Term | Definition |
new immigrants | immigrants of the late 1800s and early 1900s who came primarily from Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. Had difficulty assimilating. |
old immigrants | immigrants prior to the late 1800s who came primarily from Northern and Western Europe. Had an easier time assimilating. |
assimilate | to blend. Example: new immigrants had difficulty blending into American culture because they had much different languages and customs. |
push factors | reason someone would leave their home country. Examples: disease, poverty, persecution, discrimination, famine. |
pull factors | reason someone was drawn to the United States. Examples: land of opportunity, jobs, land, a better life |
emigrate | to leave a country permanently |
immigrate | to enter a country to live permanently |
Ellis Island | main point of entry on the east coast for immigrants where they would be processed for admission into the US. |
nativist movement | opposed immigration |
Chinese Exclusion Act | prohibited Chinese workers from entering the US for 10 years |
urbanization | the growth of cities or city living |
tenements | crowded buildings with many small apartments, small dark rooms with three or four people living in each room, shared sinks and toilets between many families, poor lighting, and rarely had tubs or showers. |
Jacob Riis | muckraker whose work How the Other Half Lives exposed life in the tenements to the middle and upper classes. |
How the Other Half Lives | work by Jacob Riis that showed the poor conditions in the tenements. |
Gilded Age | term for the late 1800s and early 1900s that points out that while America was growing wealthier, most were very poor. The benefits of industrialization reached very few. |
gilded | process in which a less valuable product (like wood) is covered in gold to appear more valuable than it is. |
settlement houses | places where the poor could receive assistance such as classes, medical care, playgrounds, nurseries, music and arts and crafts. The most famous was the Hull House opened by Jane Addams. |