Ch. 19 Political Stalemate And Rural Revolt 1865-1900

Question 1

What were the effects of urban growth during the Gilded Age? What problems did it create?

Answer 1

• urban growth caused new technology to be developed like elevators, cast-iron and steel-frame construction techniques to be implemented to the creation of buildings in order to house all of the people moving to cities
• heating innovations were developed to expand the size of buildings to accommodate the growing population
• also caused commuter trains and trolleys to be used so people could live farther from the city and commute in to work
• middle class grew and were the ones who commuted
• caused more attractions, everything in the city grew
• urban growth caused cities to be congested with disease, fires, crimes
• caused death
• tenement buildings were dirty and extremely congested with people

Question 2

Who were the “new immigrants” of the late nineteenth century? How were they viewed by American society?

Answer 2

• the “new immigrants” were people coming from southern and eastern parts of Europe, especially Russia, Poland, Greece, and Italy
• their religions were Judaism, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholicism
• Congress concluded that the new immigrants were much less intelligent than the old ones
• American society, “nativists,” were racists who believed that “Anlgo-Saxon” (British or Germanic) Americans were superior to the new immigrants
• Chinese became heavily targeted and the Chinese Exclusion Act was created

Question 3

How did urban growth and the increasingly important role of science influence leisure activities, cultural life, and social policy in the Gilded Age?

Answer 3

• Urban growth led to the boom of saloons. They were for leisure for the urban working class. Saloons had everything.
• married working-class women had very little leisure time, they used the streets as their public space, and for socializing; washing clothes, children playing, or shopping at the local market
• the most popular form of entertainment for working women was the cinema
• Darwin believed that the evolutionary process in the natural world had no relevance to human social institutions

Question 4

How did nature of politics during the Gilded Age contribute to political corruption and stalemate?

Question 5

How effective were politicians in developing responses to the major economic and social problems of the Gilded Age?

Question 6

Why did the money supply become a major political issue, especially for farmers, during the Gilded Age? How did it impact American politics?