Urban AmericaChapter 10
Learning Targets
• Students explain the reasons for increased immigration into America• Students explain problems immigrants faced and how they responded• Students explain American reactions to immigration• Students explain the pros/cons of urbanization and how it impacted
politics• Students will identify elements of the Gilded Age• Students will identify responses to excesses of the Gilded Age
including Reform and Populism• Students explain the rise of segregation in the South
Immigration
• Immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe (Poles, Slavs, Russians, Italians, Greeks, etc.)• Many were Jews• What were push/pull factors?
Jobs Military service Religious persecution Political freedom Class system
Immigration
• The Atlantic Voyage – steerage class• Ellis Island – New York City
Health problems Insanity Criminal record Mostly European immigrants
• Angel Island – San Francisco Mostly Asian immigrants Mostly young, single males
Immigration
• Immigrants tended to settle in ethnic neighborhoods such as Chinatown or Little Italy• Other groups settled on Great
Plains - Scandinavians• Why these neighborhoods?
Familiar languages spoken Familiar foods and goods Native-language newspapers Churches similar
Little Italy, New York
Immigration
• Harsh urban life for immigrants Tenement living Pollution Crime Jacob Riis – exposed horrible living
conditions of immigrants
• Everyone worked – even small children• Little knowledge of American
democracy
Immigration
• 1849 California Gold Rush lured Chinese immigrants• Taiping Rebellion in China caused
huge suffering = migration• Construction of Central Pacific
Railroad required huge numbers of Chinese workers• Some Japanese immigration
Immigration
• Resurgence of Nativism Nativists were Americans who did
not want immigration First targets were Irish – now
Asians, Jews, and Eastern Europeans
Many labor unions were anti-immigrant
Nativists formed anti-immigrant associations like the American Protective Association and the Workingman’s Party of California
Immigration
• Flood of immigrants caused laws to be passed limiting their entrance
A 1882 law prohibited convicts, paupers, and mentally disabled and placed a 50 cent head tax on immigrants
1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited immigration from China
Theodore Roosevelt’s Gentleman’s Agreement – rejected Japanese
Learning Targets
• Students explain the reasons for increased immigration into America Push and Pull factors Cheaper transportation costs
• Students explain problems immigrants faced and how they responded Poor living conditions Lived in ethnic neighborhoods
• Students explain American reactions to immigration Rise of Nativism Anti-immigration laws passed Exploitation of immigrant labor
Urbanization
• Migration of Americans to cities exploded after Civil War• Immigration also swelled city
populations• Large populations caused cities
to build up not out• Skyscrapers developed due to
availability of steel• Led by architect Louis Sullivan
The Flatiron Building, New York
Urbanization
• People lived within 1-2 miles of work• Mass transit allowed people to
move out of cities and commute• Mass transit types
Horsecars Cable cars – San Francisco Electric trolley – Frank Sprague Elevated railroad – Chicago Subway – New York
Urbanization
• Urban Class System High Society – lived in fashionable
districts of city; houses were grand Middle Class – could afford to live
in streetcar suburbs; could afford a servant
Working Class – lived in dank tenements; all family members were expected to work
Urbanization
• Urban Problems Crime, violence, fire, pollution,
and disease Nativists blamed immigrants for
rising crime rates Alcohol problem Pollution contaminated wells and
resulted in outbreaks of disease especially cholera
No garbage removal systems
Urbanization
• Urban Politics Political machine – political group
designed to gain and keep power Party Bosses – provided services to
gain votes Corruption – party officials grew rich
stealing from the public, fraud, and graft
Tammany Hall – Famous New York Democratic political machine
“Boss” Tweed – famous leader of Tammany Hall; eventually jailed for corruption
Learning Targets
• Students explain the pros/cons of urbanization and how it impacted politics
Lack of land caused cities to grow “up” not out (skyscrapers) Could accommodate larger populations Mass transit allowed movement to “streetcar suburbs” More people = more pollution, crime, poorer housing, disease Cities came under control of political machines/city bosses – corruption
epidemic
The Gilded Age
• Term coined by Mark Twain and Charles Warner• What does it mean?• Ideal if individualism • Horatio Alger Stories – “Rags to
Riches”• Social Darwinism – Herbert
Spencer – survival of the fittest on a national level
The Gilded Age
• Gospel of Wealth – Andrew Carnegie – belief that the wealthy had the responsibility of philanthropy • Popular Culture - Industrialization
brought higher wages and more leisure time
Saloons – outnumbered grocery stores Amusement parks – Coney Island Spectator sports – baseball, college
football, invention of basketball Vaudeville (Tin Pan Alley) – variety
shows; ragtime music (Scott Joplin); promoted racial stereotypes
Learning Targets
• Students will identify elements of the Gilded Age Late 1800s Looked prosperous and wonderful on top – rise of business, increased wages
and leisure time Many problems underneath – poverty, exploitation of workers Rags to Riches Social Darwinism Gospel of Wealth Growth of popular culture
Birth of Reform
• Excesses of Gilded Age caused many Americans to actively seek change• Henry George
Believed tax on land would make society more equal• Lester Frank Ward
Argued for government control of economy – that competition was wasteful
Birth of Reform
• Edward Bellamy Looking Backward – futuristic
book where government owned all industry and shared equally with public
Socialist
• Social Gospel Religion-based groups seeking
social reform/change Washington Gladden YMCA, Salvation Army
Birth of Reform
• Revivalism – Dwight Moody Helped organize YMCA Revivalist preacher Believed poor best helped through
redemption not social services
• Settlement Houses Established mainly by middle-class
women Provided services to poor
including classes, child care, etc. Jane Addams – Hull House
Birth of Reform
• Public Education Caused by demand for skilled
workers Movement led by Horace Mann Schools crucial to Americanization
of immigrant children Some parents worried children
might forget cultural identities Unequal opportunities for blacks
caused establishment of black schools such as Tuskegee Institute (Booker T. Washington)
Birth of Reform
• Morrill Land Grant Act Government grants of land to
states for agricultural and mechanical schools
Greatly increased school enrollment
Women’s colleges established
• Public Libraries Many libraries supported by
Andrew Carnegie
Learning Targets
• Students will identify responses to excesses of the Gilded Age New political ideas such as Marxism and Socialism Social Gospel – mix of religion and social work Religious revivalism Settlement houses established by middle-class women Greatly increased public education Morrill Land Grant colleges Establishment of public libraries
Politics and Reform – Learning Targets• Students will be able to trace the reforms made to the American
government in response to demands for change in the late 1800’s• Students will be able to explain what populism was and how it
impacted American society Is there a populist trend today?
• Students will be able to analyze the rise of segregation: what were the reasons behind it and what were the responses to it
Are there any traces of segregation left today? What current government policies are in place today due to the history of
segregation?
Politics and Reform
• Traditionally, when a president won the election, he would place his supporters in government jobs. This is called patronage, or the Spoils System• President Hayes 1877 –
attempted to end practice Angered Republican political
machine called Stalwarts led by Sen. Conkling
Conkling labeled Republican reformers Halfbreeds
Politics and Reform
• 1880 – President Garfield assassinated by insane office-seeker, Charles Guiteau• 1883 Pendleton Act – civil
service jobs filled using exams; government workers could not be fired for political reasons• Act signed by President Chester
Arthur – himself a one-time political appointee
Politics and Reform
• Election of 1884 Democrats saw chance of winning
White House by nominating reformer Grover Cleveland
Campaign was known for mud-slinging
Mugwumps - Republicans who broke from the party to vote for Cleveland
Cleveland won the election
Politics and Reform
• Growing industrialization = growing labor unrest = more strikes• Strikes were often violent• Many railroads negotiated lower rates
for big customers (corporations) called rebates but small business/individuals paid higher rates• Public clamored for government
intervention• SCOTUS case Wabash v. Illinois gave
authority to federal government to regulate
Politics and Reform
• 1887 Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) created• Commission acted to regulate
railroad rates, forbid rebates• Democrats wanted lower tariffs
but Republican senate blocked law
Politics and Reform
• Republicans gained presidency with election of Benjamin Harrison• Republican Congress passed
McKinley Tariff • Tariff lowered federal revenue so
budget went into deficit• Congress also passed pensions
for Civil War veterans which made deficit worse
Union veterans of the Civil War (Grand Army of the Republic)
Politics and Reform
• The Sherman Anti-Trust Act Congress pressured by public to
act against trusts The law had no teeth – did not
have any real effect on trusts People felt betrayed by both
parties, especially farmers
Populism
• Populism – movement to increase political power of farmers• Crop prices dropping but prices
of manufactured good rising due to tariffs• Farmers felt victimized by banks• Farmers felt railroad shipping
rates too high – favored big corporations
Populism
• Greenback controversy – US government printed paper money that could not be exchanged for gold/silver – caused inflation (decline in the value of money and rise in prices)
• US stopped printing greenbacks but also stopped making silver coins – caused drop in money supply
• Crime of ‘73 – decision to stop minting silver coins
• Deflation – value of money increases along with decrease in prices
Populism
• Deflation hit farmers hard• Farmers had to borrow money
for seed and equipment – interest rates rose causing rise in farmers’ debt• Banks wanted their money but
prices for crops falling• Farmers demanded the minting
of silver coins to increase money supply
Populism
• Farmers needed a more powerful political voice
• The Grange (Patrons of Husbandry) – founded by Oliver Kelly, national farm organization
• Grangers pressured government to regulate railroad rates, wanted the printing of more greenbacks
• Grangers formed cooperatives – marketing organizations that benefitted the farmer members
Pooled crops and kept them out of market to regulate prices
Could negotiate better shipping, seed, and equipment prices
Populism
• The Granges failed to improve farmers’ conditions: people too suspicious of paper money, banks and railroads equated granges with unions• Framers also saw drop in respect
as more people began living in towns / cities• Use of derogatory terms like
“redneck” and “hayseed” for farmers increased
Populism
• The Farmer’s Alliance Established in Lampasas County,
TX, 1877 Organized farmers in West, Mid-
West, and South Organized large cooperatives
called exchanges – did better than the Grange
Populism
• The People’s Party Alliance exchanges eventually failed Alliance members formed the People’s Party aka the Populists Alliance leaders shied away from third party – wanted Democrats
to take on Alliance platform (so South would remain Democratic)
Populism
• Populist Party Nominated James Weaver for
president 1892 Wanted silver/gold ratio 16-1Federal ownership of railroadsGraduated income tax8-hour workdayImmigration restriction
Proposed laws to appeal to urban laborers
Had ties to Knights of Labor
Populism
• Election of 1896 Republican nominee – William McKinley Democrat and Populist nominee –
William Jennings Bryan Republicans backed gold / Democrats
supported silver Bryan waged energetic campaign, made
600 speeches in 14 weeks McKinley had the “Front Porch”
campaign Republicans blamed Democrats for crisis
of ’93 McKinley had backing of businesses –
won the election
Klondike Gold Rush
• 1896 – Gold discovered in Yukon Territory of Canada• Similar conditions to that of
earlier gold rushes• It did
Develop lower Alaska Poured millions into nation’s
money supply Helped ease financial distress of
farmers US established gold-based currency
Rise of Segregation - Learning Targets• Students explain the different ways in which whites sought to
maintain control over blacks in the South• Students explain the various ways blacks resisted white attempts at
political, social, and economic control
Rise of Segregation
• After slavery, most blacks in South were sharecroppers – landless farmers who paid large portions of crops for rent, food, seed, tools, etc.• 1879 – Benjamin Singleton led
migration of blacks from South to Kansas to escape near-slavery conditions• Migrants called “Exodusters”
Rise of Segregation
• Many blacks who remained in South joined the Farmer’s Alliance• Blacks formed The Colored Farmers
National Alliance – hoped to challenge Democratic Party’s power in South• Democrats feared poor whites would
join with blacks• Democrats used racism to keep whites
in line• Democrats kept many blacks from
voting
Rise of Segregation
• Voting for blacks was guaranteed by the 15th Amendment• States used qualifications like property
requirements, literacy tests, and the poll tax to keep blacks from voting• Voting numbers dropped drastically• Poor whites were also disenfranchised
as they often supported Populist Party• Other poor whites could vote due to
grandfather clause
Rise of Segregation
• Segregation in many parts of US but legal in South• Laws enforcing segregation called
Jim Crow laws• SCOTUS overturned Civil Rights Act
of 1875 – encouraged Southern states to pass laws making segregation even more repressive• Plessy v. Ferguson – case endorsed
legal doctrine of “Separate but Equal”
Rise of Segregation
• Violence against blacks continued into the twentieth century • Lynching – hanging of people
without trial by mobs• 80% of lynchings occurred in South;
70% of victims were black• Outraged black women, Ida B. Wells
& Mary Church Terrell led crusade against lynching.• Efforts led to decrease in lynching in
early 1900’sIda B. Wells
Rise of Segregation
• Booker T. Washington – argued blacks better off if they spent their energy making themselves better rather than fighting racism• Atlanta Compromise – address by
Washington asked blacks to postpone fight for civil rights and pull themselves up• W. E. B. DuBois – rejected
accommodation of Washington; urged blacks to demand their rights; helped found NAACP W. E. B. DuBois