The Role Of Immigrants In The 19th Century

Freedom, safety, and opportunity; these are three of the things that motivated thousands of immigrants to flock to America during the 19th century. The growth of industry, as well as the rapidly-advancing technology, made larger cities the ideal place to go to work. Factories had a insatiable need for cheap laborers and there were plenty of people willing to work for next to nothing for a shot at living in the land of opportunity. While the promise of work and a new life might sound appealing, the reality of life in America for the working class was nothing to be sought after. The 18th and early 19th century in America is commonly referred to as The Gilded Age; Gilded, meaning gold-plated or coated with gold. This metaphor describes the time period perfectly. On the outside this time period seemed to be a time of wealth and technological advancement. For those on the inside, however, it was a time of suffering and oppression. Living conditions in urban areas during this time period were very poor, to say the least. The cities simply were not built to hold that many people. Even so,
After that wasn’t enough, buildings, called tenement houses, were constructed for the sole purpose of holding the largest number of people as possible (History.com). These buildings were usually built on lots 25X100 ft. (Dolkart). This size lot would hold at least 20 families. The rooms were normally around 11x13 ft. These buildings were one after another, and one behind the other. There was little to no ventilation in these apartment houses, especially in the interior rooms. Indoor plumbing was not available to most tenement dwellers. The damp and dreary tenement houses were breeding grounds for disease. Infant mortality rates were as high as 1 in 10 (History.com). Cholera spread like wildfire among the tenements, leading to an outbreak during the mid-nineteenth century which killed thousands