Modern America Unit 7 Modern America History 7-1
Review: Where have we been Gilded Age Imperialism Cities Immigration Labor Unions Party Politics
1. Gilded Age Late 19 th Century (1800s) Industrial/ Transportation growth Increased population led to more demand for goods and services Government provided aid to business Technological Innovation
2. Cities During Gilded Age, cities grew Tenement Housing Cities were run by big City Bosses Leisure Activities – Baseball – Bicycle – Picnics – Theater
3. Immigration Motivations: opportunity, social mobility, English speaking nation, lack of work at home Post Civil War – is America becoming the “national garbage can for the world’s refuse” The Race Issue – Xenophobia – Nativism – Racism
Angel Island, California
Immigration West Cost = Asian Immigration East Cost = European Immigration CALIFORNIA San Francisco passed a housing law stating that the Chinese could live in only one section of the city (overturned by 1893) Miscegenation law forbade white people from marrying “Mongolians, Negroes, or Mulattoes”
Anti- Chinese riot, 1886
European immigration
Characteristics of the new European immigrants Illiterate and unskilled Kept to themselves in their own ethnic neighborhoods Retained their own cultures and religions Spoke their own languages “race Suicide” -> native Americans generally viewed the new immigrants as undesirable
Arrivals at Ellis Island
4. Labor Unions Late 19 th Century (1800s) National Labor Union – Formed in 1866 in Baltimore, Maryland – Believed that labor should engage in political action – Criticized the two party system for impeding labor – Racist against African-Americans – NLU declined in 1869
Slaughter house work
Injured Child Laborer
American Federation of Labor Samuel Gompers founder Formed in 1886 AFL was more pragmatic than previous unions Wanted to work within the capitalist system
MAJOR STRIKES
Railway Strike, 1877
Knights of Labor Strike, 1887
Haymarket Strike and riot, 1887
President Cleveland called in federal troops to stop the strikes