IV. The Late Nineteenth Century and Immigration

1. The United States economy significantly expanded after the Civil War. ► True ► Westward expansion meant more natural resources, expanded interests in agriculture, ranching and mining, and completion of a transcontinental railroad. ► Captains of industry, such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller pioneered new forms of business organizations. ► The rise of heavy industry led to vast urbanization, a changing landscape and a host of environmental concerns.

2. The powers of the federal government significantly expanded after the Civil War. ► False ► As the Industrial Revolution took off after the Civil War, laissez faire capitalism was the dominant rule of the day. The ideas of Karl Marx and the principles of socialism had some appeal in Europe, but not in the United States. ► There were no income taxes and very few government regulations. ► There was also no government protection for consumers, factory workers or farmers.

3. In the late nineteenth century, labor unions significantly grew in size and won most of the confrontations they experienced with management. ► False ► It is true that unions such as the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor attracted millions of members. ► It is also true that at places like Homestead, Pennsylvania and at the Pullman Palace Car Company, there were violent confrontations. ► However, most of these strikes ended in failure. This was primarily due to the role played by government, which tended to favor the side of management.

4. After 1880, most immigrants came from Ireland, England, Germany and other nations located in western Europe. ► False ► After 1880, immigration from northern and western Europe tapered off as the conditions in those nations improved. ► However, the number of immigrants coming from Italy, Poland, Greece, Russia and other nations in southern and eastern Europe dramatically increased. Most passed through Ellis Island in New York City or Angel Island in San Francisco. ► Most immigrants were exploited as a source of cheap labor and as votes for machine bosses like Boss Tweed in New York’s Tammany Hall,

5. Most immigrants either moved into crowded slums in eastern cities or settled on farms on the northern prairies. ► True ► After the Civil War, immigrants especially from Germany and Scandinavia, settled on farms in Minnesota, Iowa and the northern plains. ► The vast majority from southern and eastern Europe settled into the slums of eastern cities. ► Their experience included factory jobs with low pay, crowded conditions in tenement apartments and machine politicians that wanted their vote but provided very little in the form of good government.

6. The nation’s first restrictions on immigration were targeted on the Chinese. ► True ► Chinese immigrants had come over in large number to look for gold, help build the railroads and establish small businesses. ► For the most part, they were successful, but their success stirred up the rise of prejudice and nativism. In addition, they did not assimilate as well as other immigrant groups. ► Therefore, in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act became the nation’s first major restriction on immigration into the United State.

7. In the late nineteenth century, American cities tended to be dirty, crowded and governed by politically corrupt leaders. ► True ► Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, urbanization had taken place at a very rapid pace. ► As a result, there were few (if any) zoning laws or building codes. There was also not enough in the way of proper sanitation, schools, parks or playgrounds. ► Many cities were also governed by machine politicians who were more concerned with staying in power and lining their pockets than addressing the problems of their crowded cities.

8. The government’s policy towards Native Americans was consistently designed to encourage them to assimilate into the great American “melting pot.” ► False ► Assimilation did become a goal in the late 19 th century with the passage of the Dawes Act. ► This act was designed to divide reservation lands amongst individual Indian families and to encourage them to farm. Leftover land was given to white homesteaders. ► However, the reservation system has survived to the present. Despite their isolation and poverty, they are the best means for insuring the survival of tribal cultures.

9. The late 1800’s was a period when economic wealth was increasingly controlled by a handful of powerful and wealthy men. ► True ► Men like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan built vast fortunes from steel, oil, railroads and finance. ► They found ways to reduce business competition by creating trusts, holding companies and other forms of monopolies. They also used a form of “Evolution” called Social Darwinism to defend their vast wealth. ► As a result, the Gilded Age (a term coined by Mark Twain) was a period when the “rich got richer and the poor got poorer.”

10. The late 1800’s was a period of lasting change, progress and reform. ► False ► For the most part, the only progress was economic and technological and there was very little reform ► Towards the end of the century, farmers and factory workers banded together to form the Populist Movement. At their apex in 1896, they ran William Jennings Bryan in a failed effort to win the presidency. ► This movement pushed for government reforms to improve factory conditions, regulate railroads and circulate more currency. However, little was achieved until the outset of the 20 th century.