Immigrants lived a hard life, from being harassed by others to starting their lives all over again. Most immigrants bought a ticket in steerage and lived on a ship for a week to a month. On board ships, the air was stale, illness ran rampid, and there wasn't much food to go around to everyone. Due to the unsanitary working and living conditions that immigrants faced in the nineteenth century, many laws and regulations were changed for the better in America.
Three and a half million (fifteen percent) of the American people lived in cities, and the percentage of city dwellers increased to forty percent by 1900 (King and Napp 346). A city block usually held 5,000 tenements. Dumbell tenements were six to seven story buildings that had no toilets, and there would be as many as eight families. They were very dark and had an air shaft to let light and air in. The cities were so dirty that grease, sewage, and dead animals floated in Chicago rivers.
In 1895, Jane Addams published the Hull House Map and Papers Report. It was a book that dealt with tenement conditions, sweatshops, and child labor (King and Napp 351). The report recommended labor unions, improved welfare procedures, and child labor laws. In 1889, Jane Addams founded the Hull House (King and Napp 351). The Hull House provided community services. It had a nursery, gymnasium, dispensary, and a play ground. Classes such as sewing and cooking were offered, along with many others, so that mothers of children could learn how to raise their kids and be able to get out and find jobs to help raise their families. For some, it was hard to find jobs since very few immigrants spoke English. Having a job didn't always help out much in the money department because they worked hard jobs for very little money. .
The most important reason that people moved to cities was because they could find jobs. American cities usually specialized in one or two industries.