“The Gilded Age”
(1865-1900)
Chapters 10-11
I. Immigration
A. European Immigration:
• By 1900: E. and S. Europeans made up
more than 1\2 of all immigrants (Italians,
Greeks, Russians, etc.)
• 1860-1900: 14 million immigrated to the
U.S.
I. Immigration
• Why did Europeans come?
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
(“Push” or “Pull”)
jobs
very few immigration restrictions
to avoid military service
for religious freedom
a chance to move up the social ladder
dreams of getting rich (gold)
free land (Homestead Act)
I. Immigration
• Most immigrants took the difficult trip to
America in steerage, the ships cargo holds
(cheapest)
-crowded, lice-infected bunks, shared
toilets (disease spread quickly)
I. Immigration
“Narrow, steep, and slippery stairways lead to it.
Crowds everywhere, ill smelling bunks,
uninviting washrooms – this is steerage. The
odors of scattered orange peelings, tobacco,
garlic and disinfectants meeting but not
blending. No lounge or chairs for comfort, and
a continual babble of tongues – this is
steerage. The food, which is miserable, is
dealt out huge kettles into the dinner pails
provided by the steamship company. When it
is distributed, the stronger push and crowd…”
Edward Steiner
I. Immigration
• The 14 day trip usually ended at Ellis
Island, a small island in the NY Harbor
-served as a processing center for most
immigrants arriving on the East Coast
-most passed through in a day
-some with contagious diseases were
quarantined (a time of isolation)
-a few were sent back to Europe
I. Immigration
• Most immigrants settled in cities
-lived in neighborhoods separated into
ethnic groups (ex: “Little Italy” in NY)
-attempted to re-created their “culture”
(churches, newspapers, clubs, etc.) in
their neighborhoods
I. Immigration
• Immigrants who learned English and
adapted to American culture adjusted well
• 33% returned to Europe shortly after
coming to the U.S.
I. Immigration
B. Asian Immigration:
• Why did Asians (Chinese, Japanese)
come? (“Push” or “Pull”)
1) CA gold rush
2) Taiping Rebellion in China – 20 million
dead
3) Demand for railroad workers
I. Immigration
• Chinese mainly settled in western cities
-worked as laborers or servants or
merchants
• Jan. 1910: Angel Island in CA opened
to accommodate Asian immigrants
-most were young males (teens, twenties)
-delays could last for months
I. Immigration
C. Resurgence of Nativism:
• Nativism – a preference for native-born
people and a desire to limit immigration
• Late 1800s: discrimination focused on
Jews, Asians, and eastern Europeans
• 1882: banned convicts, paupers, and
mentally disabled from immigrating to the
U.S.
I. Immigration
• Chinese Exclusion Act (1882):
-barred Chinese immigration for 10 years
and prevented the Chinese already in the
country from becoming citizens
-renewed in 1892
-made permanent in 1902
-not repealed until 1943
II. Urbanization
A. Americans Migrate to the Cities:
• Urban pop. = 2,500 or more people
-1870: 10 million lived in cities
-1900: 30 million lived in cities
• Most immigrants lacked the money to buy
farms and the education to obtain higherpaying jobs (so…remained in cities)
II. Urbanization
• Lack of a class system in the U.S. gave
immigrants freedom many have never
known before
• Rural Americans also began moving to the
cities for more and better-paying jobs
• Other attractions: bright lights, running
water, plumbing, museums, libraries,
theaters
II. Urbanization
B. New Urban Environment:
• As millions moved to the cities…new
approaches to housing and
transportation were needed
• As city pop. grew, demand raised the
price of land – owners began to build
upward rather than outward
• skyscrapers began to appear
II. Urbanization
-First skyscraper: Chicago’s ten-story
Home Insurance Building, built in 1885
-NYC had more skyscrapers than any city
in the world
• Various kinds of mass transit developed in
the late 1800s to move huge numbers of
people around cities quickly
II. Urbanization
-horse car: railroad car pulled by horses
-cable car: pulled along tracks by
underground cables
-electric trolley car
-elevated railroad: Chicago
-subway: Boston and NY

II. Urbanization
C. Separation By Class:
• Definite boundaries could be seen
between where the wealthy, middle
class, and working class people lived
-wealthy lived in the heart of the city
-middle class (doctors, lawyers,
teachers) lived away from the city
-working class lived in tenements (dark,
crowded multi-family apartments) in the
city slums
II. Urbanization
D. Urban Problems:
• The growth of cities resulted in an
increase of crime, fire, disease, and
pollution
• Native-born Americans blamed immigrants
for the increase in crime
• Alcohol contributed to crime in late 1800s
• Contaminated drinking water and sewage
resulted in epidemics of typhoid fever and
cholera
II. Urbanization
E. Urban Politics:
• A new political system was needed to
cope with the new urban problems
-political machine - an informal political
group designed to gain and keep power
-provided essentials to city dwellers in
exchange for votes
-ran by party bosses
II. Urbanization
• The bosses had tight control of the city’s
money
-many became wealthy due to fraud or
graft – getting money through dishonest
or questionable means
• Tammany Hall – the most famous political
machine – led by Boss William M. Tweed
• Opponents blasted political machines for
their corruption – ex: cartoonist Thomas
Nast
III. Ideas for Reform
• “Gilded Age” – post-reconstruction era
(1877-1900) – “gilded” means gold
covered – a few people were very rich but
most were very poor
• Many Americans linked all the problems of
the cities to immigrants
• Temperance Movement - movement to
ban the use of alcohol
-members supported prohibition (a ban on
the manufacturing and selling of alcohol)
III. Ideas for Reform
• Purity Crusaders – people who wanted to
get rid of the drugs, prostitution,
gambling, and other forms of vice
(immoral behavior) – often attacked
political machines
III. Ideas for Reform
• Social Gospel Movement- developed within
religious organizations
-sought to apply the teachings of Jesus to
society
-focused on charity, justice, and labor
reforms
-some created settlement houses (community
center that offered social services) ex: Hull
House – started by Jane Addams and Ellen
Gates Starr in 1889
IV. Expansion of Education
• 1870: 2% of all 17 year olds graduated
high school
• Parents began to pressure local gov’ts to
increase school funding and lengthen the
school year
• By 1900, many immigrants came to the
U.S. so their children could get an Am.
public school education (push? or pull?)
IV. Expansion of Education
• Schools taught literacy (reading and
writing) skills
• Schools also tried to assimilate immigrants
– assimilation (process which people of
one culture become part of another
culture) – schools were trying to
“Americanize” immigrants
• Schools were segregated and African-Am.
schools received less money than white
schools
IV. Expansion of Education
• 1880-1900: 250 new Am. colleges
opened and college enrollment doubled
• Separate colleges for women were created
by men’s colleges
• Some colleges accepted African-Am.’s but
most did not (separate colleges created
for Afr. Am.’s)
IV. Expansion of Education
• Booker T. Washington – formed the
Tuskegee Institute (AL) in 1881 – focused
on vocational skills
• W.E.B. Dubois – the first African-Am. to
earn a Ph.D. from Harvard – wanted
African-Am.’s to focus on liberal arts
education – co-founder of the NAACP
V. Popular Culture
• Saloons were the most popular place
where working men gathered – NYC had
10,000 saloons in 1900
• Women went to music halls and theaters
• Trolley Parks – amusement park at the
ends of trolley lines – popular family spot
V. Popular Culture
• Moving picture shows began –
nickelodeons (theaters set up in converted
stores or warehouses)
• Vaudeville – live theater shows consisting
of racial humor, jugglers, song and dance,
etc.
V. Popular Culture
• Sports became popular – boxing, horse
racing – women ice-skated, bicycled,
swam, gymnastics
-Football began when Walter Camp
adapted the game of rugby in the 1880s
-Basketball was invented in 1891 by Dr.
James Naismith in Springfield, MA –
wanted a sport to keep athletes in shape
during the winter
V. Popular Culture
-Baseball was the most popular sport –
Cincinnati Red Stockings (1869) became
the first professional team – all races were
allowed to play together for a short time
V. Popular Culture
• Newspapers introduced new features –
comics, graphic pictures, sports sections
-publishers competed with each other
to sell papers
-“yellow journalism” (reported on
murders, vice, and scandals) – ex:
Joseph Pulitzer (NY World), William
Randolph Hearst (NY Journal)
V. Popular Culture
• Magazines and fiction novels became
popular – ex: Mark Twain’s “The Adv. of
Tom Sawyer” and “The Adv. of
Huckleberry Finn”
VI. Discrimination
• “Post-Reconstruction” discrimination
existed in the North and the South
• Poll tax – pay to vote
• Segregation existed legally in schools,
parks, hospitals, transportation, etc.
VI. Discrimination
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – Supreme
Court said segregation was legal as long
as the separate facilities were equal –
“separate but equal” – very hard to
enforce
• Lynching – mob’s illegal seizure and
execution of a person – from 1882 to
1892 est. 1200 African-Am.’s were lynched
VII. Women in the late 1800s
• Continued to work at home – however,
new technology reduced the amt. of time
women spent on chores
• Department stores – emerged to carry a
wide variety of goods – lower prices – ex:
Macy’s in NYC
VII. Women in the late 1800s
• Mail-order catalogs – allowed rural families
to buy products – ex: Sears, Montgomery
Ward
• Women that did work earned about 3060% less than men for the same job