Gilded Age/Progressive Flashcards
What term was coined by Mark Twain?
Glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath
What were the 7 things of the period?
Greed scandal and corruption in government and industry
Unprecedented economic growth/exploded
Modern Industrial economy
Moved from an agrarian (rural) society to an industrial urban society
USA becomes an emerging world power
Mass Immigration
Unequal distribution of wealth- HAVES and HAVE NOTS
Who owned 50% of the wealth?
Less than 1% of the population (4,000 families)
Closest the USA ever came to an aristocracy of the elite
YEAH
Why did the immigrants come?
To escape religious persecution
To escape poverty
What was the promise of a better life?
Golden door
What was the Journey to America?
Steamboats- 2 weeks from Europe
2 months from Asia
Steerage Class (3rd) Lowest decks-$30
Where did most immigrants land in?
NYC or San Francisco
What was the symbol of opportunity and freedom in 1886?
Statue of Liberty
Who was Emma Lazarus?
American Poet on the Statue of Liberty
Where is Ellis Island?
NYC
Where is Angel Island?
San Francisco
Between 1870-1920 how many people came to America?
20 million
What were the 3 steps in processing and how long did it take?
Physical examination
Record names/ questioning
Documents checked (passports, etc) and legal requirements checked
1day
Why did most settle in the cities?
For jobs
What were the communities known as?
Ethnic Islands (same ethnic groups)
What were most immigrants (job wise)
Unskilled common laborers
What were sweatshops?
Dark crowded unsafe factories in the clothing industry
What were immigrants expected to do?
Assimilate (become like) the rest of the American society
What was the melting pot theory
Give up culture and blend in- children assimilated faster
What are Old Immigrants?
Those who came from Great Britain and Northern Europe and they were Protestant
What are WASPS?
White Anglo- Saxon Protestants
What are New Immigrants?
Southern Europe and Asia
Why weren’t New Immigrants welcomed at first?
They didn’t fit in Job competition Religious differences Ethnic differences Racial differences
What was the Anti Immigrant backlash?
Immigrant Restriction- League 1894
Wanted to restrict immigration
What was Nativism?
An anti immigrant movement that swept through America
What was the American Party
Know nothing- politics party designed to restrict and stop immigration
What were NINA signs?
No Irish need apply because they were catholic
What was the Chinese Exclusion Act? (1882)
Stopped Chinese immigration for 30 years
What was the Gentlemen’s Agreement (1908)
Limited the number of Japanese immigrants to America
What was the Immigration Act of 1917
Required them to be able to read or write before they could enter the country
What was the immigration contribution?
Provided workers for the Industrialization of America
Enriched America with unique customs, culture, language and literature
Creative entrepreneurial talents (business)
What was the urbanization of America?
Movement of people from the rural/ country to the urban/city
2/3rds of immigrants moved into the cities
What was life like in housing in the urban city? HAVE + HAVE NOTS? Middle class vs Rich?
Working class poor- HAVE NOTS Dumbbell Tenements (multi family dwellings) overcrowded and unsanitary Middle class- row houses Rich- Huge homes (30+ rooms) HAVES- Extreme wealth
What was Transportation like?
Mass Transit (designed to move large groups of people)
Streetcars
Subways- 1st in Boston
What was the water like?
Drinking in rivers, lakes and pipes
Indoor plumbing was rare
What was sanitation like?
Street Sweepers (trash, manure, etc)
Cholera Typhoid very common in the summer
1st Sewer lines by 1900 sanitation department
What was Crime like?
Pick pockets and thieves
NYC 1st police force
What was Fire like?
Wooden building stacked on top of each other
Limited water
Candles and Kerosene lanterns
Cincinnati OH- 1st dept.
What was the factory working conditions?
12hr day low pay (1$ per day) dangerous conditions and child labor
What were Political Machines?
An organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in the city by providing services to people and businesses in exchange for votes
What was Graft?
Illegal use of political influence for personal gain-money
How did the political machines/ graft work?
Immigrants stepped off the boat and the machine would get them a job, and a place to stay in exchange for political support (vote)
Who were the most infamous political machines?
Tammany Hall in NYC- “Tweed Ring”- run by William Tweed (boss tweed)
Who were the 6 corrupt presidents during the time when the US congress and the white house was corrupt?
Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B Hayes, James Garfield, Chester, Arthur Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Franklin
Who was Thomas Nast?
Journalist who drew cartoons to expose the corruption of the bosses and robber barons
What was the Modern Industrial Economy fueled by?
Wealth from war
Modern Machinery
Unlimited Workplace (Immigrants)
What was the linchpin (connected America) made it go?
Railroads
Who controlled big businesses and created Industrial monopolies ( single seller and controls oils)
Cornelius Vanderbilt- Railroads Andrew Carnegie- Steel JP Morgan- Banking/finance Henry Ford- Automobile John D. Rockefeller- Oil
Describe Industrial workers? Who made all the profit?
Working class Worked long hours for low wages Average salary-$1.50/day or $500 per year today $6000
Robber Barons
What was the period towards the end of the gilded age called? And describe it
The progressive age
Period of reform
Who was Jacob Riis?
A social reformer journalist photographer who showed how the “other half lived”
What are muckrakers?
They exposed the evils of society
What were the Reforms?
Helping the Poor Improve Working Conditions Women’s Suffrage Alcohol reform Prohibition Education Reforms Child Labor- outlawed Government corruption Ended Business “monopolies”
Who was Washington Gladden?
Founder of Social Gospel Movement
What was the social gospel movement?
Preached salvation through service to the poor (Jesus Christ) emulate
What are settlement houses?
Community centers that provided services to the poor
What is the YMCA (settlement house) and who was it founded by?
Young Men’s Christian Association
George Williams
Who founded the Salvation Army?
William Booth
Who founded the Hull House and what was it?
Jane Addams and place for women
What are Unions?
Organized to protect workers rights better wages, hours, safer working conditions, child labor laws
What is a strike?
A stoppage of work (only weapon) to combat robber barons
What are suffragettes? And who are some examples?
Women who fought for the right to vote
Susan B. Anthony, Lucrecia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul.
When did women get the right to vote?
1920
When was the alcohol reform prohibition? And what did it do?
1919-1933
Forbade the sale and the consumption of alcohol
Who was the father of public education?
Horace Mann
What is a monopoly?
Single seller/ controls oil
