American History Immigration
Europeans Plenty of jobs Few immigration laws Avoid forced military service Religious persecution Chance to move up the social ladder Ethnic cities Came through Ellis Island
Asians 1850, the Taiping Rebellion took the lives of 20 million Chinese Central Pacific Railway Settled in western cities Angel Island
The Resurgence of Nativism Feared Catholics Unions opposed –Immigrants would work for less –Strikebreakers Two organizations against immigrants –American Protective Association –Workingman’s Party of California
Congress Passes New Immigration Laws 1882 federal law –Banned convicts, paupers, and the mentally disabled from immigrating to the US –$.50 per head Chinese Exclusion Act Barred Chinese immigration Prevented the Chinese in America from becoming citizens
Urbanization Americans migrate to the cities New Urban Environment –Skyscrapers (pg 342) –Mass Transit Separation by class –High society –Middle-class gentry –The working class
Urbanization Urban problems –Crime –Violence –Fire –Disease –Pollution Urban politics –Political machines-took over where govt. hadn’t –Party bosses-George Plunkitt (pg 345) –Graft and fraud –Tammany Hall-the New York Democratic political machine
The Gilded Age A changing culture –1873 Mark Twain & Charles Warner –Individualism Horatio Alger “rags to riches” novels –Social Darwinism Survival of the fittest as applied to business Churches argued against evolution (somewhat) Andrew Carnegie-Gospel of Wealth (pg 933)
The Gilded Age Realism –Art Thomas Eakins-day to day life of people –Literature William Dean Howells –1885-The Rise of Silas Lapham Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain –Huckleberry Finn Henry James –1881 Portrait of a Lady Edith Wharton –The Age of Innocence
The Rebirth of Reform Social Criticism –Henry George Progress and Poverty Idea of taxing land holders –Reform Darwinism-people can think ahead and make plans to produce the outcome they desire Based on book written by Lester Frank Ward Dynamic Sociology –Edward Bellamy-Looking Backward, Socialistic society in 2000 Naturalist writers –Failure in life is sometimes caused by circumstances beyond our control Stephen Crane Frank Norris Jack London Theodore Dreiser
The Rebirth of Reform Helping the urban poor –The social gospel Worked to better conditions in cities according to the biblical ideals of charity and justice –The Salvation Army & YMCA –Revivalism & Dwight L. Moody Help the poor by redeeming their souls and reforming their character –The Settlement House Movement
The Gilded Age Popular Culture –The saloon –Amusement Parks and Sports Coney Island Boxing, baseball, football –Vaudeville and Ragtime Scott Joplin “king of ragtime” –1899 “The Maple Leaf Rag”1899 “The Maple Leaf Rag”