As seen in the Ragtime novel when Evelyn Nesbit visits the poor, The I.W.W. was founded in Chicago in 1905. The goal of the organization was for all workers to be united as a class to abolish the wage system. The motto of the I.W.W. is "An Injury to One is an Injury to All". Leaders believed the most effective way to gain power was through strikes, propaganda, boycotts, and their controversial strategy of sabotage. Sabotage as defined by the I.W.W. does not mean the destruction of property or machinery. It is the collective withdrawal of efficiency by workers at the point of production, also called "direct action". When other leaders began to disagree with these strategies, the I.W.W. split in 1908. By 1912, the I.W.W. had over 50,000 members and was involved in over 150 strikes. They are sometimes known as the "singing union" because of their iconic Little Red Songbook. Another icon of the I.W.W. is a black cat called the "sabo-tabby" (from the word sabotage). This was one of many "silent agitator" graphics used as symbols for workers to communicate. Some have suggested that the adoption of the word "cat" by beat poets and jazz musicians comes from the I.W.W.'s use of the word. Members of the I.W.W. were called Wobblies. There are a few theories as to how they got their name:
Read a much more in depth history of the I.W.W. here.
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Tammany Hall was a political organization that formed in 1789 in opposition to the Federalist Party. They dominated from 1854 to 1934 and were rendered extinct in 1966. The leadership of Tammany Hall was often identical to the local Democratic Party's executive committee, and Tammany used its power to get many Democratic candidates elected.
"The name Tammany Hall was synonymous with urban political disruption", according to Britannica Encyclopedia. Urban political machine refers to a party organization that exchanges patronage jobs or housing, especially among immigrant groups, for support at the polls. Tammany amassed support from immigrants by promising better housing, jobs, and even assistance in obtaining citizenship so they could vote for Tammany candidates. Irish immigrants forced their right to membership in 1817 and since then never lost ties with Tammany. Jewish Immigrants
By 1900, the Lower East Side had 700 people living per acre, making it the most crowded neighborhood on the planet. (For comparison, in 2010, there were 136 people per acre in the Lower East Side.) Over 50% of Eastern European immigrants worked in manual industries (especially the garment industry) for literally pennies a day. Some worked in sweatshops such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, which caught on fire in 1911, killing 123 women and 23 men and injuring 71 people. Most victims were Jewish women from age 16 to 23. Peddling offered freedom from workplace dangers and discrimination for many Jewish immigrants. At least 1/3 of Jewish immigrants worked in retail, and 10% of these at some point worked as peddlers. Italian Immigrants 80% of Italian immigrants came from Southern Italy, 50% were literate, and 30% were women. There were at least 50 lynchings of Italian immigrants between 1890 and 1920. The largest lynching in US history took place in 1891. Sicilian immigrants were blamed for the murder of some policemen. 19 Sicilians were put on trial, though none were convicted. Taking the law into their own hands, a mob of 10,000 broke into the jail and lynched 11 of the prisoners. While Roman Catholicism was common in America at the time, "Mediterranean" Catholicism was seen as foreign. Anti-capitalist anarchism was often associated with Italian immigrants. Chinese Immigrants Under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the immigration of Chinese laborers was made illegal. The law was renewed with the Geary Act in 1892 and made permanent in 1902. This is the first time a law prohibited a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States; upon the impending creation of Trump's so-called Muslim Ban, it will not be the last. This was also the first time that illegal immigration was punishable with extreme consequences. For example, if Chinese laborers were found without a certificate of residence, they could be arrested, forced to perform hard labor, or even deported. The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the Magnuson Act in 1943. Immigrants were screened for defects upon their entrance to America, based on a popular belief that immigration politics should be based on eugenics principles to protect the "superior race".
Physical Defects
Mental Defects
Moral Defects
Mental and moral defects were of more concern to authorities--immigrants deemed mentally or morally inferior were mandatorily excluded from entrance to the US. Physical defects were also of concern, as George Lydston stated that physical defectiveness was a primary factor in the causation of crime. Head over to the image gallery from Ellis Island to see pictures of the screening process. |
Dramaturgy for the Ragtime musical and novel.© Eliza Pillsbury, 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Eliza Pillsbury with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Categories
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