Download US Hist B – U 5, Ch 16

Chapter 16
Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life: 1870-1915
Chapter 16
Section 1, “Politics in the Gilded Age”
Section 2, “People on the Move”
Section 3, “The Challenge of the Cities”
Section 4, “Ideas for Reform”
The Gilded Age
• Coined by Mark Twain.
• Gilded – “covered in a thin layer of gold”.
– Means a thin but glittering layer of prosperity
covered the poverty and corruption of much of
society.
• Golden time for industrialists.
– So much that it covered:
• The immigrants poverty
• Abuse of power in business and gov’t.
The Gilded Age: Vocab
• Subsidy- a payment made by the gov’t to
encourage the development of a key industry
– Example: Railroad
• Blue laws- regulations that prohibit certain
private activities (no alcohol on Sundays).
• Civil Service- non-elected gov’t workers(those
appointed to positions).
• Pendleton Civil Service Act- ended the Spoils
System in 1883 after Garfield was assassinated
by a disgruntled office seeker.
• Laissez-faire – gov’t is hands off with business.
Popular Issues
• The Spoils System was
beginning to become a
problem, as many became
aware of how
encompassing it had
become. It became a
point of pride for
President Hayes, who
shunned patronage when
he was elected, and
appointed a qualified
cabinet.
• Railroad regulation was
important to many, as
many felt they were being
gouged by the companies.
• Munn vs. Illinois
– Allowed states to regulate
some businesses within
their borders.
• The Interstate Commerce
Act (1887)
– Passed to make sure rates
were fair and applied
equitably.
– Didn’t work too well.
Politics
• Republicans favored:
– Money backed by gold
– High tariffs
– Large pensions for
Union Soldiers
– Railroad Aid
– Immigration Limits
– Enforcement of Blue
Laws
– Waving “the bloody
shirt”
• Democrats favored:
– Money backed by
Silver
– Low tariffs
– Higher farm prices
– Less government aid
to big businesses
– Fewer Blue Laws
Politics in the Gilded Age
• Rutherford B. Hayes (1876-1880)
– Does not honor the Spoils system
• Doesn’t run again b/c of this.
• James A. Garfield, Republican candidate
(1880-1)
– VP: Chester A. Arthur (got jobs thru s.s.
before)
– July 2, 1881 – shot by Charles Guiteau who
wanted a job thru the spoils system.
• Showed America the spoils system NEEDED
to be reformed.
• Chester A. Arthur (1881-84)
– Ends spoils system officially thru the
Pendleton Civil Service Act.
Election of 1880
Garfield’s Assassination
Cleveland’s Victory (1884-88)
• Ran against R – James Blaine.
• Supported by Republican “mugwumps”
– Those who didn’t like the spoils system.
• During campaign it was discovered he
had fathered a child while single.
– Republicans said, “Ma, Ma, where’s my
Paw?”
– Democrats said, “Going to the White
House, ha, ha, ha!”
• Grover Cleveland was elected in 1884
– 1st Democrat Pres in almost 30 years.
• His moderate policies appealed to
supporters from both parties.
• Supported low tariffs, took back 80
million acres from RR, and favorite
tight money control.
1884 Presidential Election
The Tariff of 1888
• After the Civil War,
Congress raised tariffs
to protect new US
industries.
• Big business wanted to
continue this;
consumers did not.
• 1885  tariffs earned
the US $100 mil. in
surplus!
• Tariffs became a major
issue in the 1888
presidential election.
Benjamin Harrison 1889-1893
•
• Republican who beat
Democratic Cleveland.
• Signed the Sherman
Antitrust Act.
• Increased tariffs, helped
the rich!
• Used Federal funds to pay
pensions to families of
Union Soldiers.
• Hurt the economy with
excess spending.
The Election of 1888
Cleveland Again 1893-1897
(Not well liked this time)
• Panic of 1893.
– Worst in US History, people lost jobs,
wages slashed… gov’t is laissez-faire.
– He defends the gold standard!
• Jacob Coxey has a march on
Washington to demand the gov’t create
jobs for the unemployed.
• Used federal troops to put down the
Pullman Strike
• Plessy v. Ferguson: “Separate But
Equal” legislation that upheld the Jim
Crow laws of the South. (would not
change until 1954 with Brown v. Board
of Education.
• Doesn’t get parties’ nomination again.
William McKinley – 1897-1901
• Beat W.J.Bryan and
Populist Party!
• Helped Republican’s status
by bringing economy out of
Harrison’s recession.
• President during the
Spanish-American War.
• “Open Door Policy” with
China.
• Assassinated by a mentally
ill anarchist, shortly after
being elected to his second
term.
Immigration
• Religious Persecution, Economic strife, and the
promise of a better life in America brought
millions of European immigrants to the country in
the late 1800’s.
– B/t 1865-1920, over 30 million people came to USA.
• The population doubled!!!
• Many Europeans were either sent home or
quarantined when they arrived due to illness or
disease.
• Families were often separated when a parent was
determined to be afflicted with an illness.
The Journey
• With new steamships, journey
was one week.
• Most stayed in STEERAGE.
– Large open area beneath ship’s
deck.
– Limited toilets, no privacy, poor
food.
– Cheap fare.
• From Europe?
– Came to Ellis Island on East
Coast, “The Golden Door.” (NY)
• From Asia?
– Came to Angel Island on West
Coast.
• Most used to be from Germ, GB.
– Now, they were from Eastern
Europe and the Middle East.
• Russia, Italy, Greece.
Immigrants from Europe
• 1892, US Gov’t opened Ellis Island, with Statue
of Liberty, to immigrants.
– Seen as a symbol of the US as a place of refuge and
hope.
• All immigrants had to have a physical.
– If they had a contagious disease, went into quarantine.
• Could be deported, like those with trachoma (eyes).
• Criminals waited on ports to trick immigrants out
of money with fake jobs/lodging.
• Went and settled in areas where previous settlers
of their homeland were.
– Mostly in port of entry, only 2% went south.
• Found jobs with less than average wages.
The Statue of Liberty
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled
masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched
refuse your teaming shore. Send these, the
homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp
beside the golden shore.”
Immigration
• On the West Coast, Asian immigrants found
America less tolerant than the east coast.
Cultural differences made Asians the target of
suspicion and hostility.
• Discrimination caused Chinese immigrants to
settle together (Chinatown, etc…).
• Labor Unions excluded the Chinese, as they
drove wages down, and eventually, even the
government discriminated, passing the Chinese
Exclusion Act in 1882.
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.
• In 1882, the U.S.
slammed the door shut on
Chinese immigration for
ten years.
• It banned entry to all
Chinese except students,
teachers, merchants,
tourists, and gov’t
officials.
• This ban was not repealed
until 1943.
Japanese Immigration
• The Japanese were also
discriminated against.
The Anti-Asian bias
caused San Francisco to
segregate their school
system, forcing
Chinese, Japanese and
Korean children to
attend a separate
school.
• The Japanese government
became angry with
reports of discrimination,
and in response,
Roosevelt negotiated a
Gentleman’s Agreement
with Japanese officials, in
which segregation was
ended in exchange for
fewer issued passports.
• 1913, Cali passed the
Webb Alien Land Law,
which banned Asians
from owning farmland.
Immigrants from Mexico
• 1902, Newlands National Reclamation Act
– Promoted irrigation of southwestern lands.
– Irrigation turned desert into arable farmland.
• This meant new jobs!
• More than 100,000 Mexicans headed north b/t 1900 and
1910.
• During WWI, about 1 million (10% of Mexico) came to
the US.
• 1921, Immigration Restriction Act, stopped more
immigrants from Europe and Asia… so many more came
from Mexico.
• By 1925 Los Angeles had the largest Spanish-speaking
population in North America, outside of Mexico.
The Growing Cities
Not only were immigrants moving to
the cities, Americans were migrating
to the cities to escape the economic
problems facing farmers.
Growing Cities
• The percentage of
America’s population
living on farms fell
from 72% to 54%.
• Technological
advances reduced the
need for farm labor.
• Racial discrimination
drove many African
Americans out of the
South.
• The influx of people
forced new
construction,
especially subways
and skyscrapers.
Vocabulary
• Suburbs- residential communities surrounding
the cities.
• Tenements- low cost apartment buildings
designed to house as many families as the owner
could possibly pack in.
• Ghettos- areas where one ethnic or racial group
dominates.
• Restrictive Covenants- agreements between
homeowners or building owners not to sell their
property to certain groups of people.
Suburban Growth
• Motorized
•
transportation
speeded the growth
of the suburbs.
• Cable cars, trolleys,
subways, and horsedrawn rail cars
allowed many to
live outside the
cities.
1887-1888-15th & Curtis. Trolley cars from
horse car to 1st electric car in Denver
Suburban Growth
Steel Girders allowed
the construction of
high-rise buildings,
and the elevator also
contributed to many
living in tall
buildings.
 N.Y. Tribune
Building, 1873-75
The large cities faced many problems, such as:
• Disease, filth and fire.
• Disease spread quickly, as a large number of
people lived in a small area with very few ways
to stay clean.
– Epidemics – yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis.
• Fires started and spread easily due to the
proximity of the buildings, as well as wooden
streets, and large amounts of garbage.
• The Great Chicago fire of 1871 claimed 18,000
buildings and left over 100,000 homeless.
– Caused damage of over $2 billion in today’s
standards.
The Great Chicago Fire
The Rush for Life Over the Randolph Street Bridge, 1871
(Harper's Weekly, from a sketch by John R. Chapin)
Jacob Riis
• Came to America at age 21,
lived in NY.
• Became a police reporter.
• Allowed him to see realities
of city life.
• Wrote, “How the Other Half
Lives.”
– Exposed horrors of tenement life
to a shocked American public.
– Included actual pictures!
• Influenced NY to pass first
meaningful laws to improve
tenements.
An immigrant family trying to make it.
Women’s Lodging
The Result of City Growth
• In the late 1800’s middle and upper class
began to move to the suburbs.
• The reason for this move was middle and
upper class were trying to avoid and
exclude themselves from the urban
problems.
• This resulted in the gap of well-to-do and
the poor.
Cont. City Growth
• Political Divisions
– Rapid urban growth
put pressure on city
officials to improve
police, fire protection,
transportation system,
and any other forms of
protection and
services.
– For this improved plan
to work officials had
to raise taxes.
• Problems this
caused
– Increased revenue and
responsibilities gave
city governments
more power.
– Competition grew
stronger and there was
a deeper separation
with the upper middle
class and lower
class/immigrants.
Cont. City Growth
• The rise of Political
Bosses
– Out of these clashing
interest, the political
machine was born.
– This is a unofficial
city organization
designed to keep a
particular party or
group in power and
usually headed up by a
single,
powerful”boss.”
• How does this political
machine work?
– Political machines work
through the exchange of
favors.
Example: Machines are used
by ward leaders, each of
whom managed a city
district, to hand out city jobs
and contracts to residents –
in return those residents
supported the machine
candidates on election day.
Political Machines
• Many people attributed the success of political
machines on the large number of urban
immigrants.
• They charged that immigrants were being taken
advantage of due to the lack of education and
experience.
• Immigrants would still select these machines
because they would help the poor when others
would not.
Cont. Political Machines
• After a while people who wanted or
needed a favor from the city could get it by
paying some money to the machine.
• Graft – the use of one’s job to gain profit,
was a major source of income for the
machines.
William Tweed
• William Tweed was the corrupt boss of
Tammany Hall, who used false receipts and bills
to illegally plunder the New York city Treasury.
• He was eventually exposed by a political
cartoonist, Thomas Nast, and was convicted and
sent to prison, although Tammany Hall
dominated the political arena for
another half century.
Section Four: Ideas for Reform
• Many blamed city
problems on
immigration, and thus
sought control over
immigrants.
• Some tried to control
immigration, others
the behavior of the
immigrants.
• Nativism- favoring
native-born citizens
over foreigners.
• The nativists were
angry that many
employers recruited
immigrant workers so
they could pay lower
wages.
Definitions
• Temperance Movement – movement to restrict
alcohol consumption.
• Prohibition – a ban on the manufacture and sale
of alcoholic products.
• Vice – immoral or corrupt behavior.
• Social Gospel Movement – sought to apply the
teachings of religion to society.
• Settlement House – a kind of community center
where social services were offered.
Improvement in Urban Poor
• The social reforms and settlement houses
drastically improved the state of the urban
poor during the early 1900’s.
• Most settlement houses were staffed by
volunteers, and they performed invaluable
tasks, such as watching immigrant children
so that their parents could work.
Hull House in Chicago
• Hull House was opened by Miss Jane
Addams in 1889 in the Charles Hull
mansion.
• Aided by Ellen Gates Starr, Miss Addams
helped hundreds of Chicago immigrants and
others gain a place of self-respect in society.
• Had cultural events, classes, display exhibits
of foreign (home for many) arts/crafts, child
care, playgrounds, etc.