1. Chapter 15 Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life (1870–1915)
America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter 15
Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life
(1870–1915)
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

2. America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter 15: Politics, Immigration, and Urban Life (1870–1915)
Section 1: Politics in the Gilded Age
Section 2: People on the Move
Section 3: The Challenge of the Cities
Section 4: Ideas for Reform
Copyright © 2003 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. All rights reserved.

3. Politics in the Gilded Age
Chapter 15, Section 1
How did business influence politics during the Gilded Age?
In what ways did government reform the spoils system and regulate railroads?
What effect did the transition from depression to prosperity have on politics in the 1890s?

4. The Business of Politics
Chapter 15, Section 1
The Gilded Age suggests that there was a glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society. This term was coined by Mark Twain.
In the late 1800’s businesses operated without much government regulation. This is known as laissez-faire economics. Laissez-faire means ‘allow to be’ in French.
Although people accepted laissez-faire economics in theory, they supported government involvement when it benefited them. For example, American businesses accepted land grants and subsidies. A subsidy is a payment made by the government to encourage the development of certain key industries, such as railroads.

5. The Politics of “Dead Center”/ “Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum Political Parties
“ In national elections, party politics bore the powerful imprint of the Civil War. Republicans controlled the industrial North and Midwest and the agrarian West and were particularly strong among members of revivalist churches, Protestant immigrants, and blacks. Organizations of Union veterans formed a bulwark of Republican support…”
“Democrats, after 1877, dominated the South and did well among Catholic voters, especially Irish-Americans, in the nation’s cities.”

6. The Politics of “Dead Center”/ “Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle-Dum Political Parties
“The parties were closely divided. In three of the five presidential elections between 1876 and 1892, the margin separating the major candidates was less than 1% of the popular vote. Twice, in 1876 and 1888, the candidate with an electoral college majority trailed in the popular vote…Only for brief periods did the same party control the White House and both houses of Congress…Gilded Age Presidents made little effort to mobilize public opinion or exert executive leadership. (GML, pgs )”

7. The Politics of Stalemate
After the contentious political debates over Reconstruction had subsided, American political leaders expressed more interest in winning public office than in meaningful issues or solving the problems that confronted the nation. The turmoil of the Civil War and heated debates over emotional issues had caused the public to become weary with politics and to develop a lackluster attitude toward government action.
The inability of the two major parties to win a clear majority in Congress also dampened any sentiment toward tackling tough problems. As a result, national political activity remained concentrated in a handful of “swing” states such as Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, whose electoral votes could tip the balance of power one way or the other during a national election.

8. The Politics of Stalemate
There were some important differences between the parties, such as the tariff, but both parties were committed to a free-market, at least when it came to not regulating or taxing capital. Neither party offered any ideas that challenged the growing power of capital (business interests) and dealt with the growing gap between rich and poor.
Since the electorate was closely divided, party leaders searched for bland candidates who would not alienate key voting blocs.
A new generation of party leaders were determined to soften their ideological identities…Many people dissatisfied with both parties, turned to third parties. Eventually, the Populist Party offered a serious challenge to the two party grip on government, but, it too, fell short. Critics then, and later would refer to the two parties as “Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum” (Tweedle-Democrat, Tweedle-Republican.”

9. Tweedle-Dee, Tweedle Dum Politics

10. Reforming the Spoils System
Chapter 15, Section 1
President Rutherford B. Hayes
Elected in 1877
Hayes began to reform the civil service, the government’s nonelected workers, by appointing qualified political independents instead of giving positions to supporters.
He did not have the support of Congress or his own Republican party.
Hayes did not seek a second term.
President James A. Garfield
Before the 1880 presidential election the Republican party was split into three factions.
The Stalwarts defended the spoils system.
The Half-Breeds hoped to reform the system.
The Independents opposed the spoils system.
Garfield wanted to reform the system. His running-mate was Chester Arthur, a Stalwart.
On July 2, 1881 Garfield was assassinated by a Stalwart who wanted Arthur as president.

11. “Ma, Ma, Where’s Your Pa. Going to the White House, ha, ha, ha
“Ma, Ma, Where’s Your Pa?..Going to the White House, ha, ha, ha!” (Grover Cleveland)

12. Arthur Reforms the Civil Service
Chapter 15, Section 1
After the assassination, President Arthur was able get congressional support for the Pendleton Civil Service Act. This act created a commission which classified government jobs.

13. The Spoils System
Under the Spoils System, candidates for political office would offer potential jobs in exchange for votes.
The spoils system also gave supporters access to money and political favors.
During the Gilded Age, the Republicans and Democrats had roughly the same number of supporters. To keep party members loyal, candidates rewarded supporters and tried to avoid controversial issues.

14. The Spoils System
The Republicans appealed to the industrialists, bankers, and eastern farmers. They favored the gold standard, high tariffs, and the enforcement of blue laws, regulations that prohibited certain activities people considered immoral.
The Democratic party attracted the less privileged groups such as northern urban immigrants, laborers, southern planters, and western farmers.

15. Regulating Railroads
Chapter 15, Section 1
By 1880, about 14 states had railroad commissions that looked into complaints about railroad practices. One practice that caused problems was railroads offering rebates, partial refunds, to favored customers.
In 1877, the Supreme Court, in Munn v. Illinois allowed states to regulate certain businesses within their borders, including railroads. But since railroads cross state borders, it was argued that only the federal government could regulate them.
In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act and set up the nation’s first federal regulatory board, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). However, the ICC did not have the power to set railroad rates and was often overruled in the Supreme Court.

16. Politics in the Gilded Age–Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 1
What did Mark Twain mean by the phrase The Gilded Age?
A) Everything was wonderful because it was covered with gold.
B) He supported the economics of the gold standard .
C) It was a prosperous time for all people.
D) There was a glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society.
What did Rutherford B. Hayes do to ensure that he wouldn’t be reelected?
A) He regulated the railroad industry.
B) He appointed qualified people to civil service positions.
C) He supported laissez-faire economics.
D) He supported the enforcement of blue laws.
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17. Politics in the Gilded Age–Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 1
What did Mark Twain mean by the phrase The Gilded Age?
A) Everything was wonderful because it was covered with gold.
B) He supported the economics of the gold standard .
C) It was a prosperous time for all people.
D) There was a glittering layer of prosperity that covered the poverty and corruption that existed in much of society.
What did Rutherford B. Hayes do to ensure that he wouldn’t be reelected?
A) He regulated the railroad industry.
B) He appointed qualified people to civil service positions.
C) He supported laissez-faire economics.
D) He supported the enforcement of blue laws.
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18. People on the Move
Chapter 15, Section 2
What were the experiences of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s?
What different challenges did immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Mexico face?

19. The Immigrant Experience
Why did immigrants come to America in the late 1800s and early 20th century?
Immigrants came to the United States fleeing crop failures, shortages of land and jobs, rising taxes, famine, and religious and political persecution. There were “pulls” as well as “pushes.”
In the 1880s in Russia many Jewish people fled a wave of pogroms, or violent massacres of Jews.

20. The Immigrant Experience
What were conditions like for most immigrants travelling across the Atlantic to America?
Steam-powered ships could cross the Atlantic Ocean in two or three weeks. Most immigrants traveled in steerage, a large open area beneath the ship’s deck.
Prior to the 1880s, where did most immigrants come from?
Between 1865 and 1890 about 10 million immigrants arrived. Most came from northwestern and central Europe.
How were the new immigrants who came after the 1880s different?
In the 1890s, most new immigrants came from central, southern, and eastern Europe and the Middle East.
More than 70 percent of all immigrants came through New York City which was called the “Golden Door.”

21. The Immigrant Experience
Chapter 15, Section 2
Immigrants came to the United States fleeing crop failures, shortages of land and jobs, rising taxes, famine, and religious and political persecution.
In the 1880s in Russia many Jewish people fled a wave of pogroms, or violent massacres of Jews.
Steam-powered ships could cross the Atlantic Ocean in two or three weeks. Most immigrants traveled in steerage, a large open area beneath the ship’s deck.
Between 1865 and 1890 about 10 million immigrants arrived. Most came from northwestern and central Europe.
In the 1890s, most new immigrants came from central, southern, and eastern Europe and the Middle East.
More than 70 percent of all immigrants came through New York City which was called the “Golden Door.”

22. Immigrants from Europe
Chapter 15, Section 2
In 1892, the federal government required all new immigrants to undergo a physical exam.
Immigrants with contagious diseases, such as tuberculosis, faced quarantine, a time of isolation to prevent the spread of disease.
Urban neighborhoods dominated by one ethnic or racial group of immigrants were called ghettos.
Some ghettos formed because immigrants felt more comfortable living near people with the same language and traditions.
Other ghettos formed from restrictive covenants, when homeowners agreed not to sell real estate to certain groups.
Still other ghettos formed when ethnic groups isolated themselves because of threats of violence, mostly from whites.

23. Immigrants from Europe
Chapter 15, Section 2

24. Immigrants from Asia
Chapter 15, Section 2
Most immigrants who entered the United States through the West Coast were from Asia. Chinese and Japanese formed the largest groups.
In the mid-1800s, American railroad companies recruited about a quarter of a million Chinese workers.
Under pressure from labor unions, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in The act prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country. It was not repealed until 1943.
In 1906, the San Francisco school board ruled that all Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students should attend separate schools. The Japanese government condemned the policy.
President Theodore Roosevelt made a compromise with the Japanese government. It was called the Gentlemen’s Agreement because it was not official. It called for San Francisco to end it’s policy and for Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers.

25. Immigrants from Mexico
Chapter 15, Section 2
Employers hired Mexican laborers to work on farms, ranches, and mines. They also helped construct railroads in the southwest.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, demand for workers increased sharply.
New opportunities were a “pull” factor that drew Mexican workers to the United States. Turmoil at home was a “push” factor that encouraged them to leave Mexico.
The 1910 Mexican Revolution and the civil war that followed killed approximately ten percent of Mexico’s population.
When the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921 limited immigration from Europe and Asia, labor shortages increased Mexican immigration.

26. People on the Move–Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 2
What was the Gentlemen’s Agreement?
A) An agreement to secure jobs for Russian immigrants in return for American manufactured goods.
B) A compromise that China would provide more labor for the railroads in return for American wheat.
C) A compromise that schools in the United States would not segregate Japanese students in exchange for Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers.
D) A compromise between homeowners not to sell real estate to certain groups of people.
What was a restrictive covenant?
A) Immigrants felt more comfortable living near people with the same language and traditions.
B) The labor party did not want Chinese people lowering pay rates.
C) A compromise between homeowners not to sell real estate to certain groups of people.
D) A group of people that wanted to sell their land to speculators.
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27. People on the Move–Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 2
What was the Gentlemen’s Agreement?
A) An agreement to secure jobs for Russian immigrants in return for American manufactured goods.
B) A compromise that China would provide more labor for the railroads in return for American wheat.
C) A compromise that schools in the United States would not segregate Japanese students in exchange for Japan to stop issuing passports to laborers.
D) A compromise between homeowners not to sell real estate to certain groups of people.
What was a restrictive covenant?
A) Immigrants felt more comfortable living near people with the same language and traditions.
B) The labor party did not want Chinese people lowering pay rates.
C) A compromise between homeowners not to sell real estate to certain groups of people.
D) A group of people that wanted to sell their land to speculators.
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28. The Challenge of the Cities
Chapter 15, Section 3
Why did cities expand in the late 1800s an early 1900s?
What new developments helped cities grow?
How did living conditions in cities change?
What were the results of city growth?

29. How Cities Grew
Chapter 15, Section 3
Before the Civil War cities were small. Most people walked wherever they needed to go.
The introduction of the horse-drawn carriage allowed people to move out of the cites to the suburbs, or residential communities surrounding the cities.
Later in the 1800s, motorized transportation made commuting even easier.
The first elevated trains opened in 1868 in New York and the first subway trains appeared in Boston in 1897.
Buildings became taller too. The first skyscraper in Chicago was ten stories tall.

30. Urban Living Conditions
Chapter 15, Section 3

31. The Results of City Growth
Chapter 15, Section 3
Rapidly growing cities were difficult to govern.
Increased revenue and responsibilities gave city governments more power and competition for control grew more intense.
Different groups represented the interests of different classes.
The political machine, born from these clashing interests, was an unofficial city organization designed to keep a particular group in power.
Political machines worked through the exchange of favors. Many people who wanted favors would pay money, graft, to the machine. Graft was a major source of income for the machines.

32. Political Machines
While city officials attempted to address some of the more prevalent urban problems, a new political phenomenon appeared in American cities—the urban political machine. Machine bosses performed an essential function in urban life by providing needed services to a variety of different people. They would work through a network of ward bosses and give charitable gifts such as food and clothing to those in desperate need; they would find jobs and places to live for immigrants who had just arrived in America; a constituent would also find new furniture and a new home in the event of a fire. Of course, recipients were expected to give their votes in exchange for services rendered.

33. Political Machines
After gaining office, bosses would win the favor of wealthy businessmen by awarding contracts to local firms to build streets and other facilities. There was so much money to be made, businessmen readily paid kickbacks and bribes to machine bosses in order to win contracts. Although many immigrants and working poor gladly gave their votes in exchange for the benefits, machine bosses had numerous ways of rigging close elections to assure victory, adding to the air of corruption that surrounded many of them. Political machines increasingly came under public scrutiny, especially when certain abuses were too large to ignore.

34. “Boss” Tweed
The most famous example of this was the downfall of boss William “Boss” Tweed of New York whose questionable practices netted him a personal fortune of $12 million. In 1871, following a public scandal over the construction of a new courthouse, Tweed was convicted on 104 counts of fraud and bribery; he died in prison a few years later.

35. The Challenge of the Cities–Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 3
What caused the birth of the political machine?
A) Different interest groups wanted control of the city’s resources.
B) The urban poor needed political advocates.
C) The political machines organized the new transportation technologies.
D) Political machines helped keep voting honest.
What first enabled people to move out to the suburbs?
A) railroads
B) subways
C) new construction
D) horse-drawn carriages
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36. The Challenge of the Cities–Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 3
What caused the birth of the political machine?
A) Different interest groups wanted control of the city’s resources.
B) The urban poor needed political advocates.
C) The political machines organized the new transportation technologies.
D) Political machines helped keep voting honest.
What first enabled people to move out to the suburbs?
A) railroads
B) subways
C) new construction
D) horse-drawn carriages
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37. Ideas for Reform How did different movements help the needy?
Chapter 15, Section 4
How did different movements help the needy?
How and where did sociology develop?
What efforts were made to control immigration and personal behavior in the late 1800s?

38. Helping the Needy
Chapter 15, Section 4
Kept detailed files on people who received their help
Decided who was worthy of help
Wanted immigrants to adopt American, middle-class standards.
Sought to apply the gospel teachings of charity and justice to society’s problems.
Moved into poor communities
Their settlement houses served as community centers and social service agencies.
Hull House, a model settlement house in Chicago, offered cultural events, classes, childcare, employment assistance, and health-care clinics.
The Charity Organization Movement
The Social Gospel Movement
The Settlement Movement

39. The Development of Sociology
Chapter 15, Section 4
Philosopher Auguste Comte coined the term sociology to describe the study of how people interact with one another in a society.
Sociology is a social science. A sociologist collects data on societies and measures the data against theories of human behavior.
Sociology provided a scientific counterpart to the settlement houses’ practical experience.
Sociologists studied cultures around the world to learn what institutions and practices define a society.
In the late nineteenth century, many sociologists studied the effects of industrialization and urbanization on established communities.

40. Controlling Immigration and Behavior
Chapter 15, Section 4
Many Americans linked the problems of the cities to the new immigrants. By controlling immigrants, they hoped to restore what they believed was a past of purity and virtue.
Groups were formed to pursue this goal. Some sought to keep immigrants out of the United States. Others wanted to change their behavior.
Many people were Nativists, who believed in nativism, or favoring native-born Americans over immigrants.
In the 1850s, the Know-Nothing Party had gained many followers by vowing to restrict immigration. The rise of immigrants to positions of power in the cities during the late 1800s provoked a new wave of antiforeign bias.
Several groups, such as the American Protective Association, tried to make it more difficult for immigrants to assimilate to American culture or to even come into this country at all.

41. Prohibition and Purity Crusaders
Chapter 15, Section 4
Prohibition
The temperance movement, an organized campaign to eliminate alcohol consumption saw a revival in the late 1800s.
Three major groups led the movement and supported prohibition, a ban on the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
These groups believed that drinking led to personal tragedies, and they also saw a link among saloons, immigrants, and political bosses.
Purity Crusaders
As cities grew, drugs, gambling, prostitution, and other forms of vice (immoral or corrupt behavior) became big business.
Many residents fought to rid their communities of these activities.
“Purity crusaders” led the way. They fought against such things as the sending of obscene materials through the mail, information about birth control, and political machines.

42. Ideas for Reform—Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 4
Hull House grew out of which movement?
A) The settlement movement
B) The purity crusader movement
C) The social gospel movement
D) The charity organization movement
What explains the revivals of nativism and the temperance movement in the late 1800s?
A) A rise in the amount of people drinking alcoholic beverages
B) Conclusions reached by sociologists
C) The organization of Native American rights advocates
D) The belief that the problems of the cities were linked to the new immigrants
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43. Ideas for Reform—Assessment
Chapter 15, Section 4
Hull House grew out of which movement?
A) The settlement movement
B) The purity crusader movement
C) The social gospel movement
D) The charity organization movement
What explains the revivals of nativism and the temperance movement in the late 1800s?
A) A rise in the amount of people drinking alcoholic beverages
B) Conclusions reached by sociologists
C) The organization of Native American rights advocates
D) The belief that the problems of the cities were linked to the new immigrants
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