II. SETTLEMENTS
(1880-1900)
A NEW IDEA
 n the late 1880s, a new type of philanthropic organization
appeared. The settlement movement, as it came to be called, was a new approach to the
problems of the city and its poor, and it focused mostly on new immigrants.
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| Immigrant ships provided few
amenities |
 America's largest cities were largely composed of an amalgamation of
new Americans representing virtually every country in the world. Immigrants were drawn to
the cities to the thousands of flourishing new industries that needed workers.
Overcrowding, sanitation and simple assimilation posed unique and overwhelming problems to
those concerned about the nation's general welfare.
Many leaders were especially concerned about the future of democracy and the democratic
spirit as America became less and less a nation of farmers from north-western Europe. In
this context there arose a new kind of charitable activity focused on improving the
immigrants' circumstances and grounded in the spirit of democracy.
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