Immigration In The Early 1900s

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In the early 1900s, many things were occurring in the United States. While the U.S saw plenty of great new innovations such as the washer machine, vacuum, electricity, air conditioning, air planes, and the popularization of automobiles, there were also a multitude of things occurring that weren't so good. For example with the early 1900s, we saw a huge influx of immigrants, mainly from different parts of Europe. Due to the large amounts, the government built two entry points; one for the east coast, Ellis Island, and one for the west coast, Angel Island. During this time the nation also saw issues with uncleanliness and safety inside of the food and meat packing industry. Also there were problems with child labor and business owners exploiting the rights of children and forcing them to work many hours in unsafe and dirty facilities. Finally, there was public outcry from women for the right to partake and vote within government elections. …show more content…
Usually this work would be very dangerous and would be underpaid. Then they had to find a place to live. Most only managed to settle into dumbbell tenements. These “apartments” were very small and were packed with up to four families in each. On top of this they had only two bathrooms per floor. The living conditions were also terrible it made sickness and diseases very easy to transmit. This had been a major ongoing problem within the United States for some years that the majority of people chose to neglect. That is until a man named Jacob Riis came along. He was a writer who was intrigued and appalled at the same time over these harsh conditions that these immigrants had to deal with. Eventually he wrote and published a book titled How the Other Half Lives. This book was a big deal and helped to shine the spotlight onto this issue. Eventually the book was lead a movement that called for social reform and