Download Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life

1870-1915
Gilded Age, the period following Reconstruction found some Americans very wealthy. But
most Americans suffered low wages and poor working conditions. The federal government
followed a laissez-faire policy of seldom interfering with business practices. Some
businesses received a subsidy, a payment made by the government to the development of
certain key industries, such as railroads.
 Many businessmen supported politicians with gifts of money. Scandals often erupted
when industries used money to influence leading government officials.
 The spoils system was also a problem. Under this system, elected officials appointed
friends and supporters to civil service posts, government jobs held by nonelected people.
In 1877 President Rutherford B. Hayes tried to fight the spoils system, but to no avail. After
the assassination of President Garfield, a public outcry went out against the spoils system.
President Chester A. Arthur and Congress passed the Pendleton Civil Service Act in 1883,
which created the Civil Service Commission to test employees.
 Tariffs became the top political issue and caused President Grover Cleveland to lose
reelection to Benjamin Harrison. The new President increased tariffs, causing an economic
collapse in 1893. The economic downturn was blamed on President Cleveland, who
returned to office in 1892. Cleveland’s second term was marred with economic disaster,
leading to the election of Republican President William McKinley. McKinley oversaw a new
tariff bill and a stronger gold standard, but he was assassinated in 1901.








The late 1800s are known as the Gilded Age.
Glided means “covered with a thin layer of gold,” suggesting that a layer of
prosperity covers the corruption of society during this time.
 Jay Gould’s control of the railroads is a good example of this
In the late 1800s, businesses operate largely without government regulation,
known as laissez faire.
Business supplies politicians with gifts of money, which leads to scandals and
corruption.
 The Central Pacific Railroad budgeted $500,000 per year for bribes
 The Credit Mobilier scandal was a result of the government overpaying for
railroad tracks
Politics has two distinct parties, Republicans and Democrats.
Republicans favor a tight money supply backed by gold, high tariffs, government
aid to businesses, tight immigration, and the enforcement of blue laws.
Democrats favor increased money supply backed by silver, lower tariffs, higher
farm prices and less government aid to business.

After his election in 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes reforms the civil service.

The spoils system had guaranteed the loyalty of supporters in future elections
 It also led to corruption of friends loading up their pockets at the taxpayers expense
 Hayes’s attack on the Spoils System weakens his own Republican Party but since he did not seek a
second term it did not matter to him




In the 1880 election James A. Garfield wins a narrow victory, but is assassinated by
a man who says he had been promised a job.
The murder causes a public outcry against the spoils, or patronage, system.
In response, new President Chester A. Arthur pushes for Congress to pass the
Pendleton Civil Service Act.
It creates the Civil Service and tests candidates’ fitness.



Bans requirements that employees contribute to campaign funds and forbids the firing of
employees for political reasons
In 1884 Grover Cleveland becomes the first Democrat to capture the presidency
since 1856.
He favors tight monetary policies but opposes high tariffs.

He also supports regulation of the railroads
 The ICC was created and discounting and rebates were outlawed in certain circumstances


Boosted by vigorous industrial growth, American business generally grows during
the late 1800s and into the 1890s.
But in 1893 a depression strikes, marring Cleveland’s second term.


Cleveland alienated nearly all the groups that helped elect him
Republican William McKinley wins the 1896 presidential election, but on
September 6, 1901, McKinley is assassinated.




President James A. Garfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6USyilfk
6w
President William McKinley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H83vDUB
iQ-I&feature=related
Between 1865 and 1920 close to 30 million immigrants arrived in the United States.
Economic opportunities, personal freedom, and the chance to escape religious persecution
drew them. Immigrants from Sicily wanted to escape terrible poverty while Jews from
Russia were fleeing from pogroms, violent massacres of Jews.
 Arriving in America, immigrants entered ports like New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle,
etc. In 1892 the federal government established Ellis Island in New York harbor where
immigrants came to have physical exams and information was recorded. Most immigrants
wanted to settle in communities of their own ethnic backgrounds. In urban areas, these
communities became ghettos, or places where one racial or ethnic group dominated.
 Most immigrants on the West Coast came from China and Japan. Earlier Chinese had
arrived in the West to help build the railroads and later settled down into other jobs. The
different culture and language of Asians made many Americans suspicious and hostile
toward them. In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibiting Chinese
laborers from entering the country. California passed the Webb Alien Land Law in 1913,
which banned alien, or noncitizen, Asians from owning farmland.
 The land of the southwest had become fertile farmland, and many Mexicans were “pulled”
to America by the lure of jobs. They were “pushed” out of Mexico by the turmoil of the
Mexican Revolution. By 1925 Los Angeles had the largest Spanish-speaking population.

Ellis Island (1905)
Approximately 31
million people came to
the United States
between the 1865 and
1920
+




Travel took approx. 2-3 weeks by steamboat
Traveled mostly in steerage
 Large open area beneath the ship’s deck
“Birds of passage”- young men looking for work with
plans of returning home eventually
Entered through port cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, San
Francisco, Seattle, etc.
Arriving in America
+
1865-1890: Northwestern and Central Europe
 Germany = 2.8 million
 Great Britain = 1.8 million
 Ireland = 1.4 million
 1890-1920: Central, Southern, Eastern Europe/Middle
East
 Italy = 3.8 million
 Russia = 3 million (primarily Jewish)

Statistics on Immigration from 1865-1920
Quarantine: time of isolation to prevent the spread of disease
 Could result in deportation
 Ghettos: area in which one ethnic or racial group dominated
 Restrictive Covenants: agreements among homeowners not
to sell real estate to certain groups of people

Angel Island—Located
in San Francisco Bay
on West Coast
From 1910 to 1940,
the island processed
hundreds of
thousands of
immigrants, the
majority from China.




Most immigrants who enter through West Coast ports come
from Asia.
In the mid-1800s American railroad companies recruit about
a quarter of a million Chinese workers.
Labor groups protest and Congress passes the Chinese
Exclusion Act, prohibiting Chinese laborers from entering the
United States.
 It is not repealed until 1943.
Anti-Japanese feelings lead to the Web Alien Land Law in
California, banning alien (noncitizen) Asians from owning
farmland.
CHINESE
 Recruited for work on the
railroads
 Worked for low wages
and long hours
 Unwanted by many labor
unions
 Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882: prohibited Chinese
workers from coming
into the U.S.
JAPANESE

Most came from Hawaii
 Owned mostly private
businesses

Gentleman’s Agreement
(1907): ended San
Francisco’s rule of
separating AsianAmerican students from
white students

Webb Alien Land Law
(1913): banned Asians
from owning farmland
Left due to turmoil in Mexico
(i.e. Mexican Revolution)
 Helped construct railroads
 1900-1910: 50,000 laborers
entered the United States
 Immigration Restriction Act
(1921): limited immigration
from Europe and Asia
 Mexicans ultimately picked
up jobs from the shortage

American cities like NY, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, and New Orleans were jammed with
people at the end of the 1800s. Along with the immigrants, Americans were moving in
record numbers to cities because factories and machines replaced much of the manual
labor of farms. African Americans, facing segregation and violence in the South, also
migrated to cities.
 The face of the nation’s cities also changed as features of modern cities began to appear.
Public transportation made travel easier, and many people moved from the inner cities to
the suburbs, residential areas around cities. As space became more limited, tall
skyscrapers appeared.
 Many people in these cities lived in harsh conditions. They were crowded into tenements,
low-cost apartment buildings where light, air, and water were often lacking. Fire was a
huge hazard, and disease took the lives of thousands. Lack of ventilation and
contaminated drinking water led to the spread of disease.
 As cities grew, their governments and political figures became more powerful, and political
machines, run by men called “bosses,” often controlled city government. These machines
worked to keep one party in power and were often very corrupt. They took bribes and used
graft, using one’s job to gain profit, to support the machine. However, in exchange for
votes and support, the machines did provide help to immigrants and the poor when the
government did not. One notorious NY City boss, William Tweed, is a prominent example.

Residents vote for
candidates supported by
machines
Machines hand out jobs,
contracts, and favors to
city residents
Run by powerful “boss”
who has influence with
city officials
Machines maintain power
over city governments
Political machines work
to control city politics




Between 1880 and 1920, 11 million Americans head for the
opportunities of the cities.
Between 1865 and 1900 many features of modern city life first
appear--from subways and skyscrapers to smog and slums.
Speculators build many tenements, low-cost apartment buildings
designed to house as many families as the owner can pack in.
Fire is a constant danger in cities.




Rapidly growing cities prove difficult to govern.
The political machine is born of a need to control clashing interests.
The machine is an unofficial city organization designed to keep a
party or group in power through fraud and graft, and is usually
headed by a single powerful boss.
Perhaps the most notorious boss is William “Boss” Tweed who
controls the club that runs New York City’s Democratic party.




Part 1
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idp7fLSo-nE
Part 2
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v
=FmX3Bmsms-s
Part 3
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v
=Z6zNm-at7Ss
Part 4
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v
=b8p8ZD0KAwQ
As cities continued to grow, many Americans were shocked at the conditions of the poor.
Out of religious or social impulses, they founded charities to help the needy and improve
conditions. Churches provided social services for people, and soon a social gospel
movement arose among religious institutions seeking to apply the Gospel teachings
directly to society.
 The social gospel movement was put into practice by young reformers who established
settlement houses, community centers that offered social services. Soon settlement
houses were springing up in large cities around the nation. All of this change led to the
development of sociology, the study of how people interact with society.
 While reformers were helping people and trying to improve conditions, others saw
immigrants as the sole cause of problems in the cities. Nativism, a policy that favored
native-born Americans over immigrants, emerged and demanded policies such as teaching
only American culture or language in schools and tighter restrictions on hiring aliens.
 Some reformers called “purity crusaders” were determined to stamp out gambling, drugs,
alcohol, prostitution, and other forms of vice. These people began the temperance
movement, an organized to eliminate alcohol consumption. To achieve this goal, they
supported prohibition, a ban on the manufacture and sale of alcohol. However, purity
crusaders also attacked corrupt politicians and the political machines.


One group of reformers works to improve society by helping the needy.

This was the Charity Organization Movement
 The Social Gospel Movement sought to help the needy by improving society and modeling it after
teachings in the Bible

Other Reformers create settlement houses, community centers where social
services are offered.

The settlement houses combine the efforts of the Charity Organization Movement and the Social
Gospel Movement

Philosopher Auguste Comte coins the term sociology to describe the study of how
people interact with one another in a society.


This provides a scientific counterpart to the practical efforts of the settlement houses
America’s rapidly changing population provides many examples for sociologists.

Many people link the problems of the cities with immigrant behavior


In the 1850s the Know-Nothing Party gains many followers by vowing to restrict
immigration to solve cities’ problems.
Thirty years later this policy of nativism, or favoring native-born Americans over
immigrants, reappears.

Chinese Exclusion Act
 Contract Labor Act repealed
 Animosity toward Catholics
 Teach only English in schools

The temperance movement, an organized campaign to eliminate alcohol
consumption, revives.

WCTU
 Prohibition Party
 Anti-Saloon League

A law is passed that prohibits sending obscene materials through the U.S. mail.


Purity crusaders sought to rid their communities of unwanted, unwholesome, and illegal activities
This law slows the distribution of birth control information for many years.

Comstock Law