Part Three: America – A Country for One Another and Othering

 

Part Three: America – A Country for One Another and Othering

19^Th Century Mass Immigration/Industrialization

By: Jeanne Gostling

   As the American Revolution ended, so did the era of colonization for the northeastern and mid- Atlantic portions of America. The Louisiana Purchase however was still years away (1803). With the subsequent annexation of Texas (1845), the treaty of Hildalgo (1848), and the Gadsden purchase (1853), the perimeter of what we know as the contiguous United States was established. Americans would become the primary shapers of cultural norms, mores and codified practices moving forward. Direct European influence would become an artifact. Yet as our new country grew into a nation beyond the explicit control of foreign officials, the European edicts of God, Glory and Gold remained imbedded in our cultural fabric. The continued belief in ordained authority, adherence to the doctrine of discovery and reliance upon mercantilism would guide the hand of our founding fathers, influential politicians, industrialists and religious leaders for decades to come. 

   Nineteenth-Century America was characterized by the arrival of massive waves of immigrants. The push to industrialize would bring about population shifts that required the growth of urban centers where the jobs were located. Rapid advancements in transportation via canal systems, railroads, steamboats and improved roadways demanded expansion of services for people using these corridors and more settlements grew up in response.

   Industrialization required a vast pool of laborers, skilled and unskilled, and immigrants came in search of jobs. They arrived through port cities like New York, and many of these newcomers chose to stay and build their lives in urban centers. 

   

NYC alone saw a 5000 % population increase from 1800-1880. Yet others sought to settle in the river and canal towns upstate. The Hudson River and Erie Canal were instrumental in moving people into the hinterlands – first throughout upstate New York – eventually to Buffalo, where Great Lake voyages facilitated westward expansion. Access to America’s vast resources in those once inaccessible regions of the heartland spurred production and distribution. American raw materials and finished products could now be obtained throughout our country and the world. While building new lives for themselves and their families immigrants also did the work of building America. Wherever they went, so did their ideas and belief systems. This would eventually lead to conflicts with people born here.

   Grave world events also drove refugees to our shores as they fled the ravages of famine, contentious regimes and religious persecution in Europe. Jobs were plentiful here but relief from hardship was not a guarantee in America, as 19th century immigrants encountered serious obstacles and uncertainty. Key to understanding the barriers that impacted them is appreciating how difficult it was for a new country to accommodate a disparate array of cultures. America lacked geo-political boundaries that helped define where and when a subset of culture could be expressed without consequence. The absence of clear demarcation and agreement upon which language was to be spoken, what currency was accepted, what religion was dominant, which holidays were celebrated often resulted in discrimination and violence against people who were in the minority.

   Further complications for newcomers came from individuals born in America who distinguished themselves as “native”. They often viewed foreign born people, even from their own country of origin, as less worthy. Sharing prosperity and opportunities was seen as diminishing the spoils and riches they themselves sought to receive.  Nativism was rampant and groups like the Know Nothings, (a pre-cursor to the KKK) aggressively pushed an anti-immigrant agenda insisting they were here to steal the vote and corrupt the minds of American youth.

   This was a period of great social change. Movements like abolitionism, temperance, Mormonism, utopianism and transcendentalism flourished during this time. The rapid pace of change and introduction of different ideologies  created a sense of panic among many “natives”. A through line was drawn from foreigners being on American soil and the growing sense of unease capturing the country. Essentially, the arrival of so many newcomers in such a   condensed span of time, during a period of intense social and economic change gave rise to a permission structure where people were emboldened to blame anyone who was different.

   Carrie Nation famously championed temperance in the late 1800’s and early 20th century. She proclaimed from her soapbox that Irish and German immigrants were “wet” due to their use of whiskey and beer. As religious fervor grew in New York’s burned-over district so did concern that immigrants were spreading vice wherever they settled. American Protestants feared the influx of European  Catholics. The push to abolish slavery caused tension between immigrants and African American communities. During the Civil War immigrant men were being asked to sacrifice life and limb for enslaved Blacks while in competition for similar resources and opportunities. Anger over the unfairness of conscription would spill over into immigrant resentment and violence towards Blacks as a whole.

 

  By the latter half of the century industrialism exploded and the income gap between wealthy owners and the working poor grew larger and led to riots, strikes and protests. As the century neared its end. the title “Robber Barron” was widely used to describe families like the Carnegies, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Morgans and the Gould's. The working class were responsible for clashes that burned down the Astor Opera House in opposition to New York’s social elite. The Haymarket Affair in Chicago during 1886 was a violent encounter when workers unionized and fought for 8-hour workdays. In 1877 there was a great railroad strike. In 1892 the Pinkertons used brutal force to break up a union organized strike at the Homestead Steel Mill in Pennsylvania. Tensions were high as the Gilded Age in the late 1800’s gave way to the Reform Era. Activists managed to put an end to child labor. They forced concession that brought about the 8-hour workday and implementation of work, food and housing safety policies. The practice of othering, however, assigning blame to groups who are different, was not extinguished.

   In our fourth and final segment we’ll review the major social changes that took place in the 1900’s such as civil rights and women’s rights. We’ll reflect upon where we are now and discuss opportunities to address the ongoing practice of othering.