1. American Society in Transition
Gilded Age

2. Urbanization: The Growth of Cities
Key Terms
Urbanization
Demography
Cyrus McCormick
The process of American industrialization led to urbanization
The movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities.

3. The Growth of Cities Demographics illustrate the change.
New York, Chicago and Philadelphia had populations of more than 1 million by 1900

4. Factors in the Growth of Cities
Introduction of new farm machinery such as the reaper by Cyrus McCormick.
New industries were being created to offer jobs.
Factories
Mines
Workshops
People were attracted to cities because of
Cultural experiences
Museums
Entertainment, etc.
Unprecedented levels of immigration.

5. Cities Face New Problems
Terms
Tenement
Political Machine
Political Bosses
Boss Tweed
Tammany Hall
Municipal
Jacob Riis

6. Overcrowding and Congestion
No planning for growth.
Streets not wide enough.
Horse-drawn cars made movement almost impossible.
Factories and trains polluted the air
Sewage sometimes contaminated drinking water spreading disease.
Cities could not deliver essential services – clean water, garbage collection and public schools.
Whole families lived in tenements.
Transportation was inadequate until subways and electric trolleys
Social tensions.
Rich lived next to poor.
Seeing the luxuries of the wealthy poor people were stressed and led to tensions and crimes.

7. Living Conditions

8. Political Machines (308-309)
Rapidly growing cities were difficult to manage
Increased taxes to pay for necessities
More taxes=more money=more power
Political Machine
Unofficial city organizations designed to keep a particular party/group in power
Usually headed by a single “boss”
Worked through the exchange of favors for votes

9. Tweed in Cartoons: William Macy Tweed
Most infamous “boss”
Controlled Tammany Hall
Ran NYC’s Democratic Party
Illegally accessed city treasury and stole millions of dollars

10. Immigration Why did immigrants come to the US? PUSH and PULL Factors
1. Economic opportunities Freedom
3. Religious/Ethnic persecution 4. War
5. Oppression Cultural ties Poverty
Push
Pull

11. Old Immigrants / New Immigrants (299)
Old: Those who came before 1880 came mostly from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany.
New: Those who came later (after 1800) were from Southern and Eastern Europe

12. Differences Old Immigrants New Immigrants Skilled workers
Could speak English
Protestant
New Immigrants
Unskilled workers
Did not know English
Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox

13. Life for New Immigrants
Traveled in cheap accommodations
Steerage (298)
Large area beneath ship’s deck
Ellis Island (297)
NY harbor
Settled
Large cities
Ethnic Ghettos (300)
Neighborhoods with one ethnic or racial group dominates
Isolated from mainstream America
Living conditions were bad but were often worse in their home country.

14. Americanization
Public education was instrumental in the Americanization of the immigrant children who would in turn assist parents.
They were “assimilated”
Soon the US became a “melting pot” in which immigrants were melted down and reshaped.
Conflict and generational problems sometimes occurred in the homes

15. Nativists (104,314) Do we see this today?
Those born or native to the United States
Believed that people of other races, religions and nationalities are inferior.
Argued that working for low wages took jobs away from “real” Americans.
Do we see this today?

16. Immigration is Restricted (302)
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Banned immigration of Chinese for 10 years
New requirements placed on those already in US
Courts could not grant citizenship
Got help from Chinese government
Other Asian groups are similarly restricted.

17. The Last American Frontier (260)
Define “frontier”:
Another point of view is the dividing line between the native groups and more technologically advanced people.

18. First Industry to Draw People to West
California Gold Rush ( )
Klondike Gold Rush (1896) In Alaska
As people rushed to the west, many failed to complete the trip and settled in other areas of the west.
More metals found in Alaska, the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills of North Dakota

19. The Indian Wars Native Americans were already living on the land
After the Civil War, Union troops were sent to protect the miners and others moving onto Indian land.
As they attempted to move Indians to reservations, a series of wars were fought.
Battle of Little Big Horn (Custer’s Last Stand) with the Sioux was only Indian victory.
Most outrageous was the Battle at Wounded Knee, SD where 300 unarmed natives were slaughtered with machine guns.

20. Impact of the Railroads
As new track was laid, it was also on Indian Territory leading to more conflict.
Buffalo herds were destroyed by sharp shooters traveling on the trains.
Getting rid of buffalo would insure the departure of the Indians.

21. Lots of Land
Federal government encourages settlement by offering cheap land
During the Civil War many bills were passed as a result of the absence of the Southern states.
Homestead Act (1862)
160 acres free to a person who would work the land for 5 years
1.400,000 homesteads granted.

22. Cattle Industry and Open Range
Started in Mexico and settled in Texas
Herds were driven each year to the railroad lines and shipped to Chicago for slaughter.
Cattle drives vanished with additional rail lines, severe droughts, overgrazing of land and the addition of barbed wire by farmers.

23. Farming
Railroads made it possible to farm the plains and ship to the East.
At first faced difficulties with the Indians and cattlemen.
Groups were formed to help farmers (The Grange and Farmer’s Alliance)
As numbers grew these difficulties lessened.

24. Natural Obstacles on the Plains
Drought (windmills)
Few trees (sod houses)
Hard soil (steel plow)
Extreme temperatures
Plagues of grasshoppers
Personal isolation

25. Fate of the native Americans
US government systematically followed a policy of pushing the Indians onto reservations in the West
Natives could not resist
Technological superiority of the U.S. government
Flood of settlers
Destruction of the natural environment.

26. Reservations Were much smaller than the tribal lands
Federal government promised food, blankets and seeds
Against tribal customs as most were hunters, not farmers

27. Dawes Act, 1887 (266) Attempt at “Americanization”.
Abolished native American tribes
Each family given 160 acres of reservation land.
Private property was to replace tribal ownership.
Each would become a farmer.
If you were good you could be a citizen in 25 years.

28. Further Legislation
American Indian Citizenship Act, 1924: Granted immediate U.S. citizenship to all Native American Indians born in the United States.
Ten years later the Dawes Act was replaced by a new law that guaranteed tribal self-government.