US 10: American Society Flashcards
1
Q
What was the NAWSA?
A
National American Woman Suffrage Association created
2
Q
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
A
Founded the National Women’s suffrage association.
3
Q
What were the effects of mass immigration?
A
- Developed USA at faster rate than other countries because immigration was cheap labour
- Social divisions increased e.g. Chinese discrimination in San Francisco -> exclusion act of 1882
4
Q
What were the reactions of mass immigration?
A
- Reactions
- Immigrants welcomed by employers as cheap labour -> easy target for Americans who feared rapid changes = immigrants used to replace striking workers and contributed to overcrowding = racial and ethnic conflict
- Easy for opponents to see cultural and religious interests as un-american + argued that southern/eastern european didn’t assimilate as well as northern + had bad ideas like anarchism
- 1887, American Protective Association was set up to pressure gov. to limit immigration & Anglo-saxon, protestant tradition was undermined
- Anti-immigration forces has limited success before WW1, but 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act stopped China, Japan in 1908
5
Q
Mass immigration
A
- Mass immigration
- 1860-1900 = 14 million immigrants arrived in US, all time high in 1901 to 1910
- Immigrants from Europe left NY for cities where they could exploit cheap labour
- Chinese and japanese immigrants went to San Francisco, 1890 = 1/10 of population was Chinese
- Immigration was a major reason why USA progressed so quickly - as workers and consumers
- Assimilated well into US society & formed unskilled workforce in growing industries
- Most were grateful for any job, estimated that by 1900 over 2/3 arrived in previous 20 years lived below subsistence level
6
Q
Provide an overview of immigration and urbanisation 1890-1917
A
- Social change shaped by great Atlantic Migration
- 18 million + entering
- Immigration = symptom and cause of economic expansion
- Victims but also shaped culture e.g. ‘Little Italy’
1890s immigration was mainly from countries like Russia (jews), Germany, French, Ireland (especially because of the potato famine) and other eastern european countries. The religious landscape of America would change. 3.5 million, half were southern or eastern
7
Q
large scale immigration caused fear and where did Irish and German immigrants settle?
A
- IRISH remained in NY and Boston as low wage unskilled workers despite being farmers at home, women were servants or factory workers
- GERMANS worked as farmers, some were businessmen (brewers) and people like - little Germany in Manhattan, Cincinnati
- 1890s scientific theories limited certain races to
8
Q
Peak 1901 to 1914
A
Peak 1901 to
outbreak of WW1 in 1914, 13 million immigrants came to the US
1840-1914 = 40
million immigrated to US
20 million people
emigrated to other parts of the Western Hemisphere e.g. Brazil, Caribbean,
Canada, Argentina
9
Q
What was the main pull factor for immigrants?
A
OPPORTUNITY:
- There was so much work that companies used labour recruiters who went to Europe to advertise opportunities
- And passage was cheap, fast 8-12 days
- Lower east side of Manhattan was first magnet = germans, russian jews, italians -> recreated their own towns and neighbourhoods
- Conditions in these cities were bad but improved with the construction of elevated railroads + subways that relieved traffic = created new problem of pickpockets
- New transportation technology polluted cities and enabled a greater degree of residential segregation in cities
- Notable feature of gilded age cities were that the rich and poor lived in close proximity to each other = with urbanisation and growing distance between classes, it became more visible -> responses were creation of suburbs, politics = start of progressive era
10
Q
Describe mass immigration during this time
A
- 1890-WW1 = 18.4 million
- 1/3 all jews in Russia and EE emigrated to US
- ‘push’ factors = poverty in Italy, Russification in Tsarist Russia
- ‘pull’ factors = america idealised
- Boosted by transport, communication, tech (ships)
- New immigration centre opened on Ellis Island to deal with overwhelming arrival
- 1892
- 20% scandanavians returned, 60% italians, 3% russian jews = reflecting different motivations
- 80% italian = male -> work and send money home but jews came to settle (50% female, 25% children)
- Jew 1908-1912 = 80% men and 63% woman were literate
11
Q
How did urbanisation develop
A
- How did urbanisation develop
- 1890-1914 = skyline, construction boom -> new commercial + civic buildings, housing, tramways and elevated railways
- Accelerated ads of modern mass ent. = theatres, music halls + emerging film industry
- Concentrated mostly in North and Eastbut also brought street lighting, trams, civic buildings, public utilities to small towns
- Factors other than immigration = population 1900 76 mil to 100 mil 1920, internal migration from countryside, 1910 -> AA moved out of South
- Immigration did most for construction, service industries + sweatshops
12
Q
What were the consequences of immigration and urbanisation on society and culture
A
- What were the consequences of immigration and urbanisation on society and culture
- People thought harmonious society would be created by mixing cultures in ‘melting pot’ but reality was different communities patched together: Irish, German, polish, Jewish
- Industrialised north east speed of urbanisation + social change was greatest e.g. densely populated Manhattan Jewish clashed with Irish and Italian
- 22 German language news papers
13
Q
Describe social and ethnic divisions
A
- Describe social and ethnic divisions
- People wanted protection from discrimination and accepted politicians who used this for patronage to secure votes e.g. Tammany Hall in NYC
- Backlash against this was mostly Catholic = why populism grew in S and W in 1890s
- Samuel Gompers + leaders of TU anxious to strengthen power against employers = immigrants complex relationship (seen as threat because unskilled and could be used to undercut wages or break strikes) = source of tension with older and younger generations made worse by religious tensions (Protestants v Catholics)
- Homestead Strike 1892, Pullman Strike 1894 blamed on ‘foreign agitators’
14
Q
Regional Divisions: North East
A
- North East
- Urbanisation and social change greatest
- Mississippi and north Ohio had powerhouse industries, booming cities, concentrated transport networks = engines of change
- More european where political, business and cultural elites were open to influence
- Important social change seemed big because of dominance of NE when it really wasn’t nationwide
15
Q
Regional Divisons: South
A
- South
- Politically separate entirely dominated at state and federal level by democratic party
- Economically different dominated by plantation system + ‘King Cotton’
- Socially separate with whites resistant to change + rare for Europeans to move there (11 Italians killed by lynch mob in New Orleans 1891)
- Population shifts = 1910+ AA moved north, this increased during WW1
16
Q
Regional Divisions: West
A
- West
- patchy social and economic development in West 1890 unfinished + some didn’t achieve statehood until 1912
- Development of Denver (big cities) + West Coast ports but mainly region of boom towns, ghost towns symbols of Gold Rush/Mining e.g. ‘Alaska-Yukon Gold Rush 1890s’
- Western society = transient, ‘rugged individualists’ + varied population of prospects, ranchers, drifters, AA, Mexican migrants
17
Q
Social impact of progressivism on corruption
A
- 1900 + progressivism had major impact on politics, society, culture, morality esp in age of newspapers + ‘muckracking’ journalists like Lincoln Steffens and Upton Sinclair who aimed to expose corruption
Corruption = high bankers, low-level ‘graft’, ‘kickbacks’, jobs for the boys’ in City Halls
‘graft’ and ‘kickbacks’: small-bribery and
corruption by which public officials enriched themselves
‘jobs for the boys’: practice of rewarding
supporters with political appointments
18
Q
Social impact of progressivism: campaigns against child labour
A
Example of campaign against child labour, neglect by employers in garment industry = disastrous fire at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory 1911
19
Q
Social impact of progressivism: Social divide with middle and working classes
A
Progressives condemned others for being too: catholic, keen on drink, ‘vices’ etc. => significant social divide with middle-class and working class progressives e.g. fight for prohibition of alcohol
20
Q
Social impact on progressivism: Widening gap between city and rural
A
- ^ showed widening gap between cities and rural, temperance movement to outlaw alcohol was not new in 1890s but more pressure by Prohibition Party, Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Anti-Saloon League who gained support from reaction against rise of cities and increasing immigrant population
e.g.
Carrie Nation of WCTU was prominent
21
Q
Social impact on progressivism: Anti-Saloon League
A
Anti-Saloon League, Ohio 1893 led by Wayne Wheeler = effective in lobbying two main political parties for support
22
Q
Social impact on progressivism: Wheelerism
A
Power of ‘Wheelerism’ demonstrated 1906 to defeat Myron Herrick (‘wet’ governor of Ohio)
23
Q
Social impact of progressivism on women
A
- Women were important at reform = 1909 National American Women Suffrage Association organised public rallies, making closer links with suffragette movement in Britain.
- 1913 English suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst made fiery speech to crowds at rally in NYC
24
Q
Who was Carrie Nation?
A
- Who was Carrie Nation?1846-1911: ‘kansas bar room smasher’, believed
in direct action against ‘demon drink’First husband was
alcoholic and was motivated by protestant beliefs“I’m just a bulldog running about at the feet of
Jesus, barking at what he doesn’t like”.First smashed up a
bar with hail of large stones but started using trademark ‘Carrie Nation Axe’
and was frequently arrested and denounced as an extreme terrorist but did much
to publicise WCTU
25
Segregated railways
- Segregated railways
1887, railroad company in Florida was first to introduce segregated railway carriages = gradually extended
26
Voting and 'grandfather clause'
- Voting and 'granfather clause'
- Georgia introduced poll (individual) tax of $2 on those wanting to vote = too expensive for AA
- 1898 Louisiana 'grandfather clause' = males can vote only if their father + grandfather had before 1 Jan 1867 (the day AA were given the right)
- 1890 Mississippi literacy test to register = excluded majority
= by 1910, very few AA did not become political leaders in south
27
Booker T. Washington background
- - Washington background
- Born slave in Virginia, never knew father
- Became teacher after emancipation and set up Tuskgee institute = model for education for black
- Helped to set up to help blacks adjust to industrial life -> convinced that hard work and financial success would weaken discrimination
National Urban League
- Gave speech in Atlanta 1895 that if whites could see blacks as economic partners - race question would be resolved + that AA should focus on education and economic progress rather than trying to change voting, segregation etc.
28
Booker T. Washington criticisms
- Criticisms
Criticised at 'Atlanta compromise'
People say that he accepted 'white supremacy' and made no attempt to reform second-class social position of AA - working within the system rather than changing it + underestimated power of voting
BUT provided role model for AA and developed valuable contacts within white political world e.g. interest of Roosevelt
**Working within the system instead of trying to change it**
29
Lynching, Jim Crow Laws and NAACP
- Lynching, Jim Crow Laws and NAACP
- Chances of equality for AA by 1890 set back by south white and 'Jim Crow System' = symbolised by lynchings
- Lynchings = 1889-1929, 3724 people lynched with 85% AA
- Of perpetrators, less than 50 arrested and 4 sentenced, 1901 former slave Congressman George Henry White proposed to make lynching a federal crime = defeated
Anti-Lynching Bill
- Governor Ben Tillman of South Carolina encouraged lynch mobs and participated = dominated politics in Democrats -> could defy fed gov. which could not prevent taking away black voting rights
- AA activists struggled against south power + tendency of Northern to look away (race riots and Irish Americans in NYC)
- 1908 Springfield = lynch mob riot, 2 black and 4 white died
- ^ shocked nation = NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) 1909 committed itself to abolish segregation and enforce voting rights
- Most officials of NAACP were white except AA e.g. W.E.B. Du Bois
- Limited political progress = Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to White House (heavily denounced by Ben Tillman)
- Black leader -> Du Bois disillusioned by cautious Taft thinking it was outright racism of socialist leaders -> more hope in Woodrow Wilson but he was southerner and constrained + revival of KKK 1915 showed how little progress there was
30
Position of African Americans by 1912
- Position of African Americans by 1912
- 2nd class citizens esp in S and low level political roles disappeared
- No AA in congress or state legislatures and voting rights were systematically removed
- Lost right to serve on juries + segregation laws formed + increased separation + more inferior facilities
- Chances of receiving education increased and AA free to leave south to migrate north = civil rights protest movement started to develop with NAACP
31
Who was Ben Tillman?
1**847-1918:** 'Pitchfork Ben' was governor of South
Carolina from 1890 to 1894, US Senator 1895 until death. Extreme
segregationist.
1876 took leading
part in 'Hamburg Massacre' = 8 freed slaves killed, supported Southern Farmers
Alliance as 'Champion of White Men's Rule and Women's Virtue'
1898 = mob fired on
by Tillman which killed Frazier Baker, postmaster of Lake City and 2 year old
daughter
32
Who was W.E.B Du Bois?
Different background to Washington whom he slowly started to disagree with. Instead of slow process
= more active resistance to discrimination = urge use of legal and political
processes through unceasing agitation
Became a lecturer in
philosophy; sociologist; historian; author, activist; editor
- Lived 1868-1963
- Didn't advocate violence, but agitation = more pressure for change
**1868-1963:** William Edward Burghardt Du Bois born in Massachusetts had privileged education at Harvard = first AA to get PhD => prof. of history at Atlanta University wrote books and compromised with moderate line of Booker T. Washington.
There was split in 1901 and promised sided with more activist approach => founded Niagara Movement 1905 and joined NAACP in 1909
33
What was the Niagara Movement?
- Helped to found Niagara movement in 1905 -> developed from meeting in Canada which rejected Washington's cautious approach and put emphasis on protest to demand civil rights
- This never developed into a mass movement because followers were too academic and lacked numbers
- Important role in setting up NAACP
34
Provide examples of opposition to Immigrations integrating into society e.g. American Protective Association, Chinese Exclusion Act
Opposition included the setting up of immigration restriction league founded in Boston 1894 lobbied for national legislation that would limit the number of immigrants entering
35
One law was vetoed by Cleveland but one act did get established = Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 - by now = 105,000 were Chinese
- Chinese immigrants (mainly male) had been coming from China since the 1850s West to work in mines and on railroads + people were suspicious of them because of their cultural habits
- San francisco refused to educate Asians until the supreme court ordered them to = met with segregated schools
36
Chinese fought back by:
1. 1886 Yick Wo v Hopkins US supreme court ordered San Francisco's to grant Chinese-operated laundries licenses to operate
2. 1898 US v Wong Kim Ark court ruled that American born children of Chinese were entitled to citizenship under 14th Amendment
Constantly faced discrimination e.g. Rock Springs Wyoming vigilante led riots = 26 people killed
