1. The Gilded Age & Progressives

2. 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

3. Politics of the Gilded Age

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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)

7. 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.

8. 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
Thomas Nast brought down Boss Tweed by exposing his abuses through a series of political cartoons  Tweed convicted of fraud and jailed.

9. 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

10. POTUSs Reform Civil Service
Hayes ( ) – anti-patronage, appointed independents to cabinet
Garfield (1881) – independent (nominated by Republicans) with Arthur as VP, assassinated by a political machine member
Arthur ( ) – 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

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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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?

15. Who Stole The Money

16. That’s What’s The Matter

17. What Are You Laughing At?