Goal 5 Immigration, Industrialization, And the Gilded Age

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