Immigration and city growth, 1880–1920

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Urban places, 1880 to 1920. Card A: "Three words, in brief". Who made it: historians and textbooks writing today. When: today. Where: the United States. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Urban: before 1950 the Census counted as urban everyone living in an incorporated place with 2,500 people or more, plus areas under a few special rules; everyone else was rural. Tenement: in New York's tenement law of 1901, a building where three or more families live independently of each other and cook on the premises. Nativism: the view that people born in a country should come before newcomers. Card B: Table "Share of the people living in urban places", columns Census year | Urban share (percent): 1880 | 28.2; 1900 | 39.7; 1920 | 51.2. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the US (1975), series A 57-72; shares figured by the pack's author. Urban means living in an incorporated place with 2,500 people or more, plus a few areas under special rules. Card C: Table "Urban and rural people, in thousands", columns Census year | Urban | Rural: 1880 | 14,130 | 36,026; 1920 | 54,158 | 51,553. Data: US Census Bureau, Historical Statistics of the US (1975), series A 57-72. Counts are in thousands of people.

2. 1.

   Ari compares cards B and C. What happened to the rural population between 1880 and 1920?

   • It grew by about 15.5 million, but that growth came from immigrants settling on farms.
   • It grew, from about 36.0 million to about 51.6 million, though its share of the nation fell.
   • It grew about 70 percent, since 51.6 million is far above 36.0 million, so rural America kept pace.
   • It fell in share and in count, since farm families moved to the cities as the urban share rose.
3. 2.

   A student says: "By 1920 most Americans lived in big cities." What do the cards let Bo say?

   • The claim is wrong, since 1920 is the first census with an urban majority, so cities were still new.
   • Urban meant a place of 2,500 or more, so the tables show town life, not big cities.
   • The claim is right, since the urban share passed 50 percent in 1920 and cities were then large.
   • The claim is supported for 1880 as well, since 14,130 thousand urban people already lived in cities.

4. Use this

   The Chinese Exclusion Act. Card A: "The Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882". Who made it: Congress of the United States. When: May 6, 1882. Where: Washington. For whom: customs officers, courts and the public. Why: to suspend the coming of Chinese laborers. Excerpt (Chinese Exclusion Act, chapter 126 (22 Stat. 58); Statutes at Large, vol. 22, 1883, pp. 58-59): "Whereas, in the opinion of the Government of the United States [here, Congress] the coming of Chinese laborers to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within the territory thereof: … That from and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States be, and the same is hereby, suspended [put off for a time]; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration of said ninety days, to remain within the United States."

5. 3.

   The Act says the coming of Chinese laborers is "suspended" for ten years. What does that wording tell Kira about its length?

   • It ended after ninety days, which is the time the card gives for the pause.
   • It began on the day of passage, since no wait is mentioned before the pause starts.
   • It was written as a pause of ten years, which Congress could end or extend later.
   • It was a permanent ban, since suspended is the word used for a final exclusion.

6. Use this

   The Chinese Exclusion Act. Card A: "The Chinese Exclusion Act, sections 14 and 15". Who made it: Congress of the United States. When: May 6, 1882. Where: Washington. For whom: courts, customs officers and the public. Why: to bar Chinese immigrants from citizenship and to define "laborers". Excerpt (Chinese Exclusion Act, chapter 126 (22 Stat. 58); Statutes at Large, vol. 22, 1883, p. 61): "Sec. 14. That hereafter no State court or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship; and all laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed. Sec. 15. That the words "Chinese laborers", wherever used in this act, shall be construed to mean both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining."

7. 4.

   Luz reads sections 14 and 15. What do they do to Chinese immigrants already living in the United States?

   • They bar courts from making Chinese immigrants citizens, so a stay could not lead to citizenship.
   • They apply to miners alone, since section 15 names Chinese employed in mining.
   • They bar federal courts from naturalizing Chinese but leave the question to the State courts.
   • They order Chinese residents to leave, since the law bars both skilled and unskilled laborers from staying.

8. Use this

   Two reformers on the city, 1903 and 1910. Card A: "Jane Addams on what a settlement is". Who made it: Jane Addams. When: 1910. Where: Chicago. For whom: readers of her book. Why: to explain what a settlement is, looking back on Hull-House. Excerpt (Twenty Years at Hull-House, chapter VI; Twenty Years at Hull-House, 1910, pp. 125-126): "The Settlement, then, is an experimental effort to aid in the solution of the social and industrial problems which are engendered by the modern conditions of life in a great city. It insists that these problems are not confined to any one portion of a city. It is an attempt to relieve, at the same time, the overaccumulation [too much wealth] at one end of society and the destitution [extreme poverty] at the other; but it assumes that this overaccumulation and destitution is most sorely felt in the things that pertain to social and educational advantages." Card B: "Robert W. de Forest on the "dumb-bell" tenement". Who made it: Robert W. de Forest, chairman of the 1900 state commission. When: 1903. Where: New York. For whom: readers of the book. Why: to report what the 1901 law had done. Excerpt (The Tenement House Problem, Introduction; The Tenement House Problem, vol. 1, 1903, p. xiv): "The discredited and horrible "dumb-bell" tenement, the prevailing type of house built in New York from 1879 until 1901, is now a thing of the past. At one stroke it was wiped out of existence as a type of future multiple dwelling [a building for many families]. In its place is the new-law tenement, with large courts providing adequate light and ventilation for every room in the building."

9. 5.

   Milo reads card A. According to Addams, where in a city are the problems a settlement tries to solve?

   • In places where jobs are scarce, since social and industrial problems come from unemployment.
   • Mainly in immigrant neighborhoods, which she names as the source of modern city trouble.
   • Not in one part of the city alone; she says they reach both the rich end and the poor end.
   • In poor districts, since the settlement offers relief for destitution in those places.
10. 6.

    Card B says the dumb-bell tenement was "wiped out of existence as a type of future multiple dwelling." What does Noah take that to mean?

    • The dumb-bell tenements in New York were torn down in 1901, as the card says.
    • New buildings of that type could no longer be built; old ones still standing are not mentioned.
    • Dumb-bell tenements were still built after 1901 but with larger courts and more light, as the card says.
    • The dumb-bell was the usual New York type before 1879, which the card says ended then.
11. 7.

    Robert de Forest chaired the commission whose law card B describes. How should Pia use de Forest's report?

    • As worthless, since a person praising a law the commission drafted cannot report facts.
    • As a useful account of what the law changed, checked against another source before trusting his praise.
    • As an unbiased judge, since a chairman knows the facts better than anyone outside the commission does.
    • As a report of the law's results ten years later, since the book dates from 1903.

12. Use this

    Two streams of immigrants, 1819 to 1910. Card A: "The Immigration Commission names the "old" and "new" immigration". Who made it: United States Immigration Commission, created in 1907. When: 1911. Where: Washington. For whom: Congress and the public. Why: to report on immigration and name its two main streams. Excerpt (Abstracts of Reports of the Immigration Commission, vol. 1; Immigration Commission, Abstracts, vol. 1, 1911, pp. 13-14): "Of these [25,528,410 European immigrants from 1819 to 1910], 16,052,900, or 62.9 per cent, came from the northern and western countries enumerated, and 9,475,510, or 37.1 per cent, from southern and eastern Europe and Turkey in Asia. For convenience the former movement will be referred to in the Commission's reports as the "old immigration" and the latter as the "new immigration.""

13. 8.

    A student writes: "Most immigrants from 1819 to 1910 came from southern and eastern Europe." What does card A let Ren say?

    • The claim cannot be tested, since the card gives counts for 1910 and not for earlier years of the period.
    • The claim is false, since northern and western countries sent 9,475,510 of the total.
    • The claim is false for those years: that stream was 37.1 percent, about 9.5 million of 25.5 million.
    • The claim is true, since the card names the southern and eastern stream as the newer one.
14. 9.

    The card says "for convenience" the Commission calls the streams old and new. What does that tell Tala about the labels?

    • They show the Commission treated the two streams equally, since both are named for convenience.
    • They are exact dates, with old meaning before 1819 and new meaning after 1910.
    • They are the names immigrants used for themselves, which the Commission copied for convenience.
    • The Commission chose these labels to organize its reports, so they are its own grouping.
15. 10.

    The card puts "Turkey in Asia" in the same group as southern and eastern Europe. What follows for the 37.1 percent, Zee asks?

    • It is too high, since Turkey in Asia adds nothing to a count of people from Europe.
    • It counts some people from outside Europe, so the group label is not exact.
    • It cannot be compared with the 62.9 percent group, whose countries are European.
    • The whole 37.1 percent came from Asia, since Turkey in Asia is named in the group.