Transcript
Urbanizationthe process of moving to the
citiesDuring the three decades following the Civil War, the US transformed
rapidly from a rural nation to a more urban nation.
The urban population grew from about 10 million in 1870 to over 30
million by 1900
By 1890, most of the population of some major urban areas consisited of
foreign born immigrants : • 87% of Chicago• 80% of New York• 84% of Detroit• New York had more Irish than Dublin• New York had more Germans than Hamburg• Chicago had more Poles than Warsaw
Most of the immigrants who poured into the US lacked money and
education. They remained in the nations growing cities, where they
toiled long hours for little pay. Despite the harshness of their new lives most still improved their standard of living. In the US they had a chance at social
mobility—moving up in society-unlike in Europe.
As city populations grew, demand raised the price of land, giving owners
greater incentive to grow upward rather outward.
2 Major inventions helped with this problem:
-Bessemer Steel process-Safety Elevator
Bessemer Steel Process-a way to blow air into iron ore and make
steel cheaplyAndrew Carnegie
Between the new steel process and the invention of the safety
elevator, new buildings began to appear on American skylines:
The skyscrapersThe Flatiron Building
At 21 stories and 307 ft (93 meter), it was
one of the city‘s most interesting buildings
The Empire State Building--one year and 45 days to build--There are 102 floors--There are 1,860 steps from street level to 102nd floor.--only five workers werekilled
The Chrysler BuildingBuilt from 1929 to 1930
Constructed of steel with brick and stainless steel on
the exteriorHeight: 1046 ft
Number of Floors: 77Height Record: Tallest building in the world at
completion, overtaken by the Empire State Building just one year later. Currently the third tallest building in New
York City.
The Brooklyn Bridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsi95z1Nmhg&feature=related
The Brooklyn Bridge
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WA47Y6em8M&feature=player_detailpage
Separation by Class
• 3 Distinct classes developed• High Society—consisted of Robber Barons-or
capitalist—people with large amounts of wealth.
• Middle Class- (white collar)-consisted of the doctors, lawyer, engineers, managers
• Working Class-immigrants (blue collar) who came and worked long hours for very little pay
Ellis Island• Most immigrants passed through Ellis Island in
about a day. Crowds of immigrants' filed past the doctor for an initial inspection. A mark on a shirt might indicate isolation or worst deportation.
Once in the cities, immigrants lived in neighborhoods that were often
separated into ethnic groups, such as Little Italy in lower New York City.
They spoke their native languages and re-created the appearance of their
homeland.How well immigrants adjusted
depended partly on how quickly they learned English and adapted to American culture--Assimilated
Urban Problems
• City living posed threats such as crime, violence, fire, diseases and pollution.
• Many native-born Americans often blamed immigrants for the increase in crime and violence.
• A feeling of nativism-preference for native born people-began to set in.
• Many native born Americans desired to limit immigration.
• In 1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act—it barred Chinese for coming to America and prevented the ones here from becoming citizens.
• The only ethnic group to be barred• The Act was renewed every 10 years until
1943.
Urban Politics The new immigrant needed jobs, housing,
heat and police protection.
• A new kind of political system developed to meet the needs of the new urban immigrant.
• The Political Machine—a political group designed to gain and keep power
• Party Bosses-those who ran them• In exchange for votes, party bosses provided
the immigrant with necessities.
Tammany Hall was the most famous of the Political machines and
William M. “Boss” Tweed was the most notorious of the Party Bosses.
• Despite the corruption of the system, political machines did provide necessary services and they helped to assimilate the masses of new city dwellers
The Rise of Big Business
• Before the Civil War, the personal wealth of a few people operating in partnership financed most businesses, including many early factories. Most manufacturing enterprises were very small. By 1900 everything had changed. Big businesses dominated the economy, operating vast complexes of factories, warehouses, offices, and distribution facilities.
This could not have happened without the corporation—an organization owned by
many but treated as though it was a single.Stockholders own parts of the corporation
by owning shares called stock. People buy stock – the company can invest that money with new technologies, or hire people or expand.In return, the company pays back to the stockholders part of their
profits (dividends)
Andrew Carnegie and Steel
• He became a multi-millionarie by a practice known as Vertical Integration—a vertically integrated company owns all of the different businesses on which it depends for its operation.
• For example-he bought coal mines, limestone quarries and iron ore fields.
John D. Rockefeller--Oil• Rockefeller made his millions by a practice
called Horizontal Integration-buying up the same type of business into one.
• He gained control of about 90% of all oil companies in the US.
• When a single company achieves control of an entire market, it becomes a monopoly-to have total control of an industry or company
• What potential problems exist if one large business buys all its competitors?
Unions
• Life for workers in industrial America was difficult. As machines replaced skilled labor, work became monotonous. Workers performed repetitive tasks and working conditions were unhealthy and dangerous.
• Eventually, many workers decided that the only way to improve their working conditions was to organize Unions—a group of workers who worked to improve their working conditions
Knights of Labor
• The first nation-wide industrial union• Called for an 8 hour day• Equal pay for women• Abolition of child labor• They used strikes—stop work• They supported arbitration-a third party
comes in between labor and management.
American Federation of Labor
• A trade union• Samuel Gompers led• Believe Unions should stay out of politics• Fight for small gains—higher wages and better
working conditions• Preferred arbitration over strikes
How did industry and companies view unions?
Techniques to prevent unions from forming.
Government was pro management—always on the side of industry.
The Gilded Age
• Something that is gilded is covered with gold on the outside because it usually is hiding the fact that it is made of cheap materials. Mark Twain called this era of history that we are studying the Gilded Age because even though it was a great time of inventions and innovation, industry, immigration and higher standard of living—underneath the surface lay corruption, poverty and crime, as well as a gulf between the haves and have nots
New Ideas for Americans• Individualism-that no matter how humble your
beginnings, you could rise in society and go as far as your talents and commitment would take you.
• Social Darwinism- Herbert Spencer took Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and argued that human society also evolved through competition and natural selection—
• “survival of the fittest” became the catchphrase.• Gospel of Wealth-Andrew Carnegie believed in
the idea that those who profited from society owed it something in return—Philanthropy-giving money back to promote social goods
New movements in Art
• Realism: portrayed people realistically instead of idealizing them
• Thomas Eakins• He considered no day to day subject beneath
his interest. He painted with realistic detail young men swimming, surgeons operating and scientists experimenting. He even painted President Hayes working in shirtsleeves instead of in more traditional formal dress.
Popular Culture
• People had more money so what were they doing?• Coney Island in NYC• Boxing• Baseball• Going to Vaudeville-a cross between theatre and a circus• Listening to Ragtime-a new music that echoed the hectic
pace of the city life. Syncopated rhythms-grew out of the honky-tonk, salon pianists and banjo players using the patterns of African American music-Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin The Entertainer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPmruHc4S9Q
The Rise of Segregation
• Life for African Americans in the South after the Civil War and Reconstruction was not good—they were free and that’s all.
• Many resorted to sharecropping—living and working off the land owned by someone else.
• 13th amendment-abolished slavery• 14th amendment- defines citizenship• 15th amendment-extends voting rights
• Many in the South found ways to prevent African Americans from voting:
• Poll Tax- a fee in order to vote• Grandfather Clause- ‘if your grandfather voted
then you can”• Literacy Tests- prove you could read and write
Legalizing Segregation
• In the South, segregation-separation of the races, was enforced legally by laws known as Jim Crow Laws—the term came from the name of a character popularized by a slavery era blackface minstrel –a white musical stage performer who darkened his face with makeup and crudely imitated supposed African American behavior.
• In 1892 an African American named Homer Plessy challenged a Louisiana law that forced him to ride in a separate railroad car from whites.
• The Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson upheld the “separate but equal” aspect of the law.
• The ruling established the legal basis for discrimination in the South for more than 50 years to come.
• http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/jcrow02.htm
• Even worse than the Jim Crow laws was the brutality leveled against African Americans.
• Between 1890-1900, there was an average of 187 lynchings –executions without proper court preceedings-carried out by mobs each year.
http://youtu.be/dnlTHvJBeP0
• "Southern trees bear a strange fruit, • Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,• Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, • Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.• Pastoral scene of the gallant South,• The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,• Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,• And the sudden smell of burning flesh! • Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,• For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, • For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, • Here is a strange and bitter crop."
African American Response• Booker T. Washington :He proposed that Blacks
should concentrate on education and vocation.
demonstrate "industry, thrift, intelligence and property."
W. E. B. DuBois
• He was concerned with the rights of Blacks—voting was the key he said to proper manhood.
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