operators
- Immigrant women clustered in particular industries
- Jobs brought economic and social independence
- Women contributed a large percentage of the wages to the family and might have some left for themselves
“Nativists”: “Nativists”:- Viewed the eastern and southern Europeans as culturally and religiously exotic hordes
- Gave them a rude reception
- They aroused widespread alarm
- Had high birthrate, possibly mixing with the Anglo-Saxon stock
- They were blamed for the degradation of urban government
- Unionists assailed them because of their willingness to work for “starvation” wages
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
