Ragtime - Shaw Festival Theatre

THE WORLD OF THE PLAY cont’d
While immigrants may not have believed the streets in America were paved with gold, few were prepared
for the difficult life that awaited them on the Lower East Side. Get sick, no pay; no pay, no food
or rent; no food/rent, get evicted and go hungry. Life on the Lower East Side was a daily fight for survival.
Most immigrants hoped to work and save their way out of the ghetto. Many placed their hopes in
education for their children. But a few had a bigger vision -- to lift everyone out of poverty.
They were called radicals - because they wanted to change society completely -- get rid of profit,
private property, and exploitation. Everyone would own everything and all would share. Some, like
Emma Goldman, were anarchists. They saw a society free of oppressive laws and government. Others
were socialists. They wanted a society where workers ran the government and wrote the laws.
These radicals put out flyers, led strikes, and marched in protests. The rich and powerful did not like
their message. They put radicals in jail. When that didn't stop them, the government exiled thousands
to communist Russia.
These radical immigrants made many Americans nervous— already convinced that immigrants held
too much political power or were responsible for violence and industrial strife, they feared the new
immigrants could not easily be assimilated into American society. Pressure to limit the number of
immigrants eligible for admission to the United States led to quota laws favouring immigrants from
northern and western Europe.
The immigrant’s struggle in Ragtime is told through the story of Tateh and his daughter.
SOURCES
http://pbskids.org/bigapplehistory/life/topic4b.html
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/616563/United-States/77809/Industrialization-of-the-
US-economy
ACTIVITIES
RESEARCH In what ways did the influx of immigrants affect and challenge ideas of national unity and
American identity?
DISCUSS: What factors might motivate someone to leave his/her country of origin and emigrate to a
foreign land?
RESEARCH some of the reasons people came to America around the turn of the century from Europe
and Asia. What kind of life did they find when in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or other cities?
Have students CREATE a brochure that describes life in the country of origin on one panel and describes
the expectations of immigrants as they travel to America on two other panels. The interior of
the brochure should describe the reality of life in America in 1900 for these immigrants.
C ONNECTIONS
Shaw Festival Study Guide
19