Life at the Turn of the 20 th Century Unit 1 Section 2 Part 7

► At the turn of the 20 th Century, a new wave of immigrants came to the U.S. ► These new immigrants came from mostly south and eastern Europe ► Many of them would move to neighborhoods of the same nationality ► This led to neighborhoods, especially in New York, such as Little Italy and China Town ► Immigrants faced difficult conditions in America, causing them to all unite for a common cause

New Immigrants ► The U.S. has been called a nation of immigrants ► Btwn 1800 and 1880, more than 10 million immigrants came from North and Western Europe and also Asia ► These were called the “Old Immigrants” ► Btwn 1880 and 1910, the “New Immigrants” came over, mainly from South and eastern Europe, such as Italy, Poland, and Russia ► The New Immigrants made America more diverse in ethnicity and religion ► By 1910, nearly 1 out of every 7 Americans was foreign-born

Coming to America ► People came to America for various reasons ► Most of the New Immigrants left their countries because of extreme poverty ► In 1892, the government opened Ellis Island in New York Harbor ► Over the next 60 years, 12 million Europeans were processed through Ellis Island ► After 1910, Asians began to enter into America through Angel Island in San Francisco ► Because of discrimination, many Chinese were held in prison-like conditions

► Immigrants found a better life, but also faced hardships ► They lived in crowded tenements and took low- paying, unskilled jobs ► They settled in neighborhoods with people who spoke their language and shared their culture ► They established churches and synagogues

Settlement Houses ► In America, settlement houses were created ► -helped immigrants adapt to American life and culture ► Jane Adams built Hull House in Chicago ► -taught immigrants to speak English, and job training ► -also formed social clubs and sports ► Social Gospel ► -many people believed that it was a Christian’s duty to improve city life

Political Scandal and Corruption ► There was a lot of crime in the cities ► Most cities were run by political machines ► -organization of corrupt politicians ► Political machines had a boss that ran things ► Political machines did make cities run better, but they were often corrupt

► Bosses won support by giving people jobs or helping their families ► In return, they expected votes ► They also cheated in elections and demanded bribes

► The most notorious political machine was Tammany Hall in NYC ► William “Boss” Tweed was the leader of the machine ► -he used his position to make himself and his friends rich ► in 1871, he was convicted of fraud and sent to prison

► Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency was marred by scandal and corruption ► Members of Congress and even the vice president were involved in many money-making scandals ► James A Garfield became president and tried to clean up corruption, but was assassinated ► His assassination prompted the Civil Service Act ► -this said that gov’t officials could only get jobs based on talent

Farmers Reform Movements ► Farmers had many troubles during the early 1900s ► They organized into groups to better their way of life ► The first group was called the Grange Movement ► They wanted the gov’t to regulate RR rates ► The gov’t passed the Insterstate Commerce Act which made RR’s set reasonable rates ► This law was the first time that the gov’t set regulations on a business

Silver vs. Gold ► Another farmer group called the Farmer’s Alliance wanted the gov’t to print more paper money ► -they thought they could charge more for crops if more money was in circulation ► Paper money was originally backed by gold and silver ► In 1873, the gov’t put the U.S. on the gold standard ► -this said that a dollar could only be redeemed in gold ► -this reduced the amount of money in circulation and hurt farmers

► The Farmer’s Alliance decided to become a national political party ► Populist Party ► They pushed for gov’t ownership of RR’s and silver in the money supply ► In the election of 1896, Rep. William McKinley ran against Populist William Jennings Bryan ► Bryan pushed for silver in the money supply which frightened business owners ► The business owners spent millions of dollars to make sure McKinley won

Segregation and Discrimination ► In the New South, African Americans still faced discrimination ► Jim Crow Laws enforced segregation ► Blacks and whites were separated in every aspect of society ► Plessy v. Ferguson ► -Supreme Court Case ► -said that segregation was ok as long as blacks and whites had equal facilities ► -”Separate but Equal” ► Facilities were never equal and blacks were kept in a lower social condition

► The worst outcome of segregation was Lynching ► -murder of an individual by a group or mob ► Usually organized by klan members ► Some African Americans fought segregation ► Booker T Washington ► -said that African Americans could improve their status by learning a trade ► W.E.B. Du Bois ► -Said that African Americans could improve their status by getting an education