1. Ch. 16 – Politics, Immigration & Urban Life

2. 16.1 Politics in the Gilded Age
1877 – 1900 national politics dominated by issues of corruption & reform.
Gilded Age – perception that a thin layer of prosperity covered society’s poverty and corruption
Pendleton Civil Service Act – reformed corruption in non-elected gov. jobs (civil service)

3. 16.2 - Immigration Old Immigrants New Immigrants
Colonial period up to Civil War
Time Period
Civil War through 1920s
Northern Europe, Western Europe, Africa
Origins
Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia
Political / religious freedom, economic opportunity (land)
Reasons
Some seek political / religious freedom, most seek economic opportunity

5. 16.2
Immigrants faced many challenges in the “Land of Opportunity,” including culture shock, nativism / discrimination and possible deportation.
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – prohibited Chinese from entering the country unless they had family or residence in the U.S. already. (repealed 1943)

6. 16.3 Immigrants generally settled in ethnic communities.
Immigrants, farm workers & others seeking opportunity migrated to cities.
Suburbs and tenements develop to house the swelling population.
Conditions for the poor are harsh: overcrowding, poor sanitation, crime, lack of public services
Jacob Riis tries to increase awareness of this growing problem with his book: How the Other Half Lives