USA > New York > A short history of New York State > Part 30
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The proportion of native-born New Englanders in New York declined steadily after 1825, although Yankee stock remained the largest single element in the racial composition throughout the nineteenth century. The slackening of immigration from New England, however, was more than offset by the inrush of Europeans. By 1855 the foreign born com- posed over one-fourth of the population of the state and nearly one-half of the inhabitants of Manhattan.
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Over 90 per cent of the immigrants to the United States before the Civil War came from western and northern Europe, and especially from Ireland and Germany. A considerable migration of English, Scotch, and Welsh reached New York, but their numbers were much smaller than the Irish total. Smaller contingents of Scandinavians, Swiss, and Netherlanders also settled in the state.
Tremendous economic changes were uprooting the population of Eu- rope during the nineteenth century. With the collapse of the last vestiges of feudalism and the spread of the industrial revolution, factory enter- prises gradually displaced handicraft production, and thousands of arti- sans migrated to America. The spread of commercial farming led to the enclosure movement in England and Scotland, dispossessing thousands of small farmers. Moreover, the period of relative peace after 1815 and the slight improvements of public health, in combination with the high birth rate, created a sharp increase in European population.
Conditions in Ireland in the first half of the nineteenth century were deteriorating rapidly. Tenant farmers found their rents rising and their leases becoming less secure because landlords were shifting from grain to sheep raising. The cotters, or landless farm laborers, relied almost en- tirely for their food on their potato patches. In 1845 disaster struck when the potato "rot" wiped out the food supply of most of the rural popula- tion. The cotters flocked to the seaports, and tenants by the thousands gave up their farms or were evicted for nonpayment of rent. Landlords, philanthropists, and even local governments granted funds to some of the dispossessed people to leave their island home. New York City was one of the main goals, and by 1860 over 200,000 Irishmen were living in that city.
The magnet pulling Europeans to America was the opportunity to better themselves. Here were many jobs on the canals and railroads, and the construction of houses, stores, and factories required an even greater number of workers. The farmers of New York kept demanding more "greenhorns" to bring in the harvest and to milk the cows. But New York, like the other states, offered more than work. Here the immigrant could worship as he pleased; he could earn the right to vote; he was free from rigid police supervision and the draft. Best of all, he, or at least his children, could climb up the economic and social ladder.
The attractions of the New World were to be enjoyed only by those willing to endure many hardships. At every step the immigrants ran into sharpers and swindlers among the tavern keepers, ship captains, ticket sellers, and employment agents. They usually had to spend some time in the water-front inns of Liverpool, Hamburg, and Le Havre waiting for their sailing vessels. The two-month voyage was the next grueling ordeal. Weakened by poor food, overcrowding, lack of ventilation and
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sanitary arrangements, the passengers often contracted cholera, typhus, small pox, and dysentery. Representatives of private agencies-runners, boardinghouse-keepers, and employment agencies-were waiting on the docks of New York City to serve, and often to exploit, the newcomers.
Thousands of diseased and destitute foreigners swamped the hospitals, almshouses, prisons, and orphanages of New York City. Investigations showed that swindlers were stripping many immigrants of their few pos- sessions. To deal with this desperate situation, the state legislature created the Board of Commissioners of Immigration, which was authorized to re- imburse local communities for looking after the welfare of indigent for- eigners. The board was partly financed by levying a head tax on each immigrant. The commissioners had to appease politicians, combat the boardinghouse-keepers, and stretch their limited funds over a large num- ber of immigrants. Their major accomplishment was the acquisition of Castle Garden as a central landing depot for all immigrants. This action curbed some of the worst abuses, since immigrants could buy tickets from accredited travel agencies and secure reliable information about jobs and routes from state officials. Immigrants were also helped by emigrant-aid societies set up by the various nationality groups.
Several enclaves of foreigners developed in New York and other cities. The Irish on Manhattan tended to concentrate in the dilapidated dwell- ings on the Lower East Side behind the wharves and warehouses. The Germans at the half-century mark lived farther up the island centering in the region between Grand Street and Fourteenth Street. In the upstate cities, immigrants usually moved into the worst sections.
Immigrants did not easily forget the homeland with its precious memories of childhood and its remaining family ties. For example, on the feast of their patron saint, the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the Ancient Order of Hibernians assembled to celebrate their origins with song and oratory. In 1846 the poverty-ridden Irish community of New York collected over $800,000 for famine relief in Ireland. Despite these evidences of old loyalties, homesickness gradually vanished under the pressures of daily living. The job, the saloon, the parish church, the fra- ternal society, and especially the family created new loyalties. Each na- tionality group built up a complex of organizations which performed a vital function in adjusting their group to everyday living in America.
The foreign-language press, next to the job and the school, was the greatest force for Americanization. Although these journals sprang up to serve as clearinghouses for information and to perpetuate memories of the old country, their editors gradually copied most of the features of the American press, fostered community services, and debated the con- troversial issues of the day. To illustrate, the Irish-American championed the cause of Irish freedom, defended the Catholic church against every
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attack, and fought such "fanatical" reforms as temperance and aboli- tion.
Naturalized citizens became a potent force in New York politics. The Democratic party welcomed the foreigners and generally won their sup- port. The Whig party held few attractions because of its tendencies toward nativism, temperance, and aristocracy. Some Germans, espe- cially those of liberal views, swung to the Republicans in the late 1850's because of that party's opposition to the extension of slavery.
The Irish in New York City created the greatest Irish community out- side of Dublin. Naturally enough, the immigrants, finding themselves in the midst of a strange culture, continued their clannish habits, especially when they experienced the animosity of some Protestants fearful of papal supremacy, the hostility of native workmen resentful of competitors for jobs, and the complaint of taxpayers disturbed by the bulging relief rolls. The Roman Catholic church became the rallying point for most sons of Erin. Exhausted by hard physical labor and crowded into squalid tene- ments, many workmen turned to barrooms and saloons for recreation. Many, perhaps hopeful of a chance to settle accounts with Great Britain, joined the militia, and Irish units gave a good account of themselves in the Civil War. Politically they were Democrats and backed Tammany Hall, which in turn rewarded the faithful with jobs and relief. Although the top places on the ticket were reserved for native Americans, the Irish soon made their influence felt, winning minor posts and receiving favors as contractors and licensed saloon keepers.
The upstate cities by mid-century were also becoming cosmopolitan. For example, the census of 1855 showed that 44 per cent of the people of Rochester were foreign born. If one adds to this group their children, the total comes to well over half of the population. The largest foreign- born element in Rochester and Buffalo was German-speaking.
Buffalo's German colony numbered almost 30,000 out of a city total of 74,000. The German-American social pattern was more varied than that of the Irish, reflecting, as it did, the large number of religious, class, and regional distinctions in the German states of Europe. Protestants ranged from ultra orthodox Lutherans to Pietists, with the Evangelical Lutherans predominating. Sermons, hymns, and school instruction in the German language kept alive the spirit of the Old World.
German Catholics constructed several churches in Buffalo, but these religious organizations accepted the orders of Irish-born Bishop Timon with great reluctance. Considerable friction developed between the Ger- mans and Irish of the immigrant generation in many parts of the state. The Germans prided themselves upon their thrift, sense of order, and culture. The Irish regarded themselves as peculiarly gifted to administer the Catholic church and to direct the Democratic party.
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English (102,286), Canadian (47,842), and Scottish (27,523) immi- grants made a much easier adjustment than either the Irish or the Germans. They readily joined the churches and other societies of the old American stock, who approved their Protestant background, ability to speak Eng- lish, and Victorian habits. Immigrants from England did not establish many distinctly British societies and churches although the Sons of St. George appeared in the major cities. The Scots joined the Sons of St. Andrew's and occasionally sported kilts, but in general they did not parade their national origins. The Canadian-born were even less group- conscious, although the minority of French Canadians who settled along the border tended to keep their distinctive culture.
Citizens of native birth and parentage continued to dominate the countryside, to provide most of the middle class, and to furnish the busi- ness and political leaders in the cities. The friction between the Yankee element and the pre-Revolutionary stock noticeably lessened. Intermar- riage, the religious revivals, the spread of the school system, and the in- flux of the Irish and Germans in the 1840's and 1850's gradually fused together the diverse elements of native birth.
Nativism, or antiforeign feeling, on the part of the old stock was a mix- ture of prejudice and threatened interests. The basic emotion was fear, fear that the foreign tide would submerge traditional customs and insti- tutions. Old-stock New Yorkers identified themselves as the custodians of the American heritage, which they defined rather narrowly as Protestant and Anglo-Saxon.
The rise of Catholicism was a threat to Protestant control. The Irish and Germans ignored the Puritan Sabbath, fought the prohibition crusade, and called for the banishment of the King James Bible from the public school. The demand by Bishop John Hughes for a share of public funds for the parochial school system was regarded as an aggressive move and brought forth strong nativist resentment.
The increase in immigration presented many political problems. Whigs, irritated by the aliens' preference for the Democratic party, charged the Catholic clergy with political meddling, conveniently forgetting the po- litical activities of many Protestant clergymen. Believers in democracy were critical of the papacy for its promonarchical stand in the suppression of such apostles of republicanism as Kossuth and Garibaldi. They also dis- liked the authoritarian structure of the church and the powers of the bishops. The interdiction of St. Louis' Church in Buffalo by Bishop Timon in 1851 and the excommunication of recalcitrant church trustees in 1854 by the papal legate gave Protestants and democrats the opportunity to condemn as undemocratic the organization of the Roman Catholic church. The Buffalo Commercial Advertiser commented, "For refusing to do what the laws will not permit and what is clearly against the fundamental
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principles of a republican government, these good citizens [the trustees of St. Louis] have launched against them 'the major excommunication'!"
Nativist sentiments were clearly evident in the signs which read "No Irish Need Apply" and in the barrage of articles and books critical of foreign customs and institutions. Some violence occurred, but fortunately New York was spared the disgraceful anti-Catholic riots which took place in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. By mid-century nativism was a strong political force giving rise to the Native American, or, as it was more often called, the Know-Nothing party. As is indicated in the chapters on politi- cal history, nativism as a political issue was short lived and after 1856 became subordinated to the greater question of slavery extension.
The assimilation of foreigners was a slow process, lasting for several generations. Some immigrants never made more than a superficial adjust- ment to American life because they were unwilling to abandon their native tongue and characteristic habits. Many of the younger immigrants, however, and most of the children adopted American ways and customs enthusiastically. They sent their children to the public schools and tried to get ahead as fast as they could.
All in all, the most remarkable feature of immigrant life was the rapid- ity of Americanization, contradicting the complaints of nativists that the foreign elements refused to give up their outside loyalties. The forces of assimilation were powerful and continuous: the public school, the press, the political parties, contact with Americans on the job and at play, the conflict between the older and younger generations. All these factors eroded the sense of religious or national solidarity and operated to create "Americans."
Generalizations about labor and labor conditions are somewhat hazard- ous and always subjective. From a modern viewpoint labor conditions ranged from bad to terrible. Horace Greeley's Tribune in 1845 com- mented pithily:
The average earnings of those who live by simple labor in our city-embracing at least two-thirds of our population-scarcely, if at all, exceed one dollar per week for each person subsisting thereon. On this pittance . . . three hundred thousand persons within sight of Trinity steeple must pay city rents, buy their clothing, and obtain such medical attendance, religious consolation, mental culture, and means of enjoyment as they have.
Despite these conditions, over 200,000 Irish, Germans, and Englishmen, not to mention thousands of native Americans, voluntarily chose to settle in the slums of New York City between 1845 and 1860. What prompted them to settle there? For the most part, hope for a more prosperous future as well as escape from even worse conditions.
The bottom of the working scale was occupied by sweated women,
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overworked children, and day laborers. Long hours, low wages, and abominable working conditions belied a land of opportunity, but fresh recruits stepped off the ships every month.
Servants were the most numerous members of the unskilled workers. The boardinghouses, hotels, and mansions of the wealthy required large numbers of housekeepers, chambermaids, nurses, charwomen, laundresses, cooks, and waiters. In the 1840's servant girls in New York City averaged six dollars per month, in addition to board and lodging. The keen compe- tition between Irish and Negroes for positions as servants and manual laborers broke out at times into fights and riots.
The needleworkers who sewed garments in their own homes were even worse off than the servants. Earnings were only a pittance, since contrac- tors found plenty of workers at almost any wage. Immigrants and the wives of laborers and farmers were eager to make an extra penny. One observer estimated in 1867 that thirty thousand women in New York City worked a twelve- to fifteen-hour day for about thirty cents a day.
Much unskilled labor was needed in the city and on the farm. Laborers unloaded ships, boats, and carts, carried coal, ice, and bricks, took care of the horses and stables, and handled countless odd jobs. Around New York City and Buffalo, Germans and Scots worked as gardeners on the estates of the well-to-do and raised vegetables for the city markets. Dairy farmers needed men to take care of the cows and girls to churn butter. During the 1840's farm laborers averaged ten dollars a month in addi- tion to board and room. Hired men, servant girls, and unskilled labor in general were driven mercilessly from before dawn to after dusk.
Sailors received upwards of twenty-five dollars a month, but after 1830 the harsh discipline deterred many natives from shipping out. Their places were filled by foreign sailors who found wages and food on Amer- ican ships superior to those in other marines. Seamen often got into the clutches of "shipping masters" who advanced money at usurious rates. The masters would then force sailors to sign for voyages in order to pay off their indebtedness.
The skilled craftsmen-coopers, carpenters, masons, shipwrights, print- ers, plasterers, cabinetmakers, jewelers, bricklayers-had been the aristo- crats of labor, but new developments were undercutting their economic position. The merchant capitalists were displacing the artisans as the cen- ter of power. They bought raw materials and sought to reduce labor costs by cutting wages and by hiring unskilled labor. The shoemakers and printers were the first to experience this threat to their craft. Capitalists subdivided the work and hired boys, apprentices, women, and children to perform the simpler operations. Craftsmen in the building trades also disliked the competition of immigrants, who weakened their bargaining power and broke down the apprenticeship system.
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During the 1850's revolutionary changes were affecting the clothing and shoemaking industries because of the introduction of the sewing machine. Capitalists bought the machines and erected small factories, undercutting the independent craftsmen. Most shoes and clothing, however, were still made by cobblers and sweated seamstresses as late as 1860.
The textile workers of New York have attracted much less attention from historians than the workers in the more advanced cotton and wool manufacture of New England. In general, the first factory workers were women and children drawn from neighboring farms. By 1850 a permanent factory population, including many British immigrants, had grown up. In 1855 the male minority received an average of nineteen dollars a month; the women about nine dollars in cotton mills and almost twelve dollars in woolen factories.
The mixed attitude of alarm and condescension shown by the rising business leaders reflected the awakening of labor to its low condition. Discontent was widespread, but the labor movement was troubled by conflicting aims. The ablest leadership came from skilled workers, who demanded better pay and improved working conditions. Some intellec- tuals tried to capture the labor movement as a means of accomplishing a general reform of society, a goal which interested the rank and file very little.
In 1829 the workmen of New York City formed an organization to fight the plan of employers to lengthen the working day beyond ten hours. Their success in this undertaking led the leaders to put up a slate of workingmen in the fall election. Workers had many grievances, which they hoped could be corrected by legislation. Their children often grew up in ignorance because the Public School Society of New York City, which was a private association organized in 1826, was unable to provide adequate schooling. Furthermore, parents unable to pay the fees dis- liked the requirement that they must sign a pauper's oath if they wished their children to attend school. Worse still, workers sometimes were jailed for petty debts and were forced to turn out for militia service while the rich avoided it by paying a small fine. No law protected wages when employers went bankrupt, and the rise of chartered monopolies, especially in banking, disturbed the laboring man, who felt a new aris- tocracy of wealth was dominating the country and robbing the worker by the manipulation of currency.
The success of the Working Men's party in electing several of its can- didates to office created a furor among the conservative classes of New York City. Editors branded it the "dirty-shirt party." One of its leaders, Fanny Wright, was delicately described as "the Red Harlot of Infidelity ... madly and triumphantly stalking over the city." The usual diffi- culties of third parties troubled this organization. Factionalism emerged
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when the colorful but doctrinaire leaders insisted on having their own way. Thomas Skidmore, the first leader, tried to impose upon the move- ment his pet ideas of agrarianism. The average workingman was only mildly interested in Skidmore's proposals that every adult should receive a free grant of 160 acres and that no one should be allowed to own more than that amount of land. Late in 1829 Skidmore seceded from the party after his proposal for continued mass meetings was turned down in favor of party organization on the ward level.
Three English-born "free enquirers" took over control of the move- ment and stressed the need for the establishment of a national system of education. Robert Dale Owen, the son of the famous British reformer, urged that all children be placed in government boardinghouses and receive the same clothing and training. Fanny Wright, an attractive and statuesque brunette, advocated political and social equality for every- one, white or black, male or female. Her questioning of the divine in- spiration of the Bible and her belief in greater sexual freedom made her the favorite target of outraged clergymen and news-hungry editors. George Henry Evans, who edited the official paper, the Working Man's Advocate, was a champion of free public education and later became the chief theorist of agrarian reform.
These educational ideas met resistance among conservatives and among ordinary workmen who wanted to bring up their own children. In 1830 the opponents of Owen and Wright got control of the party at the state convention in Salina and endorsed two Tammany men for governor and lieutenant governor. The labor vote in 1830 was split three ways and the Working Men's party disappeared.
This early labor party scored some gains despite its rapid collapse. It brought to public attention the grievances of the working classes and it stimulated the politicians of Tammany Hall to adopt some of its planks in order to keep the labor vote. Within a decade the legislature passed legislation ending imprisonment for debt and abolishing compulsory militia service. It also passed mechanics' lien laws to give the workers protection against defaulting employers. The movement for free public schools also received a great impetus.
Labor organizations led by the printers and shoemakers multiplied rapidly in the boom years between 1830 and 1837. By 1833 there were at least fifteen organized trades in New York City and a central body called the Trades' Union. The tailors and other unions won important gains over the stiff opposition by employers, who turned to the courts for protection. In 1835 shoemakers in Geneva refused to work for any master who did not observe union rules, including the closed shop. Their employer hauled them into court for criminal conspiracy. Chief Justice Savage ruled, "It is important to the best interests of society
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that the price of labor be left to regulate itself. ... Competition is the life of trade." This decision was cited as precedent for a ruling against tailors in New York City the following year. Over twenty-five thousand workers met to protest the sentence imposed upon the tailors.
A convention of mechanics, farmers, and workingmen opened in Utica on September 15, 1836, to protest the court decisions and to form an Equal Rights party. The new party prevented Tammany from win- ning control of the congressional and legislative delegations in the fall elections. The labor leaders were opposed to the conservative wing of the Democratic party, which had granted many banking monopolies.
The Panic of 1837 threw thousands out of work and brought dire poverty to many families. Within a year it was estimated that approxi- mately one-third of the working class were jobless. The infant trade unions could not keep alive and their newspapers disappeared. In February 1837 a crowd of unemployed workers stormed the Manhattan store of Eli Hart and Company, which was accused of hoarding flour in order to push the price upward.
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