Read the article posted below (two formats available):
http://www.vanells.com/125-22.pdf (with images, PDF requires Adobe Acrobat)
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:vJ8_Q9ffkMgJ:www.vanells.com/125-22.pdf+gilded+age+and+immigration,+disease&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=8&gl=us(HTML/ will work on any computer)
(NOTE: You read pages 3-5 in class on a long handout Friday)
AND Chapter One of Jacub Riis' How the Other Half Lives:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/How_the_Other_Half_Lives/Chapter_I
(NOTE: You read pages 3-5 in class on a long handout Friday)
AND Chapter One of Jacub Riis' How the Other Half Lives:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/How_the_Other_Half_Lives/Chapter_I
A) Discuss how health, sanitation and scientific theory affected the lives of "old immigrants" in the Gilded Age.
B) Consider Riis' arguments for social reform and Herbert Spencer's theory of Social Darwinism.
In your opinion, was the government responsible for the health and safety of immigrant communities at the turn of the 20th Century?
Should undocumented (alien) immigrants recieve social services in modern US society?
How do your opinions on these issues relate to the Riis and Spencer's ?
14 comments:
Conor McGinn
During the gilded age, people were left to handle themselves through the ideals of Social Darwinism. Jacob Riis took measures to show people what the poorer immigrants were going through, in an effort to change it. Riis fought for social reform from the government. He wanted the government to step in and help the poor immigrants. Herbert Spencer, on the other hand, felt that the government had absolutely no duty to these people.
In my opinion, Spencer is 100% correct. People coming into this country should be expecting to work hard for everything they want. They cannot come into America actually expecting the streets to be paved with gold. There are so many people in America that the government cannot be held responsible for them all. Immigrants need to get themselves going, or go back home.
This is the same in the case of modern day America. There are so many legal, tax-paying citizens in this country that the government cannot take care of those people who are illegally here. If immigrants want to come to this country, they should work to earn a visa and a green card. Illegal immigration is a major problem, and it is affecting both society and the economy. My views are very similar to those of Herbert Spencer. Every person in this country should be responsible for themselves, and the government has no responsibility to take care of those who do not care to be here legally, or earn their own way in this country.
Social Dwarnisn , nativism and health sanitations dramatically affected the lives of the immigrants living through the Gilded Age. Nativists did not want immigrants coming to America. Most importantly,it was very hard for the immigrants to work effectivly when they lacked nutrients and were working in spaces filled with about 150 other workers and rats.The factories in which the workers worked were usually dark , erie and tightly spaced. Secondly, determined by the first article by Dr. Mark D.Van Ells, Social Dwarnism is more than promoting big buisness and abandoning the poor.The general IDEA of the theory or practice is "competition". Social Dwarnism belives that humans are like animals and are in a fight to gain whatever they want.It also believes that there will always be a superior; wheather it is between buisness,races,nationalities and religions.In Europe, counties were going into the mindset that there country was the best in Europe; Germany's ego was humogous.So when European immigrants migrated to Anerica, the tension was still present and they felt that they not only had to compete with Americans but between each other in building their own family businesses and finding work. Opposing the theory of Social Dwarnism, the government should always be responsible for the health and saftey for anyone it allows in their country. The government should not have allowed immigrants in if they were aware that they coudn't care for them. That is called neglance and abuse; similar to when a mother has a baby and neglects him.America should not have any alien immigrants. It doesn't allow the government to precisly count the amount of immigrants in America. It also affects the jobs that Americans and legal immigrants get. My opinion on Immigrants are influenced by Jacob Riis book,
" How the other half lives". I do not believe in Social Dwarnism, though I do belive that it is the fondations for America's values.
Conor's beliefe on Spencer's beliefe on Social Dwarnism is slightly true. Immigrants do need to come to America to work and not "expect the streets to be paved with gold." However, some immigrants are migrating their countries to be released from a dictator, or to escape a genocide and war. They just want to be safe and obtain freedom. Which, America before and now symbolizes all over the world. Work and wealth are not always the reason for migration.
~ Dijah... Yo!
Cherricka
Sanitation, health, and Social Darwism had an impact on the lives of immigrants during the Gilded Age. It was extremely hard for immigrants to work with out good health and nutritents. The working spaces were tight, allowing germs and other sickness to get in their bodies. It is clear that Nativist did not want immigrants here, agreeing with Khadijat.
Although, Riis and Spencer put up a good arguement, I agree the most with Spencer. He thought that immigrants should come to the U.S work. There were so many Americans that sat on their tails and did nothing. The U.S don't need more people to come over and do the same as everyone else. When immigrants came to the U.S during the Gilded Age, they were expected to work harder than the Americans that were already here.
Karmila Saulong
Block F
The lives of “old immigrants” were deeply affected by health, sanitation, and scientific theories. The educated and wealthy class made an attempt to block immigrants from coming to America. Acts against immigration were passed that restricted immigration from Asia and “banned the importation of unskilled contract labor”. Many laws were created to rid of the “undesired” immigrants. The health and sanitation caused thousands of people died from the risks of the unsanitary living environment. Housing was so dangerous because of the health side affects. The population of the cities decreased and the careless landlords were only greedy for money so they didn’t worry about the health problems.
Social Darwinism is mainly based on the idea of “survival of the fittest”. Not only is this theory based on whoever perseveres will continue but about how there should be little government interaction with society. Like Conor, I agree that the government should not have to help immigrants; however, they should not be aiding businesses either. The government wasn’t responsible for the health and safety of immigrant communities. As Conor said, the immigrants should be coming to America knowing they must work hard. Relying on the government may not be a wise choice, especially when the government still tried to recover from previous wars. It is not the governments’ responsibility to provide a living for immigrants.
In modern US society, I believe that undocumented immigrants should not receive social services. Although many illegal immigrants are receiving benefits, it isn’t fair to those that work and pays tax. Undocumented immigrants put a strain on the economy. I strongly disagree with what Khadijah said. It isn’t the always the governments job to take care of the immigrants. They come to America for opportunities and to work. If the government always provides for them, the economy will always lose more and more money, as it does today.
Ama Kwakye
F Block
The government should take care of their citizens needs.The goverment should make surew that all citizens have a basic and saf life. During the Gilded Age most people came to AMerica to start a better life and nothing else. RAcism made it difficult for the incoming immagrants, especially the Irish.The immagrants coming into America assumed that AMerica was the perfect country and place to settle in but once they entered America some where disapointed. From the get go many Americans werent happy with the fact that other people were coming into the country because people know that there would be a spread os diesases and a decrease in availble jobs. The immagrants didnt mind working for low wages because they were used to not getting paid at all and most had no jobs.Undocumented (alien) immigrants should recieve social services in modern US society, as long they dont have an bad records in their cou0ntry. Once they abuse there rights in America then they deserve the rights to be expoerted back to their country.
During the Gilded Age competion was up there. there was so much of a grab for power It is wasnt easy for the 20th's centeries competion difficult to have power in society since there is so much competition and so many people. I do understand where Riis and Spencer are coming from.i dont see what the big deal is wit immagrants living in America. If you think about it we were all Immagrants once before, we didnt just fall from a tree and wala, we were born in America. I aGree with KArmila,Conor Cherricka, and Cherricka because we are all for the same thing but just have different ideas behind our resons The government should be undertsnading and welcome immagrated families in to America as they are there own, What if our families werent allowed to come to America where would we be today.
The Gilded Age was a difficult time for new immigrants coming to America. Health and sanitation concerns as well as scientific theory brought into America were highly effecting the "old immigrants". People began getting very sick due to the lack of nutrients needed to sustain the human body, not to mention the horrible living conditions. They lived in a tenament with many people in such a cramped space, it was not a good place for immigrants to be, "new" or "old".
Social Darwinism was a popular concept during The Gilded Age. Agreeing with Conor, whom agrees with Herbert Spencer, any immigrant coming into America should have to work hard to make their way to the top. The government could not be held responsible for all of the people's health who were settling in America. It was up to the individuals to take care of themselves, which was probably not very different from how they were treated in their old countries. Jacob Riis opposed Herbert Spencer's views on Social Darwinism and wanted to change the policy in America. Personally, I believe that the government does have duties to it's people, but they should not haveto take care of their every need. The government would never have the money or time to put band aids on every cut in America. IT would be impossible especially with all the new coming immigrants during The Gilded Age.
-Melissa Coughlin
Shaun Quinto
F-Block
During the Gilded Age, immigrants had tough situations to deal with. The idea of Social Darwinism left them to try to succeed on their own. The immigrants lived in ghettoes with poor conditions. They were unsanitary, because so many people lived in such a small tenement. Herbert Spencer's theory of Social Darwinism made it even more difficult for the immigrants to survive. Since the people believed in Spencer's theory, they didnt do much to help immigrants. On the other hand, Jacub Riis believed we needed social reform, and exposed the conditions of immigrants during the Gilded Age in his book How the Other Half Lives.
In my opinion, Spencer was correct. The people who come into this country shouldnt be treated with special care. They come here expecting to live a new life and earn more money than they need. They need to face the reality of the social conditions in America. The immigrants need to do what they need to earn money. They can't expect the government to help them out. They have the same opportunity to create a business as anyone else did, and should have used the skills they learned from their country to their advantage. In the more modern world, illegal aliens should not receive the same social services as American citizens do. If they come here illegally, they shouldn't have the same services as someone who has generations of family born here. If they earn a green card, then they can receeve the same treatment. If they are here and working here illegally, they shouldnt receive the same care from the gov't. They aren't paying taxes, and shouldnt even be in the country. Obviously, my opinions most likely reflect on Spencer's idea of Social Darwinism. If the immigrants think they can come here and receive the same benefits as hard working Americans, they are thinking wrong. They are given the same chances, once they become citizens, and have the same opportunities to be succesful in America, if they learn how to take advantage of them. I agree with Conor. After reading his blog entry, it seems like we both support the idea of Social Darwinism, and don't like the idea of illegal immigrants benefiting off of hard working Americans.
Yasmeen Sweatte
Block F
Blog Post:
Health, sanitation and scientific theory affected the lives of "old immigrants" in the Gilded Age.It was pretty evident, that Nativists didn't want immigrants entering America. It was extremely hard for the immigrants to work to their full potential beings though they didn't have the correct intake of nutrients and were working in tight spaces.The factories in were usually dark and, tightly spaced.
As we know during The Gilded Age immigrants were to defend for themselves during the Social Darwinism. "How the Other Half Lives" by Jacob Riis gave us an outlook on how immigrants lived and, how they were willing to make a change. He fought for the government to give a helping hand in changing the lives of many immigrant, but Herbert Spencer thought different. He felt the government shouldn't involve themselves. However, I agree with Herbert because, immigrants coming into this country should automatically get out and support themselves financially. I don't understand why they tend to think that everything should be handed to them by the government. It's not even that easy for people that are residents of the United States to get "what they want".
Loretta Au
The Gilded age was a period of industrialization between 1870-the early 1900s. During this time, immigrants wanted to move in hopes to obtain new jobs. However, their hopes were often shot down when the process of approval to enter began. There were many restrictions that limited who can immigrate. Laws like he Chinese Exclusion Act and the Foran Act were passed to restrict undesired immigrants. People classified as “idiots and insane persons”, with certain diseases, and convicted as felonies, or any crime were banned. Those who were believed to fail in love were also banned. When it was discovered that many immigrants were illiterate, a test was created to test them. An immigrant must be able to read at least 40 words in some language. After passing through the acceptation procedure, finding a living was a problem for all. The theory of Social Darwinism made it even harder for immigrants. Social Darwinism basically stated hat those who are successful are well deserved through hard work, and those who aren’t are lazy workers. The wealthy continued to succeed and gain while the poor workers suffered to survive on a day-to-day basis.
The government was irresponsible for the health and safety of immigrant communities at the turn of the 20th Century. If the government allows them to reside in the nation they should guide them in settling. However, the immigrants are residing in cedars and overpriced, unsafe communities. Undocumented immigrants should not receive social services in modern US society. Those immigrants do not belong here and deserve nothing of another nation. However, an abundance of illegal immigrants exist, there must be a problem where they are originally from and action should be taken to attempt to help solve their national issues.
In response to Yasmeen, the owners definitely had too high of expectations from the immigrants to work many long hours, for low wages and in horrible conditions.
Immigrants during the Gilded Age had to lead a very difficult life because of the treatment the endured from other people. Beliefs like that of Social Darwinism judged the immigrants without even giving them a chance. Basically, social darwism was the belief that certain races were inferior to others, based on the original Darwin belief. Because of many of these beliefs immigrants were treated unfairly. There were many health and sanitation issues in areas that they lived. Homes were crowded and expensive.
The government should have been responsible for immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. The government was extremely willing to allow immigrants in, so it should have been their duty to care for them also. In modern times, alien immigrants should not recieve social services in the united states because it takes a toll on our economy. Its unfair for legal american citizens that the governemnt is using money to aid illegal immigrants. I would have to agree with Shaun, immigrants should realize that coming into America doesnt mean everything will be taken care of for them.
thanks&gnite :]
During the Gilded Age the lives of many “old immigrants” were affected by factors such as health, sanitation and scientific theories. While living in tenements, immigrant families faced unsanitary living conditions such as “...filthy yards, dark, damp basements, leaking garrets...” and more. Even when entering the country, immigrants who planned on residing in the country permanently encountered restrictions. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Foran Act of 1885 were passed to limit the number of “undesirable” immigrants. Until the late 1800's, several laws were passed to allow in only those who would benefit the country. Also, to prevent diseases from entering the country, those with illnesses were deported back to their country. Likewise, living under harsh conditions in the tenements, old immigrants were prone to other illnesses. Thus, at the turn of the 20th century, the government was not responsible in keeping immigrant communities a healthy and safe environment. Furthermore, scientific theories placed a struggle on old immigrants during the Gilded Age. Involving the issue of race, Herbert Spencer’s theory of Social Darwinism was most significant, stating that certain races and people rose to success due to “survival of the fittest” and those who did not succeed had no one to blame but themselves. On the other hand, Jacob Riis’ argument for social reform in How the Other Half Lives exposes the struggles of working immigrants in America and how the government should take part in helping them. While Riis believed that immigrants deserved government aid, Spencer supported the idea that the government should not interfere with the economy. I strongly agree with Conor in that undocumented immigrants should not receive social services in modern U.S. society. Since they are residing in the country illegally, they should not be granted the privileges that other American citizens have worked hard to earn. They cannot expect the government to support them if they are breaking the law and not paying taxes. As Conor said, there are enough Americans who are in need of support from the government that they cannot be expected to help everyone. In essence, the way modern U.S. society should be reflects Spencer’s viewpoint of “the survival of the fittest”. Since the undocumented immigrants migrated here to work for a better living, that is exactly what they need to do on their own.
i post on a block blog- plz chech ther 4 mine<333
Immigrants had came to America to fine a better life for themselves and there family members. Immigrants had to deal with discrimination from nativist, and unfair treatment from there employers. Nativeist believed that immigrants from Eurpoe were nothing then trash,and were lower class of society. I don't believe that. I think that Immigrants aren't lower class because they came to America to make a better life for themselves and there families.Immigrants had to leave a lot behind in there countries because they moved away from everything just to start a better life for there families.Survival of the fittest had created an atmosphere of competition between people in the United States Capitalist. The economy singled out racism, discrimination, upper-class exploitation. Most Immigrants had been accused of stealing money from the government and other problems that have been going on in society.
Post a Comment