Living Conditions
Most immigrants, when first coming over, settled in New York and other growing cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia. Upon being welcomed into America by citizens who showed hostility towards them, immigrants soon learned that they had nowhere to turn and were forced to move into “poverty-stricken neighborhoods”, and to live in poor, run-down apartment buildings known as tenements. These tenements were relatively small, and most only consisted of two rooms, one used as a kitchen and the other likely used as a bedroom. The living spaces in these types of housing were very small, especially considering that most women worked out of their homes using it for sewing or rolling cigars. The living space also only contained one to two windows which gave them a “suffocating feeling”. The living conditions also became very unsanitary as the lack of running water became very scarce and personal hygiene became more of a luxury than a common daily task. Trash started to pile up on the streets and the lack of water made it difficult to wash their clothes. This led to a rise in serious diseases such as cholera, smallpox and tuberculosis (Weil, n.d).
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http://www.history.com/topics/tenements
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LIFE IN THE TENEMENTS
http://www.history.com/topics/tenements