The Great West & Gilded Age American History II - Unit 1

Review What were some “push” factors contributing to increased immigration to America in the early 1900s? Religious persecution, rising populations, job and food scarcity, high taxes Where were the 2 most prominent immigration processing centers? Ellis Island, NY Angel Island, CA Nativist sentiments contributed to a dislike of which immigrant groups? “New Europeans” (eastern/southern European), Jews, Catholics, Asians Name 3 challenges faced by immigrants and the working poor due to urbanization. Tenement housing, ill-kept transportation, unsanitary water, trash/sewage in the streets, increased crime rates, high likelihood of fires How did Addams’ Hull House and the Americanization movement try to help immigrants assimilate to American life? Teach English and other cultural skills

1.5 – Politics of the Gilded Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJiJUlIKO-Y

Political Machines Turn of 20th century  increased urbanization + dog-eat-dog Social Darwinism = increased corruption in politics Political machine – organized groups that controlled political activity in a city Offered special services to voters in return for support Wanted to ensure the election of politicians that would favor the political machine 1 in each large city

Political Machines City Boss: 1/city Ward Boss: 1/ward or district Precinct Captains: Several/ward Precinct Captains – 1st/2nd generation immigrants Spoke foreign languages and helped immigrants get established in exchange for votes. Reported to Ward Bosses Ward Bosses – managed districts/wards Secure voter support of certain candidates before an election Reported to City Boss City boss – head of the political machine

Political Machines Roles of the City Boss Sometimes the mayor of the city Controlled access to municipal (city) jobs and businesses licenses Helped immigrants get naturalized (obtain citizenship)  voter! Focused on helping the urban poor by establishing parks, schools, hospitals, and orphanages NOT to correct societal injustices BECAUSE political machines could gain the support of many lower-class and immigrant voters (bulk of voter population)

Election Fraud and Graft If an election of a candidate was not secure, city bosses practiced voter fraud (fake/dead names). Once candidate was in office, political machine would take advantage of graft – illegal use of political influence for personal gain Ex: political machine would help a worker find a job as a city contractor with help of the politician ask the worker to bill the city more than the actual cost  worker could kickback the profits to the machine and politician.

Boss Tweed Boss (William) Tweed – head of Tammany Hall – NYC’s democratic political machine Tweed Ring – Tammany Hall’s corrupt politicians Influenced NYC gov’t to charge taxpayers $13 million to build NY County Courthouse BUT the construction only cost $3 million  Tweed and Tammany Hall pocketed $10 million 1871 - Thomas Nast brought down Boss Tweed by exposing his abuses through a series of political cartoons  Tweed convicted of fraud and jailed.

Other Political Corruption Patronage – giving gov’t jobs to people who help a candidate get elected. Essentially the spoils system – jobs given based on connections not qualifications Reformers pushed for the elimination of patronage and institution of a merit system for civil service jobs (gov’t jobs) Merit system – jobs based on qualifications

POTUSs Reform Civil Service Hayes (1877-1881) – anti-patronage, appointed independents to cabinet Garfield (1881) – independent (nominated by Republicans) with Arthur as VP, assassinated by a political machine member Arthur (1881-1885) – persuaded Congress to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1883 – federal law stipulating that government jobs should be awarded on the basis of merit rather than patronage Merit determined by score on an examination

Business and Politics Big businesses hoped politicians would keep, even raise, high tariffs  foreign goods more expensive, increased demand for domestic goods Cleveland (1885-1889) – Democrat (anti-tariff), tried to lower tariffs, Congress did not Harrison (1889-1893) – Republican (pro-tariff), raised tariffs Cleveland (again, 1893-1897) – Democrat, tried to lower tariffs McKinley (we already talked about him… 1897-1901) – Republican, pro-tariffs, gold standard

The Gilded Age “Gilded” = covered thinly with gold “The Gilded Age” – the term for the late 1800s (coined by Mark Twain) Seeming prosperity, rise of industrialization, new technologies, population growth Really full of corruption, growing wealth disparity, mistreatment of poor

Final Thoughts… At the turn of the 20th century… Corruption in politics is rampant The poor are getting poorer Immigration to US increases Economy is dominated by a few wealthy industrialists, no free market REFORM  The Progressive Era “Progressive” = favoring or implementing social reform

Thomas Nast Cartoons on Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall Who Stole The Money That’s What’s The Matter What Are You Laughing At? What event/idea is being portrayed? How do you know? (symbols, words, etc) What impact does the topic of the cartoon have on the American public in late 1800s?