1. URBAN AMERICA
Chapter 10

2. Section 1 - Immigration
Main Idea: After the Civil War, millions of
immigrants from Europe and Asia settled in the
United States.
European Immigration
A. Why did they come?
1. US had plenty of jobs
2. Few immigrant restrictions
3. To avoid forced military service at home
4. To avoid religious persecution
5. To escape Europe’s class system

3. B. The Atlantic Voyage
1. Most traveled in
steerage - cheapest.
2. Miserable
conditions.
C. Ellis Island - New
York
1. Processing center
2. Medical exams;
often led to
quarantine or
forced return to
Europe.

4. “Old Immigration” - Before 1860:
* Immigrants mostly came from
northern & western Europe.
* Mostly Protestant & Catholic.
“New Immigration” - After 1860:
southern & eastern Europe.
* Many were Jewish; many were
Catholic.

8. D. Ethnic Cities
1. Immigrants mostly settled in
neighborhoods separated into ethnic
groups.
2. Spoke native languages
3. Recreated churches, synagogues, clubs,
& newspapers of their homelands.
4. Their adjustment depended partly on:
a. Learning English & how well they
adapted to the American culture.
b. Whether they had marketable skills or
$$$.

9. II. Asian Immigration to America
A. Why did Asians come to America?
1. Chinese - mid-1800s;
mostly western cities.
a. Overpopulation
b. Unemployment
c. Poverty
d. Famine & hunger
e discovery of gold in California
demand for workers in the mines.
f. Rebellion in China (20 million dead)
g. Transcontinental railroad demand for workers.

10. 2. Japanese - later 1800s/early 1900s.
a. Japan was building an industrial economy.
b. Building an empire disrupted economy,
causing hardships for Japanese people.
B. Angel Island - the “Ellis Island of the West
Coast” (processing immigrants, etc.)
III. The Resurgence of Nativism
Wave of immigrants fear & distrust of
foreigners.
A. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
1. Barred Chinese immigration for 10 yrs.
2. Kept Chinese in US from becoming citizens.

11. “Ellis Island of the West Coast”
Angel Island
“Ellis Island of the West Coast”

12. Chinese Laundry in San Francisco

13. Passport for Chin-shee (a young Chinese immigrant)

15. Many nativists were one- or two-generation immigrants.
Nativism …. Ironic?

16. B. Why did nativists oppose immigration?
1. Afraid that Catholic immigrants might get
too much power in US government.
2. Immigrants would take low-paying jobs
away from American citizens.
3. Immigrants would accept work as strike-
breakers & hurt the unions’ efforts.
C. Prejudice against newcomers
1. American Protective Association - wanted
to stop immigration.
2. Workingman’s Party of California -
reaction to racial violence; also to stop
immigration.

17. Sweatshop -
an urban
laundry

18. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning
to breathe free...
The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless,
tempest-tost, to me,
I lift my lamp beside the
golden door!”
Emma
Lazarus

19. Nativism .... Was the United States becoming a “Melting pot” or a “Dumping ground”?

21. Section 2 - Urbanization
Main Idea: During the thirty years following the
Civil War, the U.S. transformed rapidly from a rural
nation to a more urban one.
Americans Migrate to the Cities
A. Why?
1. Immigrants lacked $$$ to buy farms or
education to get better jobs.
2. Worked long hours in factories
3. Farmers - for better-paying jobs & for the
excitement of the “modern” cities.

22. II. New Urban Environment
A. Skyscrapers - lack of space; needed to “build
up.”
B. Mass transit - needed to move large numbers
of people quickly.
Boston
Subway
Horsecar
San Francisco
Cable Car
Trolley
Car

23. During the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, John Roebling, who designed the bridge, was killed on the job. His son continued directing the work until being injured. The work was then taken over by John’s wife, who completed the project with her son’s direction.

24. III. Separation by Class A. High Society - Upper Class
1. Rich; usually lived in the center of the city.
2. Ex: Vanderbilt Mansion
Vanderbilt liked his mansion so much, he built
one just like it next door for
his daughter.
Vanderbilt Mansion - Fifth Avenue
New York City

25. B. Middle-Class
1. Fast-growing social group.
2. Doctors, lawyers, engineers, social workers,
architects, teachers, etc.
3. Not enough salary to keep up with upper
class.
C. Working Class
1. Majority
2. Often lived in tenements - crowded
multi-family dwellings.
3. Many sent their children to work in
factories.

26. Expose written by Jacob Riis to show the
desperate situation of the working poor

28. Urban Problems
A. Crime, violence, fire, disease, & pollution.
B. Native-born Americans blamed immigrants.
C. Alcohol - contributed to violent crime.
V. Urban Politics
A. Political machine (new political system) -
informal political group designed to gain &
keep political power.
--City dwellers needed jobs, housing, food,
heat, & police protection.
B. Party boss - ran political machine; provided
services to city dwellers in exchange for votes.

29. C. Corruption in political machine/boss system:
1. Graft - getting $$$ through dishonest or
questionable means.
2. Fraud - bosses accepted bribes from con-
tractors, etc., who in exchange got prized
contracts for doing city work (ex: roads,
garbage collection, etc.) or for city permits.
D. Tammany Hall
1. NYC Democratic machine.
2. Boss - Wm. Marcy Tweed - corrupt!!!!
3. Had control of NYC gov’t.
**In spite of all of the corruption, the machines
did provide valuable services to city-dwellers.

31. Political cartoon portraying the corruption which surrounded Boss
Tweed and
Tammany Hall.
William
Marcy
Tweed

36. Section 3 - The Gilded Age (Late 1800s)
Main Idea: Industrialism &
urbanization changed American
society’s ideas and culture.
Changing Culture
A. The Gilded Age - term coined by Mark Twain
about the era from approx
1. Looked “golden” on outside, but problems
inside!
2. Corruption, poverty, crime, big gap
between rich & poor.

37. B. Individualism - whatever his beginnings, in
America a person could rise in society.
C. Horatio Alger - wrote “rags to riches”
stories which inspired people to
believe that success was possible.
II. Social Darwinism
A. Herbert Spencer’s idea.
B. Taken from Darwin’s Origin of
Species (evolutionary theory).
C. “Human society also evolved through
competition & natural selection.”
Idea of “survival of the fittest” in society.

38. D. Gospel of Wealth
1. Rich must help the poor - philanthropy.
2. Andrew Carnegie’s theory.
a. Donated million$$ of his fortune.
b. Libraries, scholarships, etc…
Realism - portrayed people realistically instead
of idealizing them as in the Romantic era.
A. Art
**Thomas Eakins -
paintings of regular
people in day-to-day
activities.

39. Example of realistic
art from the group of
painters known as
the “Ashcan”
school of artists.
What is this painter
saying about life
in American cities
during this time?

40. B. Literature 1. Wm. Dean Howells 2. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
a. Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn
b. Wrote in local
dialect
c. Wrote about very
American subjects.
Howells’s
Rise of Silas
Lapham
Samuel Clemens
“Mark Twain”

41. 3. Henry James - wrote about the inner lives of the upper class.
4. Edith Wharton
a. Upper class subjects.
b. Ex: Age of Innocence.
Henry
James
Edith
Wharton

42. IV. Popular Culture
A. Improved standard of living led to entertain-
ment & recreation.
B. Saloon
1. Major role in life of male workers in 1800s.
2. Served as social and political center.
C. Amusement parks & sports
1. Coney Island
a. Catered to working-
class families &
singles.
b. Rides usually cost
5 or 10 cents.

43. 2. Watching professional boxing or baseball.
a. Cincinnati Red Stockings - first salaried
professional baseball team.
b first modern World Series played.
Cincinnati
Red
Stockings
(later the
Red Sox)

44. 3. Football became a popular spectator sport during the Gilded Age, with college games proving to be the biggest draw. Rutgers and Princeton played in the first collegiate contest in Throughout the late 1800s, three Eastern universities–Harvard, Yale, and Princeton– dominated the sport.
University of Michigan
Football Team

45. 4. Other leisure activities:
Lawn
Tennis
Golf
Lawn Tennnis
Croquet

46. D. Vaudeville
1. Similar to stage show/
concert.
2. Different kinds of acts.
E. Ragtime
1. African American music.
2. Scott Joplin

47. Section 4 - The Rebirth of Reform
Main Idea: The pressing problems of the urban
poor in the late 1800s and early 1900s eventually
stimulated attempts to reform industrial society.
Social Criticism
A. Debate between individualism/Social
Darwinism and government help.
B. Should we redistribute wealth from the
rich to the poor?
C. Should gov’t regulate the economy, or should
it be left to competition/supply and demand?

48. D. Edward Bellamy - Looking Backward; form
of socialism theory; gov’t owns all industry &
shares the wealth w/ everyone (communism
and/or socialism?)
II. Naturalism in Literature
A. Response to Social Darwinism; “sometimes
people fail to succeed through no fault of their
own. We need gov’t regulation.”
1. Stephen Crane- Maggie, Girl of the Streets
2. Jack London - his writings show power
of natural environment over civilization.

49. III. Helping the Urban Poor
A. Social Gospel - biblical ideas of charity &
justice.
B. Salvation Army
1. William Booth, founder.
2. Practical aid & religious
counseling to the urban
poor.
C. YMCA
D. Revival meetings
William
Booth

50. E. Settlement House movement 1. Ex: Jane Addams - Hull House in
Chicago.
2. Provided services to poor - medical care,
recreation, English classes.
3. New career field - social worker.
Hull
House
Jane
Addams

51. IV. Public Education
A. Need for better educated & trained workers.
B. Improvement in public education
C. In education, cities were ahead of rural areas.
D. African Americans did not have equal
opportunities.
1. Some started their own schools.
2. Booker T. Washington -
founded Tuskegee Institute.
E. Morrill Land Grant - gov’t $$$ to
states to start agricultural & mechanic
colleges. (Ex: Texas A&M; Texas Tech)

53. F. Public libraries
1. Free “education” opportunity.
2. Andrew Carnegie donated million$ to
build libraries all over the nation.

55. Reviewing Key Terms G B J E C
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.
__ 1. providing money to support humanitarian or social goals
__ 2. hostility toward immigrants
__ 3. causing someone to acquire American traits and characteristics
__ 4. an organization linked to a political party that often controlled local government
__ 5. multi-family apartments, usually dark, crowded, and barely meeting living standards G
A. steerage
B. nativism
C. tenement
D. graft
E. political machine
F. party boss
G. philanthropy
H. vaudeville
I. ragtime
J. Americanization B J E C

56. Reviewing Key Terms (cont.)
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the left.
__ 6. a type of music with a strong rhythm and a lively melody with accented notes
__ 7. stage entertainment made up of various acts, such as dancing, singing, comedy, and magic shows
__ 8. cramped quarters on a ship’s lower decks for passengers paying the lowest fares
__ 9. the acquisition of money on dishonest ways, as in bribing a politician
__ 10. the person in control of a political machine I
A. steerage
B. nativism
C. tenement
D. graft
E. political machine
F. party boss
G. philanthropy
H. vaudeville
I. ragtime
J. Americanization H A D F