goal 5 immigration, industrialization, and the gilded age
TRANSCRIPT
Goal 5
Immigration, Industrialization,
And the Gilded Age
5.01Evaluate the influence of
immigration and rapid industrialization on urban life.
Urban Issues
Jacob Riis
• Wrote a book called How the other Half Lives
• Described the foul smelling living conditions of the city
• Exposed unsafe and unsanitary living conditions of the city
Housing
• Tenements-overcrowded apartments; immigrants usually lived in these
• Ethnic neighborhoods formed: Little Italy, Lower East Side
Technology in the City
• Elevators-invented by Elisha Otis; allows people to operate in high rise buildings (skyscrapers)
• Telephone-invented by Alexander Graham Bell
Sanitation
• Sanitation is the #1 problem in cities
• No water systems; water is tainted
• Sewers were inadequate
• Healthcare was non-existent
• Diseases spread rapidly in the crowded conditions
Transportation
• Cities had been limited in size by the ability of people to get from one place to the other
• Electric trains• Trolley• Subways• All allow people to live in surrounding areas and work in the cities
The Rise of Ethnic Neighborhoods
Culture Shock
• Many immigrants were unprepared for America
• Language barriers, nativism, lack of jobs, political machines
• Most lived in ethnic neighborhoods; tried to preserve their culture (religion, customs, language)
• Americanization happens in schools
Settlement Houses
• Designed to help immigrants assimilate
• Halfway house; helps immigrants with education, child care, show how to fit in
• Jane Addams starts Hull House; most famous settlement house; Chicago
Chinese Exclusion Act
• Limits number of Chinese immigrants coming to America
• Americans thought Chinese were driving down wages
• Example of racism in America at that time
Ellis Island / Angel Island
• Main entry points for immigrants coming to America
• Ellis Island; NYC; European Immigrants
• Angel Island; San Francisco; Asian Immigrants
Immigration
New vs. Old
• Old- 1840’s; Western and Northern Europe; left their home due to potato famine
• New- 1880’s; Eastern and Southern Europe; Jews; left due to religious persecution
Cultural Pluralism
• Melting Pot- American society is a blend of different cultures
• Cultural Pluralism- blending of religions and cultures
• Nativism- believe immigrants brought evils with them; lowered wages
• Immigrants would work for less
New Forms of Leisure
• Amusement Parks such as Coney Island
• Spectator Sports- baseball, football, basketball, boxing
5.02
Explain how business and industrial leaders accumulated wealth and wielded political and
economic power
Emergence of new Industries
Railroads
• Spurred the 2nd Industrial Revolution
• Connects the different regions of America
Steel
• Bessemer Process makes the production of steel cheaper and more efficient
• Steel allows for the transformation of construction, buildings, and machinery
Oil
• First oil well- Titusville, Pa
• First used for kerosene and lamps and later used for automobiles
Changes in the ways businesses form and
consolidate power
Rise of the Corporation
• Sale of stocks allow companies to grow exponentially
Trusts
• Combination of firms or corporations for the purpose of reducing competition and controlling prices throughout a business or industry
Monopoly
• A company or group having exclusive control over a business activity (often associated with trust)
Influence of business leaders as “captains of industry” or as
“robber barons”
Andrew Carnegie
• Steel Industry• Vertical Integration-
owning all the steps of manufacturing from raw materials to the finished product
• Homestead Steel• Disliked unions; paid
workers very little
John D. Rockefeller
• Oil Industry• Standard Oil
Company• Horizontal
Integration-owning several firms within the same industry (forms the trust)
Cornelius Vanderbilt
• Consolidated Railroads
• Known as “The Commodore”
• Philanthropist-gave money for Vanderbilt University; Biltmore House
JP Morgan
• Financial giant• Made money
through banking
Big Business and Government
• Big businessmen begin to buy and sell politicians
• Government begins to side with big business at the expense of the public
Social Darwinism and the Gospel of Wealth
Social Darwinism
• Applies Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection, survival of the fittest, only the strong survive to society
• Social Darwinism applies to business and society
• Those that could change and adapt would be successful; those that couldn’t would remain poor
• Seemed to justify the “captains of industry”
Gospel of Wealth
• Idea that the rich should care for their families and use the rest of their wealth to benefit society
• Philanthropy
• Build schools, libraries, hospitals
• Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center, Vanderbilt University
5.03
Assess the impact of labor unions on industry and the lives of the
workers
Formation of Unions
Working Conditions
• Unsafe
• Threat of death or dismemberment
• Long hours and little pay
• Workers decide to unite
Craft Unions
• Limited membership to workers engaged in the same craft (type of work)
• Example: shoe makers union
Industrial Union
• Similar to craft union but membership is limited to those in the same industry
• Example: American Railway Union
Child Labor
• Children of working class families and immigrants worked in factories and mines instead of going to school
Famous Unions
Knights of Labor
• Skilled and unskilled labor• Led by Terrence Powderly• Men, women, black, white• Unsuccessful due to its size and violent
strikes• Haymarket Riot-strike led by Knights
which resulted in violence; Knights of Labor lose support after this
American Federation of Labor (AFL)
• Skilled workers only
• Led by Samuel Gompers
• Most successful union
• Stayed out of politics
American Railway Union
• Industrial Union
• Led by Eugene Debs who was a socialist
• Unsuccessful due to violence at Pullman Strike
Tactics used by Labor Unions
Tactics by Workers
• Strike-workers refuse to work; picket outside the workplace
• Featherbedding-workers would work slow to create more work
• Collective Bargaining-workers unite to negotiate and force management to give in on certain issues
Tactics used by business leaders
• Lockout-owners would close the industry based on the idea that the factory could absorb the loss more than the worker could
• Scabs-replacement workers• Blacklist-list of trouble makers shared by
business leaders• Yellow Dog Contract-workers were forced to
sign this saying they could be fired if they joined a union
Tactics used by Government
• Injunction-court order to end strike and go back to work (Coal Strike 1902)
• Mediation-3rd party decide; makes a suggestion
• Arbitration-3rd party decide and both sides have to agree
• Sherman Anti Trust Act 1890-outlawed trusts and monopolies; unsuccessful; hard to enforce
People’s view of Unions
• Many associate unions with violence
• Haymarket Square
• Homestead Strike
• Pullman Car Co.
• McCormick Reaper plant
5.04
Describe the changing role of government in economic and
political affairs
Impact of law and court decisions
US v. EC Knight & Co.
• Dispute over sugar refining company
• Court said the Sherman Anti Trust act applied only to commerce (buying and selling) not manufacturing
Laissez Faire
• Business of America was business
• Government tried to stay out of business; supply and demand would regulate business
• This mentality will last through the 1920’s
Political Machines
Tammany Hall Machine
• Political machine in NYC
• Led by William “Boss” Tweed
• Gained votes and power by helping immigrants
• Gained power through grafts- taking public money for personal use; corruption
Thomas Nast
• Cartoonist
• Satirically exposed Tweed as taking advantage of the poor public
Patronage or Civil Service System
Patronage
• Spoils System-winner of elections would give party supporters government jobs
Pendleton Civil Service Act
• Passed to end the abuses of the patronage (“spoils system”)
• Passed after President James Garfield was assassinated by a disgruntled party supporter who wanted a job
• Act said job seekers would have to apply and score well on a test (merit system)
Impact of Corruption and Scandal in the Government
Credit Mobilier Scandal
• Involved a company that built the Transcontinental RR
• They overcharged the government
• When the government investigated they paid off Congress
Whiskey Ring
• US distillers did not pay the substantial whiskey tax
• They were helped by government insiders
Government Reform
• Brought on by Populist• Initiative-allow people to propose laws• Referendum- allow people to vote
directly on laws• Recall-allow people to remove officials
from office• 17th Amendment- direct election of
senators