The Life Of Immigrants During The Gilded City Of New York

With little money in their pockets and no idea of where they might stay, the search for jobs was desperate. However having thousands of immigrants arriving in NYC around the same time caused job opportunities to be limited. With no money, many were left homeless with no place to go but the streets of New York. Having people living on the streets caused overpopulation of the city and left the city dirty and dismantled. Along with the fall of the city the crime rate began to increase dramaticlly due to immigrants going to desperate measures to make money. When an immigrant was lucky enough to find a job they faced the challenge of language barrier, poor working conditions and low wages. These low wages could hardly afford to feed their families let alone provide a decent shelter. This created what would be known as the slums of New York City. The city was being filled with large apartment buildings that were run down and overpopulated with immigrants. Over population began creating conflicts between different ethnic groups throughout New York City. Eventually leading to the divison of the city into sections based on common ethnic backrounds. Nativism however would be a common problem as it increased because of hatred towards immigrants over such issues including the loss of opportunities for already settled natives to the area. To avoid this hatred many immigrants chose to take on other names or alter their own last name. Due to many families

The immigrants were not the only ones undergoing difficulty, however. The United States also experienced difficulty taking in the immigrants. Since almost all immigrants were in dire need of jobs, they tended to settle in urban areas where jobs could be easily located. Often times, immigrants would settle in areas dominated by other immigrants who speak the same language or were from the same country. Consequently, the cities became more congested than ever, and city services were not always successful in keeping up with the surge of newcomers. Although most immigrants were able to find and pursue jobs, many of them were jobs that native-born Americans refused to practice. Regardless of their jobs, living conditions, and/or nationalities, immigrants grew to play a huge part in many areas of American society.

In the late 1800s , America became the land of new opportunities and new beginnings and New York City became the first landmark for immigrants. New York City was home to Ellis Island, the area in which migrants were to be handed for freedom to enter the nation. Living in New York City gave work and availability to ports. In time the city gave the chance to outsider's to construct groups with individuals from their nation , they were classified as new and old settlers. Old outsiders included Germans, Irish and, English. The new outsiders incorporated those from Italy, Russia, Poland and Austria-Hungary. In 1875, the New York City populace was a little 1 million individuals contrasted with the 3,5 million it held when the new century

The life of living as a poor settler or an immigrant was a problem in the urban life. Most of the immigrants faced poverty that needs to be secured with food, shelter, healthcare, and money. For example, if there were no food for the immigrants to eat, they will starve to death. A shelter was one of the most important things they need because it keeps them securities from harm and it is a cozy place for them to sleep. Another source they need was health care because without medical attention most of them had the disease. The disease like cholera, yellow fever, and typhoid came from bad hygiene which was preventing bad sanitation. The health factor was

In the years following the Civil War, The United States changed dramatically. During the late 19 century also known as the Gilded Age, the population in America was greatly increased and the industry changed in the country. The reason why the industry in the United States was improved is because of the immigrants which made to benefit as workers. Therefore, there had a lot of factory jobs that made interesting for the immigrants to move to the United States. According to the pie graph in document 1, only 11.9 percentage of people came for jobs and the rest of percentage came for their families or relatives. It’s clear that most immigrants came for the jobs, however the graph shows that some immigrants came for their families, even though they needed the jobs for their living, but they still tell that they came to the United States for their families. Immigrants came to the United States in many reasons between 1870- 1920 because they wanted the freedom of religious, racial and political persecution and lack of economic opportunities.

Though the novella is titled Maggie, much of the narrative focuses on people other than Maggie. So, why do you think Crane named the story after her?

The 1840s and 50s experienced a massive escalation in the number of immigrants from Europe especially from Ireland, and Germany, arriving on U.S shores in densely populated urban areas (Arenson, 2011). Most of them afterward became vigorous in domestic politics, much to the aggravation of old-stock, authentic Americans. The consequence was a renaissance in the formation of “nativistic” societies (small, indistinct, anti-foreign and anti-catholic organizations), some which banded together in the early 1850s to form the American Party (Arenson, 2011). Commonly referred to as the “Know-Nothing,” the party rode a wave of racial intolerance as well as racism into the mid-1850s.

In the early 1900’s there was a dramatic increase in the number of immigrants coming to the eastern shores of America. Many were pulled to America because of its economic opportunity, freedom, need for labor and its beautiful country. Immigrants were excited to come to America and were pushed from their home countries because of food shortages, overpopulation, war and political instability. This was going on in an important era in American history called the “gilded age”. It was a time of economic growth, and industrialization but also had high percentages of poverty mainly in urban environments. The majority of the immigrants intended to advance out west but actually settled in the eastern cities. In the book The Jungle, Jargis and his

New York City during the Gilded Age experienced a transformation on society that would leave a lasting effect on all aspects of the city. During this era in New York City, the idea of politics and its characters developed into some of the modern definitions that citizens still see in government today. The political corruption that consumed politics during this time period became a staple in New York City society. The word corruption gives the tactics of politicians in the Gilded Age a reputation that is filled with destructive and harmful methods that were unbeneficial to society. In reality, not all of the strategies of these politicians resulted in poor outcomes. Through questionable political tactics, officials used their power to negatively and positively push New York City into the 1900s, which would lead to political activism by the city’s people looking for change. Tammany Hall was one of the most influential political machines that directly impacted the people and society of New York City at this time, and exemplified what it meant to be a corrupt institution that helped positive change happen.

The migration of foreigners to the United States has been one of the most powerful forces shaping American history this was especially true between 1860 and 1920. (American A Narrative History, Pg. 827). When immigrants traveled to the new land it was an arduous journey. Arriving in large cities often without their families or understanding the language was difficult.

represented the "new metropolis." there were millions of European Immigrants coming to New York, the city was at its peak. Men like Rockefeller, Carnegie and others help turn the city into a bustling Metropolis. Immigration was the epicenter of New York. Since the colonial period much of New York's growth has resulted from immigration, both from other States and from abroad.

Concentration of immigrant populations was highest in four of America’s largest cities; New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. Five out of every six Irish and Russian immigrants lived in a city. Three out of four Italian and Hungarian immigrants came to America with very little money to buy farms or farming equipment. Others settled in cities because farming in America was very different from that of Europe. Some immigrants, such as the Slavs, simply came to America too late to acquire land. Jewish and Irish preferred the city because it provided a chance to worship with other Jewish or Irish without persecution.

As Immigrants would come through Ellis Island and other places with a gleaming amount of hope, they would experience something totally different on the other side. Inside the US was this feeling of Anglo-Saxon superiority and therefore immigration was frowned upon in may areas. An immigration officer from this time period cited “early economic opportunity came to an end” as one of the major things that affected immigrant life. They [immigrants] were left to find day jobs working at the first opportunity that presented itself and then return to the tenement. Out of this pattern grew an extreme feeling of isolation. Immigrants lived in their own communities, socialized with their own, and slept with their own. Nativist feelings from the american-born community were real and present and ultimately the belief was to sleep, eat, and work for someone else and be content.

New York’s housing problems in the 19th century was the result of a mix of factors such as increased immigration, rising rents and shortage of affordable housing supply. The sudden influx in the city’s population led to emergence of tenements in the 1840s and 50s, built specifically to accommodate large numbers of low-income people. Tenements soon became the dominant form of working class housing.

The United States as a whole is seen as the land of opportunity. New York is a major central for diversity and because of that many people from different cultural atmospheres have brought their families and dreams to New York City. Although Immigration patters throughout the last 200 years have varied, New York has consistently seen people from around the world move to the city and call it home. From the earliest points in our history as a nation, New York has been a center for trade and economic growth. New York is known world wide as a cultural melting pot. While other states have had immigration surges, none have compared to the diversity and sheer number of immigrants that have made their way to the City. This paper will focus on