American Society
in Transition
Copy the following EQ on page 2:
What economic, social, and political
changes did urbanization bring to
American cities?
Urbanization
What impact did urbanization have on American cities?
• Accelerating industrialization
contributed to the process or
urbanization – the movement of people
from the countryside to towns and cities.
• Demography – study of population,
where people live
• 1865 only two US cities actually had
populations of more than 500,000 – New
York and Philadelphia
• 1900 that number had risen to 6 – NY,
Chicago, and Philly reached more than a
million inhabitants
• 1900 40% of Americans lived in cities
Urbanization
What impact did urbanization have on American cities?
• Introduction of Cyrus McCormick’s
reaper – cut and bundled grain –
reduced the number of farm jobs
• Farmers sought work in towns and
cities
• Rise of industry had created many
new job opportunities – factories,
mines, workshops, transportation
• Americans were attracted to cities by
their cultural opportunities, popular
entertainment and rich variety
• Urban growth fueled unprecedented
levels of immigration
Cities Face New Problems
What impact did urbanization have on American cities?
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Urbanization led to physical changes in the landscape
American cities developed so quickly that municipal
(city) authorities were often unable to deal w/ all the
new problems.
Streets were often not wide enough to bear the
increased traffic
Horse drawn cars crowded streets
Factories and trains polluted the air
Sewage sometimes contaminated drinking water and
spread disease
Cities lacked ability to deliver essential services –
clean water, garbage collection, and public schools
Whole families crowded into tenements – single
room apartments w/out lighting or heating – shared a
single toilet
Inadequate Public Services:
Cities lacked the ability to deliver
increased public services –
hospitals police forces, schools,
fore departments, street cleaning,
and garbage collection.
Transportation: horse-drawn coaches and later
electronic trolleys were needed to transport
workers to their jobs. To eliminate the pollution
created by coaches and trolleys, New York City
built a subway in 1900. By 1930, New York City
had the world’s largest subway system.
THE PROBLEMS CREATED BY GROWING CITIES
Overcrowding: Families were
crowded into tenements (small
apartment buildings). These
tenements often lacked daylight,
heat, fresh air, and adequate
plumbing.
Social Tensions: in cities, rich people lived next
door to the poor. Seeing the luxuries of the wealthy
distressed poor people and increased social tensions
and crimes.
Political Machines
Why did political machines develop?
• City government’s were often run by
corrupt “political machines” – leaders
were known as political “bosses”
• Either the boss or a small group told the
workers and supporters of the machine
what to do.
• Machines provided jobs and services to
immigrants and poor in exchange for their
votes.
• Power of the political boss depended on
his ability to dominate voting and to
control the agencies of municipal
government
• Machines often had support of local
business leaders.
Political Machines
Why did political machines develop?
• By controlling elected officials in local gov
political bosses were able to hand out gov
“patronage” jobs to reward loyal workers
• Bosses used control of “city hall” to make
illegal profits on city contracts by collecting
bribes
• Boss Tweed of Tammany Hall (NY) controlled
1000s of city workers and influenced the
operation of schools, hospitals, and other cityrun services.
• Tweed controlled and bribed lawmakers to pass
laws favorable to his interests
• Tweed often overpaid himself on construction
projects and land sales, stealing millions from
the city.
Political Machines
Why did political machines develop?
• Political machines were corrupt but
played a useful role
• Helped immigrants settle into their
new homeland, find housing, and
obtain jobs
• Helped immigrants become
naturalized citizens and provided $$
to help them through hard times
• Political machines were often the
ones to get a street paved, extend a
water pipe, or approve construction –
but these came @ a high price
Immigration
How did immigration impact America?
• Immigrants have always come to the
US for a variety of reasons – two
main reasons are “push” and “pull”
factors
• Escape oppression, poverty, religious
discrimination = push factors
• Freedom and economic opportunity
and relatives = pull factors
• Immigrants saw the US as a land of
opportunity and those escaping
oppressive regimes wanted to live in
a democratic society
Shifting Patterns of Immigration
How did changes in immigration impact America?
• Patterns of immigration changed in
the 1880s
• Railroads and steamships made the
voyage to America more accessible
• “New Immigrants” came from
Southern and Eastern Europe –
Poland, Italy, Austria-Hungary,
Greece, and Russia
• Often Catholic, Jewish, or Orthodox
Christian rather than Protestant and
spoke no English
• Faced great hardships staring with
their passage to America
Answer the following in 4 – 5 sentences on
page 1, include two pieces of evidence/proof
(highlight) and explain your evidence
(underline).
What economic, social, and political changes
did urbanization bring to American cities?
Copy the following EQ on page 4:
What were the experiences of immigrants in the late 19th
century?
Copy the below Graphic Organizer on Page 3
Shifting Patterns of Immigration
How did changes in immigration impact America?
• Traveled in steerage – open room
below the water line with all their
possessions in a single bag
• Most arrived first in New York –
were processed at the vast
government center on Ellis Island
• Those with tuberculosis or other
diseases were sent back
• Some stayed in NY while others
travelled to join relatives
• Most settled in cities – usually poor
and dressed differently from
Americans and unfamiliar w/ the
customs
Shifting Patterns of Immigration
How did changes in immigration impact America?
• Worked at unskilled jobs, low wages and
long hours
• Faced hostility and discrimination from
native-born Americans and other immigrant
groups
• Maintained a strong spirit because what
they had already survived was far worse
• Immigrant usually settled w/ relatives and
others of the same nationality in
neighborhoods known as ethnic ghettos
• Felt more comfortable w/ people who spoke
the same language and who followed the
same customs
Shifting Patterns of Immigration
How did changes in immigration impact America?
• Some of these communities published
newspapers
• Living in these ghettos isolated the immigrants
from mainstream America making it harder to
adapt to new customs
Shifting Patterns of Immigration
What was the process of Americanization?
• Some adult immigrants attended night
school to learn English
• Many were too busy working so it was left
to the children to learn English and become
“Americanized” – learning to dress, speak,
and act like Americans.
• Immigrant children eventually became
“assimilated” – similar to other Americans
• America was seen as a “melting pot” –
immigrants were “melted” down and
reshaped.
• Americanization was often accompanied by
conflict
• Immigrant parents may want an arranged
marriage for their children but the children
want to find their own marriage partner.
Rise of Nativism
What is Nativism?
• As the number of immigrants grew, hostility
towards immigration also increased
• Nativists – those born or native to the US –
wanted to restrict immigration
• Believe that people of other races, religions,
and nationalities were inferior to white
protestant Americans – New Immigrants even
MORE inferior.
• Feared the new immigrants could never fully
be absorbed into American society since they
lived in ghettos and spoke their own languages
• Argued immigrants working for low wages
were taking jobs away from other Americans
Early Restrictions on Immigration
How did America restrict immigration?
• There were no limitations on
immigration for most of the 19th century
• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – first
federal law to restrict immigration to the
US
• In California political leaders blamed
unemployment and decline of wages on
Chinese workers
• Temporarily banned immigration of
Chinese workers and placed new
requirements on Chinese residents
already living in the US
• State and federal courts were denied
ability to grant citizenship to Chinese
residents
• US leaders negotiated carefully with
Chinese leaders to enforce this ban
Early Restrictions on Immigration
How did America restrict immigration?
• In U.S. v Wong Kim Ark
(1898) – the US Supreme Court
ruled that the children of
Chinese immigrants born in the
US could not be denied
citizenship –violated the 14th
Amendment
Complete the following Graphic Organizer on
Page 3
Copy the following EQ on page 6:
What factors contributed to the
settlement of the Great Plains and Far
West?
The Last American Frontier
How did American frontier change?
• America’s rapid population growth
transformed the last American
frontiers.
• Frontier – generally defined as the
line separating areas of settlement
from “unsettled” wilderness
• Others saw it as a dividing line b/t
where Native Americans lived and
areas settled by more
technologically advanced peoples.
• Since the arrival of the 1st colonists
the American frontier had shifted
steadily west
The Last American Frontier
How did American frontier change?
• Even before the Civil War, settlers had been drawn
to the California “gold rush” of 1848 – 1849
• 1896 – gold nuggets were found near Canada’s
Klondike River near Alaska - set off most turbulent
gold rushes in history
• Within months 100,000 gold-seekers set out for the
Yukon
• Voyage was long, hard, and cold – only 30,000
completed the trip
• Other discoveries of gold and silver were made in
Alaska, Rocky Mountains, and the Black Hills
• 1000s of prospectors and adventurers moved to
these areas in hopes of striking it rich
• Ready-made mining towns sprang up over night
and collapsed just as fast when the minerals ran out
or larger mining companies took over.
The Indian Wars
How were Indians impacted as the west was settled?
• After the Civil War Union troops defeated several
tribes on the Great Plains and Southwest during the
Indian Wars and moved them to reservations
• After discovery of gold in the Black Hills of North
Dakota in 1875 the Sioux were asked to move from
their sacred grounds
• The following year Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
defeated General George Custer and killed 264
soldiers @ Little Big Horn
• W/in 2 years Crazy Horse was captured and killed
& most of the Sioux were forced onto reservations
• Unrest among the Sioux in 1890 led to the slaughter
of 300 unarmed Sioux men, women, and children
by machine gun for at Wounded Knee, South
Dakota
The Impact of the Railroads
How did railroads impact westward expansion?
• The Transcontinental Railroad completed in
1869 reduced the travel time from NY to San
Francisco from 6 mos to 10 days
• Soon the US led the world in the miles of
railroad tracks
• Railroads attracted an increased number of
settlers to the west
• Settlers could now ship their crops by rail to
distant Eastern markets
• Railroad tracks often ran through Native
American territory causing new conflicts
• 1870-1890 herds of buffalo were destroyed by
sharp shooters to force the Plains Indians to
leave
The Availability of Cheap Land
What is the Homestead Act?
• Before the Civil War the federal gov had sold
unsettled land from its vast public domain for
about $1.25 an acre.
• After the Southern states seceded the remaining
states passed several bills that the South had
previously blocked – encouraging expansion of the
west
• President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act
(1862) – stated that any citizen could occupy 160
acres of gov land
• Settler must improve the land by making a home
and growing crops, after 5 yrs the homesteader
would own the property
• Many immigrants were attracted tot his offer –
1,400,000 homesteads were granted under the Act
The Cattle Industry
What changes were made to the cattle industry?
• At the end of the Civil War there were
several million wild longhorn cattle
grazing on the Great Plains of Texas
• Some Texans decided to drive these cattle
northward to the rail lines in Kansas to be
shipped to Chicago to be slaughtered.
• Beef was then shipped by refrigerated rail
cars to cities in the East
• Took 3 mos to drive the herds north across
Indian Territory
• On this “long drive” the cattle grazed on
the grasses on the open range – unfenced
lands not belonging to anyone
The Cattle Industry
What changes were made to the cattle industry?
• Cowboys, who learned to ride, rope, and brand
from Mexican vaqueros kept the herds moving
northwards
• Romantic image of the cowboy has become a
symbol of the individualism of the American spirit.
• Western Music celebrates the cowboy life and as
many as 1 in 5 were African American
• Late 1870s & 1880s the herds were driven farther
north a year before they were ready for slaughter
• Fattened themselves grazing on the grasses of
Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas.
• 1886 overgrazing had destroyed much of the grass
• Sheepherders and farmers had bought up most of
the open range
The Cattle Industry
What changes were made to the cattle industry?
• Sheepherders and farmers had bought
up most of the open range and
enclosed it with barbed wire fences
• Two severe winters and very hot
summers killed millions of cattle b/t
1886 & 1887 finally ending the long
drives
• Cattle ranchers remained, breeding
cattle on the “closed range” and
sending their cattle eastwards by train
each year to be fattened by eastern
farmers
Read the below excerpt and answer the
question on page 5.
Copy the following EQ on page 8:
What political and social pressures
forced immigrants and Native
Americans to assimilate to the
American way of life?
Farming on the Great Plains
What challenges did farmers face on the Great Plains?
• Railroads led farmers to occupy the Great Plains
• Homestead Act and the sale of railroad land-grants
stimulated the movement of farmers westward
• Railroads made it possible for farmers to ship their
crops to the East
• ½ the settlers were immigrants from Europe, the
other half were the children of farmers from the
East and Midwest
• These farmers faced the hostility of both Indians
and cattlemen.
• The cattlemen formed associations and hired men
to commit acts of violence against the early
homesteaders
Farming on the Great Plains
What challenges did farmers face on the Great Plains?
• The farmers won this conflict b/c they
came in greater numbers & were able to
enclose their lands w/ barbed wire
• Farmers faced many natural obstacles on
the Great Plains
• Great Plains had little rainfall, few trees,
tough soil, extreme temperatures,
plagues of grasshoppers, and personal
isolation
• During winter months families might be
snowed in for months on end
Farming on the Great Plains
What challenges did farmers face on the Great Plains?
• They were able to overcome some
obstacles – to make up for the lack of
trees they built sod-houses from
clumps of grass and soil
• They used barbed wire to keep cattle
and other animals off their farms
• Used steel plows to turn the soil
• Drilling equipment to dig deep water
wells and windmills to haul water
• Used harvester and threshers to farm
more acres with fewer workers
The Fate of the Native Americans
How did the US respond to Indian conflicts?
• Native American Indians occupied all of the
present US
• Composed of many different groups, spoke
hundreds of different languages
• Advancing of settlement and exposure to
European diseases like smallpox severely
reduced Native American population and pushed
them westward
• 1830-1890 the US government systematically
followed a policy of pushing Native Americans
from their traditional lands onto government
reservations in the West
• When a Native American tribe submitted to
federal authority its members were settled on a
reservation
Forced Removal: In 1830, Congress ordered the
removal of all Native American Indians to the
west of the Mississippi. Nearly one-quarter of the
Cherokees perished on the journey westward ,
known as the Trail of Tears.
Flood of Settlers: Large number of settlers
overwhelmed the Native Americans. In 1869, the
Transcontinental Railroad was completed. Along
with the Homestead Act, the continuation of
railroad lines made Native Americans lands even
more desirable.
FACTORS ERODING NATIVE AMERICAN CONTROL OF THE WEST
Warfare: The technological superiority of the
U.S. government made resistance futile. The
Indian Wars, which pitted settlers and federal
troops against Native Americans, lasted from
1860 to 1890.
Destruction of Natural Environment:
Competition between settlers, miners, and
farmers for the land led to the destruction of the
natural environment on which Native Americans
depended for their livelihood.
The Fate of the Native Americans
How did the US respond to Indian conflicts?
• Reservation lands were smaller than the lands from
which the tribe was removed and often consisted of
undesirable land
• Federal gov promised food, blankets, and seed but
this policy clashed with tribal customs, since Native
Americans were traditionally hunters not farmers
• Many reformers urged that the Native Americans
undergo Americanization – adopting the culture of
other “mainstream” Americans.
• The Dawes Act (1887) sought to hasten their
Americanization – officially abolished Native
American tribes
• Every family was given 160 acres of reservation land
as its own private property
The Fate of the Native Americans
How did the US respond to Indian conflicts?
• Private property was expected to replace
tribal land ownership and each Native
American would become a farmer
• Those who adopted this life were promised
US citizenship and the right to vote
• Before the Dawes Act Indians still controlled
about 150 million acres
• 20 yrs later 2/3 of this land was sold
• White settlers bought up much of the “Indian
Territory” that became the state of Oklahoma
• The Dawes Act nearly destroyed surviving
native American Indian culture
American Indian Citizenship Act (1924)
How did Native Americans become citizens?
• 1924 – Native Americans held a unique position
under federal law
• Some had become citizens by marriage to a US
citizen others were granted citizenship by serving in
the US military or through special treaties
• Most were not US citizens and they were actually
blocked from the normal process of naturalization
open to foreigners
• 1924 – the US Congress therefore passed the
American Indian Citizenship Act
• This Act granted immediate US citizenship to all
native American Indians born in the US
• Indians did not need to give up tribal lands or
customs to become citizens as they did under the
Dawes Act
American Indian Citizenship Act (1924)
How did Native Americans become citizens?
• Some historians see the act as a reward
for Native Americans enlistment as
soldiers in World War I
• Native Americans Indians had served
the nation in wartime and they deserved
to be given American citizenship
• 10 yrs later the Dawes Act was replaced
by an act guaranteeing tribal selfgovernment
Threatened Tribal Ways: Assimilation
threatened Native American culture. The
act encouraged individual farm ownership,
opposing the tradition of sharing tribal
lands.
Hunters, Not Farmers: Many Native
American Indian tribes had never farmed
the land, since they were hunters by
lifestyle and tradition.
SHORTCOMINGS OF THE DAWES ACT
Infertile Lands: the lands given to Native
Indians were often infertile. The
government also never provided farm
equipment or assistance in learning how to
farm.
Reservation Life: These reservations
often suffered from malnutrition,
poverty, and untreated health problems.
Reservation schools provided an
inferior education.
Answer the following in 4 – 5 sentences on
page 7, include two pieces of evidence/proof
(highlight) and explain your evidence
(underline).
What political and social pressures forced
immigrants and Native Americans to
assimilate to the American way of life?