IndustrializationWestward Movement

Setting: The Great Plains

• Grassland extending through west-central portion of the US

• In 1860s, the Great Plains was mostly inhabited by a variety of native tribes– CONFLICTS!

Cattle becomes big business

• Railroads reached the Great Plains at the same time that demand for beef increased in eastern cities

• COWBOY- herder of cattle on the Great Plains who could round-up, rope, brand, and care for cattle during long cattle drives in the American West

Cowboys and Cattle Drives

• Long Drives- transporting of cattle over unfenced grazing lands between railroad centers on the Great Plains– Texas cattlemen made the trip up the Chisholm

Trail where they could ship their cattle from the first stockyards in Abilene, Kansas

American Cowboys• Cowboys, many of whom were former

Confederate soldiers, African Americans and Mexicans, received about a dollar a day for their dangerous work

• The cowboy’s relative isolation and work environment contributed to the development of a distinct cowboy culture, based on the frontier values of the American West: – self-reliance and individualism with a healthy dose of

the blues. Cowboy poetry and songs soothed the cattle on long drives, as well as provided entertainment for lonely cowboys on the road

Home on the Range

Stop and Think!!

• How did the ordinary cowboy’s life compare to the popular conception of it?

Settlers Move West

• Railroads become important to opening western lands for settlers and transporting crops east– Transcontinental Railroad (1869)- linked eastern

and western markets and lead to increased settlement from Mississippi River west to Pacific Ocean

Homestead Act 1862

• Offered 160 acres of land in the West (FOR FREE) to anyone who would settle and farm the land for 5 years– 600,000 families took advantage of this offer– Many were southerners-both white and African-

Americans• Impact?

Boomer Sooners

• Oklahoma Land Rush- (1889)- land hungry settlers raced to claim lands in a massive land rush- people who left too early= Sooners

Challenges of the Plains • Severe hardship of

droughts, fires, blizzards, locust plagues, and native conflict all had to be faced by homesteaders

• Early homesteaders built their homes out of sod bricks or dug their home into the sides of ravines or small hills

Stop and Think!

• In what ways did government policies encourage settlement of the west?

• What hardships did farmers face in the late 1800s?

New technologies

• Wheat withstood drought better than any other crop

• Steel-tipped plow- invented by John Deere, helped farmers slice through heavy soil

• Mechanical reaper- Cyrus McCormick- increased speed of harvesting wheat

• Barbed wire- prevented animals from trampling crops or wandering off

Agricultural Education

• Morrill Act (1862)- federal government gave land to states to build agricultural schools (ex: Virginia Tech)

Impact on Native Americans• 2/3 of Western tribal groups lived in the Great

Plains including the Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfoot and Comanche

• Tribes developed lives that were distinctly tied to the open prairies of the Great Plains

• As the frontier was taken over by white settlers, their land and freedom to live according to their traditions would be lost.

Natives and the Buffalo• With introduction of the

horse in 1598, most native tribes abandoned farming villages and roam plains and hunt buffalo (nomadic)

• Buffalo provided tribes with most of its basic needs: shelter, clothing, food, tools, toys, etc.

• Buffalo also held spiritual significance

Political Agreements with Natives are Restricted

• 1834, the federal gov’t passed an act that designated the entire Great Plains as one enormous reservation set aside for Native American tribes

• With the increasing amounts of white settlers coming during Gold Rush and Homestead Act the gov’t attempted to create definitive boundaries for each tribe

– Native groups refused to sign these agreements• Thousands of miners, cattlemen, and homesteaders began to

settle on native land creating conflict and resulting in inevitable warfare

Stop and Think!

• How did the government attempt to deal with the growing conflict between Native Americans and white settlers?

Sioux Wars against US Government

• Conflict arises out of Sioux and other tribes refusal to lived restricted life on reservations

We have been taught to hunt and live on game. You tell us that we must learn to

farm, live in one house, and take on your ways. Suppose the people living beyond the great sea should come and tell you

that you must stop farming, kill your cattle, and take your houses and lands,

what would you do? Would you not fight them?

Custer’s Last Stand• After gold is discovered, people start flooding Montana,

angering natives

– Natives begin attacking military units in the area• George Armstrong Custer is sent to investigate the situation and

are promptly defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn• Nation angered by loss, wants revenge and army is sent to lead

continual raids on native villages until Sitting Bull is forced to surrender to prevent his people’s starvation

Debate over Native Treatment• Some citizens were angered over treatment of

Native Americans• Helen Hunt Jackson writes a book in 1881,

Century of Dishonor which exposes many of broken promises to Natives

• “Supporters” of Native Americans begin promoting assimilation, a process that would force natives to give up their culture and become part of white culture

Dawes Act• Policy passed in 1887 with hopes of “civilizing” the Native

Americans• Plan broke up reservations in 160 acre plots or less

– US citizenship would be granted to those who stayed on land for 25 years and “adopted the habits of civilized life”

• 47 million acres were distributed to Native Americans

– 90 million acres that was often the best land was distributed to white settlers or businessmen

Failure of the Dawes Act• After being “educated”, children returned to reservations

where skills were useless• Often caught in conflict between values of parents and

values of teachers

– Became outsiders on reservations• Still faced with discrimination in white world with

“education”• By the turn of the century, disease and poverty reduced

population to 200,000

Industrialization

Industry, big business and labor

America Becomes an Industrial Giant• By 1900, the United States

emerged as the leading industrial power in the world

• Its manufacturing output exceeded that of its 3 largest rivals: Great Britain, France & Germany

Factors that influenced industrialization

• Lots of natural resources: coal, iron ore, copper, lead, timber and oil

• Abundant labor supply due to immigration• Advanced transportation network creates huge market for

industrial goods• Development of innovations, laborsaving technologies, and

talented entrepreneurs• Friendly government policies:

– Laissez-faire (hands off) capitalism– Entrepreneurs received special favors from Congress to create new

business

Major Innovations

• Edwin Drake: Successfully uses steam engine to drill for oil in Pennsylvania making it practical

• Bessemer Process: process by which air is injected into molten iron, which removed carbon and creates steel.– Steel is better product than iron since it is lighter, more flexible,

and rust-resistant– Steel would be used to create railroads, barbed wire enormous

bridges skyscrapers, etc.

Major Innovations Cont. • Thomas Edison established the first

research laboratory in Menlo Park, NJ

• Edison invents the light bulb and a system for distributing electrical power which completely changed society

• Electric power began being used in businesses, in homes, transportations, and spurred numerous inventions of appliances

• Manufacturers could put their plants wherever they want

• Workers could work longer hours

Major Innovations Cont.

• Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson invent the telephone– Laid groundwork for worldwide communications

network

• Assembly-Line Manufacturing- Henry Ford- broke industrial tasks down into simpler parts and improved efficiency in production of cars

• Other inventions: refrigerated railroad cars, typewriter, sewing machine, phonograph, motion pictures, dynamite, radio

Women in the Workplace

• The inventions of the typewriter and telephone created new jobs for women– By 1910 women accounted for nearly 40% of the

clerical workforce• Before industrialization, women sewed clothing

by hand for their families– After industrialization clothing could be mass-

produced in factories creating garment workers which were mainly women

First Big Business: Railroads

• Railroad mileage increased from 35,000 in 1865 to 193,000 in 1900

• Early Railroads were often incompatible with each other• Cornelius Vanderbilt merged local railroads to create a unified

system running from east to midwest.• West coast railroads would complete various transcontinental

railroads which connected coast to coast

Railroads and Government • Government provided railroads with huge land grants and loans to build tracks (3x as much as Homestead Act)

• Gov’t assistance led to some corruption as companies like Credit Mobilier were formed to pocket gov’t money w/help of gov’t assistance

• Vice President Colfax (under Grant) and Congressmen Garfield both profited from scheme

Abuses of Railroads

• Railroads would sell land grants to other businesses rather than settlers

• Charged different customers different rates, more if no alternative carrier, which caused many farmers to go into debt

• Formed pools to fix prices

Rise of Steel Industry

• Andrew Carnegie: industrial mogul, was a true rags to riches story

• Started in railroad business and eventually becomes leading steel producer

• Pioneered many different management techniques and business strategies

Business Strategies of Carnegie

• Vertical Integration: controlling all aspects of the production process of your product– Carnegie controlled everything from coal and iron

mines, railroad lines, and every stage of manufacturing process

• Horizontal Integration: process by which companies producing similar products merge thus eliminating any competition– Carnegie nearly monopolized (complete control over

an industry) steel industry• By 1901 when he sold Carnegie company he was producing

80% of nation’s steel

Stop and Think

• In your own words describe the difference between Vertical and Horizontal Integration

J.P. Morgan Consolidates Steel Industry

• J.P. Morgan, a banker, set up holding company (corporation that does nothing but buy out stocks of other companies)

• In 1901, he buys out Carnegie for $500 million, takes virtual control of all steel industry

• J.P. Morgan renames Carnegie company U.S. Steel, which becomes the 1st billion dollar corporation and largest corporation in the world– Employed 168,000 people

The Oil Industry

• John D. Rockefeller forms the Standard Oil Company of Ohio in 1870, which controlled 3% of crude oil

• Within 1 decade, Standard Oil would control 90% of the refining business

Rockefeller’s Tactics

• Rockefeller forms trusts, companies that turn over their stock to a group of trustees who runs a separate company as one corporation, to gain control of oil business

• Paid his workers extremely low wages and drove his competition out of business by selling oil at a lower cost than it cost to produce, then hiking the prices after competition went under

Robber Barons• Critics name for rich industrialist business

tactics

Gov’t stand against Monopolies• Sherman Antitrust Act: out of fear corporations were stifling free competition– Gov’t stated interfering with free trade or forming trusts was illegal

• In reality, enforcement was nearly impossible in the 1890s– Businesses turned into single corporation of troubled and Supreme

Court refused to support the act helping consolidation of business continue

Stop and Think

• How were businessmen like Carnegie and Rockefeller successful?

Working Conditions• By 1900, 2/3 of Americans worked for wages

– Average man in 1899 made $498 a year (Carnegie made $23 million)

• Employees were expected to work at least 6 days a week, 12 hrs a day in most industries

• Employees not entitled to any vacation, sick leave, unemployment compensation, or reimbursement for injuries suffered on job

• Injuries were common!• Factories were dirty, poorly ventilated and poorly lit

– Workers had to perform repetitive, mind dulling tasks often with dangerous and faulty equipment

Child and Women Labor

• Since a family couldn’t survive on 1 wage, many children and mothers joined the factory labor force

• 20% of women, 20% of boys and 15% of girls under age 15 held full time jobs

• Jobs for women and children’s work required least skill and paid lowest wages– Often as little as 27 cents for a child’s 14 hr day

Stop and Think!!

• What conditions did many factory workers face in the late 19th century?

Labor Unions Emerge• Knights of Labor (1869)- founded by Uriah Stephens

– Open to all workers regardless of skill level, race or gender

– Supported 8 hr work day

• American Federation of Labor (AFL)-founded by Samuel Gompers-1886– Open to SKILLED WORKERS ONLY– Favored collective bargaining- negotiation between

management and representatives of labor to reach an agreement

– Used strikes when necessary

Labor Unions Continued• American Railway Union (ARU)- founded by

Eugene Debs (socialist)– Open to all workers within the railroad industry

regardless of skill level– Used strikes when necessary- Pullman Strike

• International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union- founded by Pauline Newman– Labor union devoted to female worker in textile

industry– Used strikes when necessary– Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire- NYC-1911- 146 died

Strikes Turn Violent• Haymarket Square- Chicago 1886

– Bomb exploded in a crowd of policemen, police fired into strikers

– Public started to turn against labor unions

• Homestead Strike- near Pittsburgh 1892– Carnegie Steel plant went on strike when wages

were cut– Violence broke out- PA National Guard called in to

break up the strike

Strikes

• Pullman Strike- Chicago 1894– Pullman employees went on strike after wages

were cut– Violence breaks out- US Army sent in by Pres.

Cleveland

• Overall significance of strikes- Violence caused the public to turn against labor unions

Industrialization

Immigration and Urbanization

Massive Immigration• Between 1870 and 1920, 21 million immigrants arrived in the

US• Prior to 1890 most immigrants came from Western and

Northern Europe– Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden

• Beginning in 1890, immigrants began coming to America from Eastern and Southern Europe as well as Asia– Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, China and Japan

Old v. New Immigration

Old:• Western Europe• Protestant Religions• Spoke English• High literacy rate• Skilled and able to blend in

well

New:• Southern and Eastern Europe• Catholic and Jewish• Very poor• Illiterate• Unskilled and unaccustomed to

democratic principles

Reasons for Immigration

Push Factors:• Religious and Political

Persecution• Agricultural Poverty• Relaxation of Immigrant

laws

Pull Factors:• Promise of freedom and

hope• Network of family and

friends in US• Need for recruitment of

cheap labor

There are no cats in America!!

Stop and Think!

• What is the difference between old and new immigrants?

• For what reasons did they come to the United States

Ellis Island

• After grueling week long journeys on the Atlantic, European immigrants arrived at Ellis Island in New York Harbor

• Immigrants were processed at Ellis Island and given medical exams, Literacy tests, checked to make sure they had the proper requirements to enter the US along with at least $25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20zToMCzFw8

Angel Island• After 3 week journey on the Pacific, most Asians (mainly

Chinese) gained admission to the US at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay

• Procedures for admission at Angel Island were much harsher than Ellis

• Asian immigrants were often questioned for long periods and detained in filthy, prison-like conditions while gov’t officials decided whether to admit them into the US

Culture Shock and Ethnic Communities

• Upon entering a completely new country, most immigrants went through a period of intense anxiety as they tried to find a new home and way of life

• Many immigrant groups settled in ethnic communities made up of people from their same country– Built churches and synagogues– Formed social clubs and cemeteries– Published newspapers in their own language

Melting Pot?• Melting pot: mixture of different cultures and races blending

together and abandoning native customs and language• Many native-born Americans began to resent new immigrants

who held on to their native languages and customs– Led to the formation of nativist (anti-immigrant) groups

• “Good” traditional countries (British, German) we welcomed while “bad” countries were shunned (Slav, Latin, Asiatic)

Anti- Asian Sentiment

• Anti-Asian sentiment especially in the West– Losing jobs to Asian immigrants

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: banned Chinese immigration• Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907-1908: in exchange for

segregation of Asians in California, Japan made an agreement with Roosevelt to limit immigration from Japan

Stop and Think!

• How did immigrants cope after arriving in America?

• What troubles did they face?

Urbanization• Urbanization: growth of cities, mostly in Northeast and

Midwest• By 1910, immigrants made up ½ of the population of 18

major cities• Farming technology’s improvement meant less labor was

needed so many farmers also began moving to the cities for economic opportunities

• 200,000 African-Americans also moved north and west to cities between 1890-1910– Moved to Chicago and Detroit to escape racial violence, economic

hardship and political oppression– Conditions were only somewhat better than those in the South

• Segregation and discrimination

Urban Problems: Housing• As urban population increased a new type of housing emerged

• Row-houses: single-family dwellings that shared side walls w/other similar houses– Many families in 1– Tenements: multifamily urban dwellings

Urban Problems: Transportation

• Mass transit: transportation system designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes– Enabled workers to go to and from work more easily

• Streetcars were introduced in San Francisco in 1873• Electric subway in Boston 1897• Linked city neighborhoods and outlaying communities

Urban Problems: Water

• As urban population grew in 1840s and 1850s cities like NY and Cleveland built public waterworks to handle the demand for safe drinking water

• Homes rarely had indoor plumbing, and residents collected water in pails from faucets on the street

• Disease like cholera and typhoid fever spread– Filtration and chlorination were introduced to solve problems

Urban Problems: Sanitation • As cities grew it was harder to keep them clean• Horse manure piled up on streets, sewage flowed through

open gutters and factories spewed foul smoke in the air• No trash collection so people dumped their trash on the

streets• By 1900 many cities had developed sewer lines and created

sanitation departments

Urban Problems: Crime

• Pickpockets and thieves flourished as population increased

• New York City organized the first full-time, salaried police force in 1844

• Most other city law enforcement units were too small to have an impact

Urban Problems: Fire

• Limited water supply contributed to the spread of fire

• Most cities were packed with wooden dwellings

• The use of candles and kerosene heaters posed a fire hazard

Stop and Think!

• What major problems did immigrants and poor people living in the cities face?

Settlement House Movement• An early reform program, the Social Gospel movement preached salvation through service to the poor

• Settlement houses were established– Community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided assistance

to people in the area

• Jane Addams- influential member of the movement- Hull House

Political Machines emerge• Cities experienced rapid growth under inefficient gov’ts in the late 19th century

• Climate was supported by dog-eat-dog Social Darwinism

• New political structure emerged, the “political machine” with a new politician, the “city boss”

Political Machines

• An organization that controlled the activities of a political party in a city

• Offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support

• Political machines gained control of local gov’t in Baltimore, New York, San Francisco and other major cities

Organization

• Organized like a pyramid• At the base were local precinct workers and captains

– Tried to gain voters’ support on a city block or in a neighborhood-they reported to the ward boss

• Ward bosses were in the middle– At election time, the ward boss helped the poor and gained their votes by

doing favors• At the top of the pyramid was the city boss

– Controlled the activities of the political party throughout the city• Precinct captains, ward bosses and city bosses worked together

to elect their candidate and guarantee the success of the machine

The Role of the Political Boss• The city boss controlled access to municipal jobs and business license, they influenced the courts and other agencies

• Used their power to build parks, sewer systems, waterworks, gave money to schools, hospitals, and orphanages

• Also provided gov’t support for new businesses• By solving urban problems, bosses could reinforce voters’

loyalty and extend their influence

Role of Immigrants • Many precinct captains and political bosses were 1st

generation or 2nd generation immigrants– They enter politics early and worked their way up

• They could speak to immigrants in their own language and understood the challenges that newcomers faced

• Machines helped immigrants with naturalization (attaining full citizenship), housing, and jobs

• In return, immigrants provided votes

Corruption among Bosses• when loyalty votes weren't enough to carry an election, some

political machines turned to fraud– Using fake names to cast as many votes as needed to win

• Once the candidate was in office it could take advantage of the opportunities for graft (the illegal use of political influence for personal gain)– Example: by helping a person find work on a contstruction project a

political machine could ask the worker to bill the city for more than the actual cost of material and labor. The work then “kicked back” a portion of the earnings. Taking the kickbacks, or illegal payments for services, enriched the machines

• Machines also granted favors to businesses in return for cash and accepted bribes to allow illegal activities like gambling

Tweed Ring Scandal• William M. Tweed, known as “Boss Tweed” became head of the

Tammany Hall, NYC’s powerful Democratic political machine in 1868– Between 1869-1871, Boss Tweed led the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt

politicians in defrauding the city• NY County Courthouse construction cost $3 million but cost

taxpayers $13 million-the difference went to Tweed and followers• Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, helped arouse public outrage

against Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed– The ring was broken in 1871 and Tweed was indicted on 120 counts of fraud

and extortion and sentenced to 12 years

Industrialization

Segregation, Discrimination and Progressivism

Life after Reconstruction

• During Reconstruction (_____to _____), African Americans saw the greatest amount of freedom– More in 1868 than 1968

• Once Reconstruction ended and the Southern Democrats redeemed their leadership positions, segregation and discrimination intensified and took new forms

• African Americans differed on how to respond

Violence

• Violent groups rose to take out the frustration of many southerners (KKK)

• Tactics include: burning property, beatings/whippings, murder by lynching

The fight against Legal Discrimination• African Americans faced violent opposition to

their new constitutional rights, especially voting• Restrictions on voting- in ALL southern states

– Literacy Tests- difficult reading test given to African-Americans trying to vote

– Poll tax- annual tax that had to be paid by African Americans before voting

– Grandfather Clause- state laws that allowed people to vote if their grandfather was eligible to vote in 1867

• Resulted in disqualification of African American voters

Segregation Laws• Jim Crow Laws- passed throughout the South to

separate white and black people in public places• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)- U.S. Supreme Court

ruled that segregation of races in public accommodations was legal- didn’t violate 14th Amendment– Established “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL

DOCTRINE”*****• States could maintain segregated facilities for blacks and

whites as long as they provided equal services– Segregation was legal for almost 60 years

African American Responses• “Great Migration” (early 20th century)-

movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities in search of jobs and to escape poverty and discrimination– Still existed in the north

Early Civil Rights Leaders• Ida B. Wells- led an anti-lynching crusade and called for

the federal government to act to stop oppression of African Americans

• Booker T. Washington- believed the way to equality was through vocational education and economics success– Didn’t openly challenge segregation– FOUNDED THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE in AL

• W.E.B. Du Bois- believed that education was meaningless w/o equality– Supported political equality by helping to form the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Progressive Era

• Political economic and social change in late 19th century America lead to broad progressive reforms

Urbanization in the Gilded Age

• Cities grew rapidly (ex: Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, NYC)– Were the centers for manufacturing and

transportation– Harsh conditions for laborers in slums and

tenements– Need for better public services

Progressivism• Middle- Class progressive reformers wanted to

fix many of the problems that resulted from industrialization and urbanization in the late 19th century (Gilded Age)– Working conditions– Dominance of big business– Government not responsive to needs of the people

• Progressive movement- use of gov’t to reform problems created by industrialization and correct injustices in American society

Progressive Goals

• Government controlled by the people• Guarantee economic opportunities through

government regulations• Eliminate social injustices

Social Reforms• Prohibition- movement to ban the

manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol– Based on the belief that alcohol consumption was

undermining American morality– 18th Amendment- prohibition of alcohol went into

effect

Social Reforms

• Women’s Suffrage- the movement to give women the right to vote– National American Woman Suffrage Association

(NAWSA)• Benefited from strong leadership- Susan B. Anthony• Encouraged women to enter the workforce during

WWI

– 19th Amendment- granted women the right to vote (suffrage)

Economic Reforms

• During the Gilded Age govt took a hands off approach to economy and didn’t get involved in regulating business= LAISSEZ-FAIRE CAPITALISM– Big business used power to crush competition

Economic reforms• Muckrakers- journalists who wrote about the

corrupt side of business and public life in magazines– Ida Tarbell- “History of Standard Oil Company”-

attacked Rockefeller– Upton Sinclair- The Jungle- exposed horrible

conditions of the meatpacking industry in Chicago• Clayton Anti-Trust Act- strengthened Sherman

Anti Trust act– Outlawed trusts, monopolies and price fixing– Exempted unions from being prosecuted by Sherman

A-T Act

Political Reform- Local Gov’ts• Need to reform city gov’t with major problems that resulted from urbanization– Combat the City Boss and political machine

• Commissioners and city council managers- new ways to govern cities more efficiently in 250 cities in US

Political Reforms – State gov’t• Secret Ballots- allowed voters to cast a vote without

election officials knowing who they voted for• Initiative- a bill originated by the people rather than

lawmakers on the ballot• Referendum- a vote by the people on a bill that

began as an initiative• Recall- enabled voters to remove public officials

from elected positions by forcing them to face another election before the end of their term

• Primary system- voters, rather than politicians choose candidates

Political Reforms- national government• President Teddy Roosevelt’s progressive plan=

“Square Deal”– Involved trust busing and conservation projects

• President Woodrow Wilson’s plan= “New Freedom”– Involved financial reform, increased gov’t regulation of

business• Child Labor- progressives wanted to end use of

children in industry– Keating-Owen Act (1916)- outlawed goods being

transported from state to state if those products were produced by child labor

• Later unconstitutional

Progressive Amendments

• 16th- established a federal income tax• 17- direct election of senators

– People, no legislatures, vote on candidates running for the US Senate

• 18th- prohibition on manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol

• 19th amendment- women right to vote

Industrialization

Life at the Turn of the 20th Century

Technology and City Life• A variety of improvements were made for urban cities which

changed their internal structure and design– Street-car cities: walking cities gave way to cities where people lived

many miles away and commuted to work• Electric trolleys, elevated railroads, and subways

– Steel Suspension bridges: made longer commutes possible• Brooklyn Bridge

– Skyscrapers: in 1890, Louis Sullivan designed the first steel, tall building of its kind which became common throughout urban areas

Residential Suburbs/ Urban Planning

• Improvements in inexpensive transportation, cheap land and wooden housing led to an American fondness of privacy– Wealthiest people began to move to areas outside of the central city

called suburbs• Urban planners like Frederick Law Olmsted looked to bring

“naturalness” into cities by building parks within cities– Central Park in NYC and the grounds of the U.S. capitol in D.C

New Technologies

• Orville and Wilbur Wright: create first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, NC in 1903

• Web- Perfecting Press: made printing productions faster and cheaper which made newspapers and magazines more widely available to people

• George Eastman: invents Kodak cameras which makes photography available to the masses and created the field of photojournalism

• Automobile: Henry Ford and the model-T (assembly line)

Changes in Public Education

• After drastic increase in compulsory schooling starting in 1865, ¾ of children 9-14 were attending school

• Curriculum focused on the 3 R’s: reading, writing, arithmetic• Growth of High Schools expanded curriculum to include

science, literature, history, civics, economics, etc.

Increase in Higher Education

• Between 1880 and 1900 more than 150 new colleges are formed and enrollments soon quadrupled

• Industrial Development also led to expansion of curriculum in colleges to include variety of area of study– Medicine, engineering, physical science, sociology

and psychology

Stop and Think!

• What changes did many universities make in their curriculum and why?

Dawn of Mass Culture

• Increase in communication brings popular culture to America:– Spectator sports: baseball and boxing became national interests– Amusement parks spring up in major cities to meet need for

recreation– Boardwalks and residential resorts

• Coney Island, NY, Asbury Park, NJ– Amateur sports like bicycling, tennis, and croquet become major

leisure activity for men and women– Realism and naturalism: focus on reality and emotions becomes

dominant literary and art movements

                                                                                                                                             

                                                                           

Dawn of Mass Culture cont.

• A variety of live performances also attract large audiences:– Barnum and Bailey Circus– Vaudeville performances: song, dance, comedy,

variety shows– Music: coming mostly out of the experiences of

African-Americans, blues, ragtime, and jazz performances begin to blend African rhythms and spirituals with western instruments

– Motion pictures began early production

Dawn of Mass Culture cont.

• By the turn of the century, newspapers began to be mass circulated and focused on sensational headlines and stories to keep their audience

• Joseph Pulitzer publisher of NY World and William Randolph Hearst publisher of the New York Morning Journal and San Francisco Examiner were leaders of journalists which focused on most sensational stories like scandals, cruelty, sin, etc. to sell papers

Dawn of Mass Culture cont.• Period also marked the birth of consumerism and modern

advertising• In 1890’s shopping became a past time and America saw the

development of department stores, chain stores, and mail-order catalogs which brought merchandise to small towns– Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Ward

• By 1900, $95 million was spend on advertising in newspapers, billboards, magazines, etc.