The Gilded Age The rise of cities (Urbanization) Immigration Life in the cities City Politics The declining Farms/Populism Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,with conquering limbs astride from land to land;here at our sea washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flames the imprisoned lightning, and her name "Mother of Exiles." From her beacon hand glows world wide welcome; her mild eyes command the airbridged harbor that twin cities frame."keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.send these, the homeless, tempest lost to me,i lift my lamp beside the golden door!" The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus 1883 Bell Work: What does Lazarus mean when he calls the Statue of Liberty the "Mother of Exiles"? According to Lazarus what is America supposed to be for the world? 1
Pull Factors Factors that pull people to a specific new place: Push Factors Factors that made people leave their home and immigrate: 2
The Long Journey By 1870, steamships made the trip across the Atlantic safer and faster, but it still was not a pleasant one! Most immigrants traveled in steerage, the worst accommodations on the ship located on the lower decks, and crowded, dirty, and with no privacy. Disease spread quickly among steerage passengers, and many, especially elderly and young, often died. Ellis Island opened in 1892 as a federal immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60 years (it closed in 1954). Millions of newly arrived immigrants passed through the station during that time. They had to pass a health exam and criminal check to get into America in fact, it has been estimated that close to 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors to Ellis Island 3
Immigrants Move to Cities Most new immigrants stayed in cities, close to industrial jobs in factories. They lived in neighborhoods dominated by the same ethnic group, called ghettos. This can still be seen today in most major cities in places called "Chinatown," "Little Italy," etc. They felt most comfortable living among people of the same country, region, or village, where they could share their native language, religion, and culture. By 1890, immigrants were more than 40% of the population in San Francisco and Chicago, and 4 out of 5 New Yorkers were foreign born or had foreign born parents. Gangs of New York 4
Immigrants Assimilate Into Society Some wanted to help immigrants assimilate (blend in) into American society. They established settlement houses, where immigrants could attend "Americanization" programs, which helped them learn English and adopt American clothes, food, etc. One of the earliest settlement houses was Chicago's Hull House, founded by Jane Addams in 1898. Jane Addams There are now forty seven evening classes meeting at the House weekly, twenty five evening clubs for adults, seventeen afternoon clubs for children, the Hull House Music School, a choral society for adults, a children's chorus, a children's sewing school, a training school for kindergartners, a trades union for young women. In daily use are the nursery, the kindergarten, the playground, the penny provident bank, an employment bureau, a sub station of the Chicago post office. A trained nurse reports to the house every morning and noon, to take charge of the sick calls for the neighborhood; a kindergartner visits daily sick and crippled children. The coffeehouse serves an average of 250 meals daily, and furnishes noonday lunches to a number of women's clubs; soups and broths and wholesome food are bought by neighbors from its kitchen, and bread from its bakery, adorned with the label of the bakers' unions, goes out to the Lewis Institute, to grocery stores, to neighbors' tables. Description of living in the Hull House from a Hull House Resident Quick write: Describe at least four different services that were provided for the poor by Hull House in Chicago, and explain how these services would improve living conditions. 5
Nativism While some tried to help immigrants, others were openly hostile to them. Nativism, a belief that native born white Americans were superior to all immigrants (racism), was common. Based on this cartoon, what fears/prejudices do you think nativists had about immigrants? 6
New Immigrants Face Prejudice Most native born Americans were Protestant, and were suspicious of the Catholic, Jewish, and Orthodox Christian immigrants. Asians, particularly the Chinese, were discriminated against based on their looks, diet, religion, and customs. Nativists believed that immigrants would steal their jobs and destroy and/or corrupt American culture. They often refused to hire immigrants or sell or rent property to them. Nativists often backed up their prejudice with "scientific" theories like Social Darwinism, connecting immigrants' ethnicity/appearance with criminal tendencies or lower intelligence. 7
America: The Great Melting Pot? Food, clothing, language, and culture all blended into the dominant American culture, making American society a "melting pot," in which people of different nationalities blended together to create a new culture. QUESTION: Do you think that America is a "melting pot," where all cultures mix to create one culture or do many different cultures co exist and complement each other, but not truly mix together? Theory 1 Assimilation When a minority culture completely gives up its own beliefs and traditions and is absorbed into the dominant culture without influencing that culture. Theory 2 The Soup Acculturation There is a blending of cultures that occurs as immigrants join the United States. While they give up their own cultures, they also change American culture. Theory 3 The Salad Cultural Pluralism Minority groups keep parts of their original culture rather than blending into the dominant culture, but continue to live among the majority. Think Pair share: Give an example of all three in America. Great American Melting Pot 8
"The golden gleam of the gilded surface hides the cheapness of the metal underneath." Mark Twain The Gilded Age Bell Work: Given the photos on the page: What do you think Mark Twain means by his quote from his book "The Gilded Age"? photo by Jacob Riis 9
GROWTH OF CITIES American underwent urbanization in the late 19th century cities grew rapidly as growing numbers of people moved to cities for jobs and new opportunities. In 1860, only 16% of Americans lived in towns or cities with a population of 8,000 or more. By 1900, that percentage had doubled. Two types of people moving to cities: (1) immigrants; (2) rural to urban migrants, moving from farms to the cities for new opportunities. As more people moved to the cities, they needed more services. New technologies emerged to meet their demands: Water and sewer systems Electricity Skyscrapers (remember Elisha Otis and the safety elevator,and who invented the process for steel?) Electric trolleys, street cars, and subways = mass transit What word is used for the institutions and things that make a city work? 10
As cities grew, architects began to offer city planning services, designed to make cities more functional and beautiful. Mass transit allowed city planners to segregate parts of the city through zoning separate zones were created for heavy industry, banks, houses, etc. City planners constructed public spaces like libraries and parks. Frederick Law Olmsted, one of the most famous landscape engineers, designed parks for many cities, including NY's Central Park and Boston's Emerald Necklace of Parks. Despite the growing efficiency and beauty of cities, middle and upper class people who could avoid the cost of mass transit moved to the cleaner, quieter outskirts of the city, the suburbs. 11
Analyze this graph and answer the question below: According to these graphs, what is happening to the price of corn as the amount of corn produced increases? As a class What is this called? Quick Write: Give another example of how the amount of or need for an item affects price. 12
Plight of Farmers 1870 1890s The price of crops plummeted: Cotton that once sold for 15 cents a pound was now selling for 6 cents a pound. Debt for farmers increased: It caused more to grow and produce corn than what farmers got for selling it. This caused farmers to go into debt. The cost of business rose: The price of machinery, livestock and seeds went up. Bills were going up, but income was going down. 13
The Farmers blame big business and government. 1. Blame the Railroads: >The farmers believed that railroads were monopolies and charged unfair and high rates. 2. Blame the Banks: >The banks were blamed for setting high interest rates on loans for farmers. 3. Blame the Government: >Farmers thought that the Presidents used to be farmers like Thomas Jefferson, but the new politicians were wealthy people who didn't understand about farmers or care about them. 14
Farmers Organize! 1.Grange an organization for farmer's led by Oliver H. Kelley. >Goals were to teach farmers new techniques for farming. >Regulation of the railroads to keep costs down and storing grain. 2.The Farmer's Alliance organizes and leads farmers. >Organizations for selling crops. >Set up banks that gave farmers low interest loans. >Established the Colored Farmers Alliance to support African Americans. 15
The creation of the Populist Party The spread of the Farmer's Alliance led to the creation of the Populist Party Populist Party formed as the "people's party" was a grassroots party that gained popularity. Ran on the Omaha Platform: (what is a platform?) They believed: There wasn't enough gold to back the dollar so they wanted to coin silver Bimetalism (coins made out of both gold and silver) This will get them the support of the silver industry. The government was unresponsive and supported the railroad monopoly more than the farmers. Wanted to vote for politicians using secret ballots. They wanted the right to recall an elected official if they did something the people didn't like. 16
The Populist Party Grows By the election of 1892 the Populists have a candidate for President. The candidate lost, but the Populists gain seats in Congress. The election of 1896 William Jennings Bryan ran for President as a Populist. They run on the platform to coin silver. Some Democrats supported Bryan, but he still lost to Republican candidate William McKinley. Afterwards the Populist party began to decline though some of their ideas stayed intact. "Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold." 17
Accomplishments of the Populist Party Called for the election of U.S. Senators by popular vote (17th amendment) Demanded the Universal use of the secret ballot. This prevented workers from forcing employees to vote a certain way. Called for socialist ideas such as abolishing the National Bank and for the government to own the railroads and telegraph. Called for increase of circulation through the coinage of silver. Pushed for wealthy to pay higher taxes than poor and middle class and for a graduated income tax http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag1e H9IzYc 18
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