American History

1. American History Unit 11 Immigration & Urban Life (1870 – 1915)

2. The Gilded Age • Suggests that there was a thin, glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society. • _________________________________________________________.

3. In the late 1800’s businesses operated __________ much government regulation. • This is known as laissez-faire economics. • Laissez-faire means “______________” in French. • Even though people liked laissez-faire economics in general, they ____________ government involvement when it ______________________________ them.

4. For example, • ______________________________________________________________________________. • A subsidy is a payment made by the government to encourage the development of certain important industries, such as railroads.

5. The Spoils System • Under the Spoils System, candidates who were running for political office would _______________________________. • The Spoils System also gave supporters access to ____________________ and _______________________________.

6. During the Gilded Age, the Republicans and Democrats had about the ________________ of __________________________. • To keep party members loyal, candidates ________ supporters and tried to avoid ____________ issues.

7. The Republicans • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • They favored the gold standard, high tariffs, and the enforcement of blue laws, regulations that prohibited certain activities people considered immoral.

8. The Democrats • Appealed to the _____________ groups such as northern urban immigrants, laborers, southern planters, and __________________________.

9. Reforming the Spoils System • President _______________________________________

10. Elected in 1877 • Hayes began to reform the civil service, the government’s non elected workers, by appointing ______________ political independents instead of giving positions to _____________________________. • He did not have the support of ______________________________________________________________. • Hayes did not seek a second term.

11. President _________________

12. Before the 1880 presidential election the Republican party was split into three groups: • ________________ defended the spoils system • ____________________ hoped to reform the system. • ____________________ opposed the spoils system.

13. Garfield wanted to ___________ the system. • His running-mate was Chester Arthur, a Stalwart.

14. On July 2, 1881 Garfield was assassinated by a __________ who wanted _____________________.

15. Arthur reforms the Civil Service • After the assassination, President Arthur was able to get congressional support for the Pendleton Civil Service Act. • ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

16. Regulating Railroads • _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • One practice that caused problems was railroads offering rebates or partial refunds to favored customers.

17. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • But since railroads cross state borders, it was argued that only the federal government could regulate them.

18. In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act and set up the nation’s first federal regulatory board, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). • ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

19. The Immigrant Experience • Immigrants came to the United States to escape: • Crop failures • ______________________________ • Rising taxes • ______________________________ • Religious persecution • Political persecution

20. In the 1880’s in Russia many Jewish people fled a wave of progroms. • Progrom – Violent massacres of Jews. • Steam-powered ships could cross the __________________ in two or three weeks.

21. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________.________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Steerage – a large open area beneath the ship’s deck. • Between 1865 and 1890 about 10 million immigrants arrived.

23. Most immigrants came from ________________________________.

25. In the 1890’s • Most new immigrants came from central, southern, and eastern Europe and the Middle East. • More than 70 percent of all immigrants came through _____________________ which was called the “Golden Door.”

26. Immigrants From Europe • In 1892, the federal government required all new immigrants to undergo a _______________________________. • Immigrants with contagious diseases, such as tuberculosis, faced _______________________________. • Quarantine – a time of isolation to prevent the spread of diseases.

27. Urban neighborhoods dominated by one ethnic or racial group of immigrants were called ghettos. • Some ghettos formed because immigrants felt ____________________ _______________________________________________________________. • Other ghettos formed from restrictive covenants, when homeowners agreed not to sell real estate to certain groups.

28. Still other ghettos formed when ethnic groups isolated themselves because of threats of violence, mostly from whites.

29. Immigrants from Asia • Most immigrants who entered the United States through the _____________ were from ______________________. • Chinese and Japanese formed the largest groups.

30. In the mid-1800s, American railroad companies recruited about a quarter of a million __________________________. • Under pressure from labor unions, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. • ______________________________________________________________________________________________________. • It was not repealed until 1943.

31. In 1906, the San Francisco school board ruled that all Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students should attend separate schools. • The Japanese government condemned the policy.

32. The Gentlemen’s Agreement • President Theodore Roosevelt made a compromise with the Japanese government. • It was called the Gentlemen’s Agreement because _______________. • It called for San Francisco to end its policy and for Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers.

33. Immigrants from Mexico • Employers hired Mexican laborers to work on _________________________. • They also helped construct railroads in the _____________________________. • When the United States entered World War I in 1917, demand for workers _________________________ sharply.

34. _____________ were a “pull” factor that drew Mexican workers to the United States. • ____________ was a “push” factor that encouraged them to leave Mexico. • The 1910 Mexican Revolution and the civil war that came after that killed about 10% of Mexico’s population.

35. When the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921 limited immigration from Europe and Asia, ________________________ Mexican immigration.

36. How did Cities Grow? • Before the Civil War, cities were small. Most people ____________ wherever they needed to go.

37. The introduction of the _________________ allowed people to move out of the cities to the suburbs, or residential communities surrounding the cities.

38. Later in the 1880’s, motorized transportation made commuting even faster. • The first elevated trains opened in 1868 in New York and the first subway trains appeared in Boston in 1897. • ________________________________________________________________. The first skyscraper in Chicago was ten stories tall.

39. Urban Living Conditions • Many middle-class residents who could afford to move to the suburbs, did so. • They left behind empty buildings and owners converted the buildings into _______________________________________________________________________________________________. • Speculators also built ______________.

40. Tenement – low-cost apartment buildings designed to house as many families as the owner could pack in. • A group of dirty, run-down tenements could transform an area into a slum. • Because of ______________________, and _____________, the old residential neighborhoods of cities gradually ________________________________.

41. ________________________________________________________________________.________________________________________________________________________.

42. The Dumbbell Tenement • So named because ____________________________________ • Usually seven or eight stories high • Shallow, sunless, ill-smelling airs shafts providing minimal ventilation • ____________________________________ • They shared a malodorous toilet in the hall

43. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ • The wealthiest left the city altogether and headed for the semi-rural suburbs.

45. ________ was a constant danger in cities. • A small fire could quickly consume a neighborhood because of the way tenement buildings were closely packed together. • ____________________________________________________________________ • Before it was over, 18,000 buildings had burned, leaving about 250 people dead and 10,000 people homeless.

46. Scientists believed that _____________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________. • They pushed for reforms to improve air flow in the buildings and for natural light to be ______________ in the tenements. • In 1879, laws were changed in New York so that every tenement building required an _____________________________.

47. Scientists also linked diseases like cholera and typhoid to ___________ ____________________________, which tenement residents drew from a common pipe or pump in the yard. • City water companies later introduced _________________________________________________________.

48. The Results of City Growth • Rapidly growing cities were difficult to _______________________________. • Increased _________________________ gave city governments more power and competition for control grew more intense. • Different groups represented the interests of different classes.

49. The political machine, born from these clashing interests, was an _______________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________. • Political machines worked through the exchange of favors. • Many people who wanted favors would pay money, graft, to the political machine. • Graft – a major source of income for the machines.

50. Helping the Needy The Charity Organization Movement • Kept detailed files on people who received their help. • Decided who was worthy of help. • Wanted immigrants to _____________, middle-class standards.