“The Gilded Age”
Chapters 10-11
I. Immigration
A. European Immigration:
 By 1900: eastern and southern
Europeans made up more than 1\2 of all
immigrants (Italians, Greeks, Poles, Slavs,
Slovaks, Russians, Armenians)

1860-1900: 14 million immigrated to the
U.S. – many were European Jews
I. Immigration

Why did Europeans come? (“Push” or “Pull”)
1) jobs
2) few immigration restrictions
3) avoidance of military service
4) religious freedom
5) chance to move up the social ladder
6) dreams of getting rich (gold)
7) 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” or the
Jewish “Lower East Side” 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 - preference for native-born
people and a desire to limit immigration
 Late 1800s: 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
-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
-1900: 30 million
 Most immigrants lacked the money to buy
farms and the education to obtain higherpaying jobs (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 - more and better-paying jobs
 Other attractions: bright lights, running
water, plumbing, museums, libraries,
theaters

II. Urbanization
B.



New Urban Environment:
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 grow
upward rather than outward
skyscrapers began to appear
II. Urbanization
-Chicago’s ten-story Home Insurance
Building, built in 1885, was the first
skyscraper
-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
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

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

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
Following the Civil War, the U.S. went
through a period known as Reconstruction
-the federal gov’ts effort to restore the
Conf. states to the Union and repair the
damage to the South (1865-1877)
 The new, white-run governments enacted
black codes, or laws that restricted
freedmen’s rights – the black codes
established virtual (near) slavery with
provisions such as these:

VI. Discrimination
-curfews – generally, African-Americans
could not gather after sunset
-vagrancy laws – freedmen convicted of
vagrancy (not working) could be fined,
whipped, or sold for a year’s labor
-labor contracts – freedmen had to sign
agreements in January for a year of work
(those that quit in the middle of the year
lost all the wages they had earned)
VI. Discrimination
-limits on women’s rights – mothers who
wanted to stay home and care for their
families were forced instead to do farm
labor
-land restrictions – freed people could rent
land or homes only in rural areas – forced
them to live on plantations
VI. Discrimination
in early 1866 Congress passed a Civil
Rights Act that outlawed the black codes –
Pres. Johnson vetoed it – Congress
overrode the veto
 14th Amendment – guaranteed all citizens
equal protection of the laws – ultimately
granted African Americans citizenship
rights

VI. Discrimination
15th Amendment – guaranteed African
American males the right to vote (suffrage)
 Ku Klux Klan (KKK) – started in 1866 as a
social club in Pulaski, TN - quickly evolved
into a terrorist organization – membership
consisted largely of ex-Confederate
officers and plantation owners - most
professions were eventually represented
in the Klan

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
