Big Apple History . New York Living . Radicals

No immigrant really believed the streets were paved with gold, but few were prepared for streets covered in so much blood, sweat, and tears. Get sick, no pay; no pay, no food and rent money; no food and rent money, get evicted and go hungry. Life on the Lower East Side was a daily fight for survival.


	Socialists in Union Square, New York, 1912

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 everybody 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, like Morris Hillquit, were socialists. They wanted a society where workers ran the government and wrote the laws.

They 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.

Illustration: Courtesy of the Library of Congress.