Unit 4
Standards of Learning (SOL)
USII.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of
how life changed after the Civil War by
b) explaining the reasons for the increase in immigration, growth
of cities, new inventions, and challenges arising from this
expansion;
d) explaining the impact of new inventions, the rise of big
business, the growth of industry, and life on American farms;
e) describing the impact of the Progressive Movement on child
labor, working conditions, the rise of organized labor,
women’s suffrage, and the temperance movement.
USII.6 The student will demonstrate knowledge of
the social, economic, and technological
changes of the early twentieth century by
a) explaining how developments in factory and labor
productivity, transportation (including the use of the
automobile), communication, and rural electrification changed
American life and standard of living;
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USII.4b PART 1
Notepage for Student
Changes and Challenges after the Civil War
As America grew and prospered, people from all over the world began arriving on its shores.
Between 1860 and 1910 over 20 million immigrants traveled from Asia, Europe, and Mexico in
search of a better way of life for themselves and their families. The increase in immigration,
growth of cities, and amazing new inventions contributed to great change and challenges as
America expanded!
In the late 1800s, many immigrants came to the United States in search of better opportunities
for themselves and their children, freedom from cruel or oppressive governments, religious
freedom, and adventure. The California Gold Rush brought Chinese and Mexican immigrants who
were tempted by the promises of gold and a better future. Others like the Germans and French
came to escape oppressive governments, bloody revolutions, and poverty. Immigrants from Ireland
left their homeland to escape famine, or starvation, and disease. Italian immigrants left behind
overcrowded living conditions, low wages and high taxes. Still others came to America for religious
freedom.
As the population of the United States dramatically increased, cities grew and prospered. Before the
Civil War, most of the important cities in the United States were located on the banks of rivers or on
harbors near oceans.
In the late 1800s, however, cities began to develop inland near natural
resources needed for industry. Thousands of miles of railroad track made it possible to connect
resources, products, and customers all across the country.
Many of these new cities grew up
around specialized industries. For example, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania became a center for steel
production, while Chicago was known for its meat-packing industry.
The growth of American cities was also connected to population changes that occurred in the late
1800s. One of these changes was the influx, or arrival of millions of immigrants from all around
the globe. As the immigrants entered the country, many of them flocked to the new industrial cities
in search of jobs. In addition to the influx of immigrants, millions of Americans were moving to the
urban areas, or cities, from the rural areas, or the country. They, too, were in search of new job
opportunities created by the rapid growth of industry. More and more workers were needed to
mine coal, refine oil, make machinery, produce textiles, build railroads, and stoke the ever burning
furnaces of the steel mills.
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1 Increase in Immigration
2 Better Opportunities
3 Specialized Industries
4 Move to Urban Areas
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USII.4b PART 2
Notepage for Student
Changes and Challenges after the Civil War: Immigration
Immigration
As America grew, it also became more and more culturally diverse, or different.
Millions of
people from all over the world were now living and interacting in cities, towns, and rural areas from
coast to coast.
With this diversity came conflict. What were some of the challenges faced by
Americans after the Civil War?
As more and more immigrants flooded the cities of America, some Americans began to worry. They
were afraid that new immigrants, who were willing to work for low wages, would take their jobs.
Before long, some groups of immigrants, like the Chinese and the Irish, were faced with
discrimination. Discrimination is the unfair treatment of people based on their race or culture.
In the western United States, many people born in America wanted Chinese immigrants to return
to their own country. They were afraid that the Chinese would take all of the available jobs. As a
result, in the mining industry Chinese workers were made to pay a tax to pan for gold and some
were even beaten and driven out of the goldfields. In addition, state laws were passed in California
that stopped Chinese immigrants from getting government jobs and forced them to pay higher
taxes. Finally, in 1882 Congress passed a law which stopped the Chinese from immigrating to the
United States.
The Irish also experienced discrimination in America. Many Americans feared that the growing
number of Irish immigrants entering the Northeastern states would put them out of work or cause
their wages to decrease. In addition, they also believed that their taxes would increase because of
the need for additional police protection, schools, and sanitation services. Before long, job posters
and newspaper advertisements included the words “No Irish Need Apply!” Even hotels and
restaurants were soon refusing to serve Irish patrons, or customers.
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6 Discrimination
7 Chinese Immigrants
8 Irish Immigrants
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USII.4b PART 3
Notepage for Student
Changes and Challenges after the Civil War: Growth of Cities
Growth of Cities
As industry expanded so did the populations and problems of American cities. One major problem
was a scarcity, or shortage of housing that resulted in overcrowding. Most workers could not afford
to live very far from their jobs. As a result, they lived close to the factories in neighborhoods that
reflected their cultural background.
These poor neighborhoods, or ghettos were filled with
apartment houses called tenements.
Tenement buildings caused major challenges in the areas of sanitation, disease, and safety.
Tenement buildings were often poorly made and did not have running water and toilets. Insects,
rats, and decaying garbage were common. These crowded, unsanitary conditions caused diseases
to spread rapidly from family to family. Fire was another constant danger. Because most tenement
buildings were constructed partly of wood, terrible fires sometimes burned down entire city blocks
killing hundreds of people and leaving thousands homeless.
As the problems grew, some efforts were made to solve them. In Chicago, a wealthy woman by the
name of Jane Addams decided to help. In 1889, Jane Addams started Hull House in one of
Chicago’s ghettos.
Hull House was a settlement house or community center.
It housed a
kindergarten for the children of working mothers and classes in sewing, cooking, and English for
immigrants trying to adjust to their new life. By the early 1900s, nearly 100 settlement houses had
been erected, or built in cities across the country.
In some of America’s major cities like New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago, organizations
known as political machines also stepped forward to help immigrants. These unofficial political
organizations gained power by taking care of the needs of new immigrants. Each political machine
was run by a “boss” who could get things done. Bosses often provided services like constructing
sewers and paving streets that the official city governments could not handle. This powerful man
could also supply new immigrants with much needed money, food, housing, and jobs.
Political machines proved to be a challenge for developing cities, however. As they grew in power
and influence, corruption increased. Political machines often protected criminal organizations,
such as those involved in gambling, from the police. They also demanded financial contributions
from local businesses. Businesses that did not agree to the payments would soon find their city
services, such as trash collection, cut as well as higher tax bills in their mailboxes.
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9 Ghettos/ Tenements
10 Poor Living Conditions
11 Hull House
12 Political Machines
13 Corruption
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USII.4b PART 4
Notepage for Student
Changes and Challenges after the Civil War: New Inventions
New Inventions
Contributing to the development of cities and industrial growth were new inventions that changed
the American way of life. The electric light bulb was one of these inventions. Thomas Alva
Edison used electricity to power the first practical electric lighting. For the first time Americans had
control over the light in their homes. In addition, industrial plants could now operate continuously
with shifts of workers coming in around the clock. Before long, electricity was used for mechanical
purposes also. Manufacturers began to produce small and large appliances for use in the home.
Electric irons, washing machines, vacuums, and refrigerators made the life of the housewife
more enjoyable.
In factories and other types of businesses, steam engines were replaced by
electric motors and tools. This made factories safer while increasing production and encouraging
growth. Transportation was also improved with the introduction of the electric streetcar.
Another invention that contributed to great changes and industrial growth in America was the
telephone. In 1876 Alexander Graham Bell began a revolution in communication with the
development of his "electrical speech machine."
News of his invention spread quickly across
America and Europe. Within a few short years a number of private telephones were in use, public
coin machines were installed, the first phone directory was published with fifty names, and a phone
was installed in the White House.
By the early 1900s, over two million telephones were in
operation, and the first transcontinental telephone line was up and running between New York and
California.
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14 New Inventions
15 Telephone
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USII.4d
Notepage for Student
Page 1
An Industrial Nation is Born
Following the Civil War, the United States was transformed, or changed from a largely agricultural
society into a powerful industrial nation. The rise of big business and the growth of industry
began to impact where Americans lived and how they made their livings.
There were several factors that led to the rise of big business after the Civil War. One of these
factors was the beginning of national markets. These markets were created by advances in
transportation.
Before railroads began to crisscross the country, small businessmen could only
afford to transport and sell their products to local markets. The growth of railroads, however, made
it possible for businesses to sell and ship their products to markets all across the nation. National
markets quickly turned small businesses into big businesses. Some of the first big businesses in
America were in the fields of oil production, steel manufacturing, and railroad building.
As the national market grew, powerful men called captains of industry began to appear and
impact the rise of big business. These men built and became the leaders of prosperous industrial
organizations. Some of these captains of industry included John D. Rockefeller, who dominated
and controlled much of the nation’s oil industry; Andrew Carnegie, who built the largest steel
business in the United States; and Cornelius Vanderbilt, an entrepreneur who made his fortune
in the shipping and railroad industries.
Advertising also played a part in the rise of big business. As national markets grew, businesses
began to brand, or name their goods in order to distinguish them from the competition. Growing
companies soon began to pay for announcements that would draw public attention to their products
and services. These early ads appeared on theater programs, maps, calendars, and in newspapers
and magazines.
Lower production costs also contributed to the rise of big business in the United States. As
companies began to expand and compete, they needed to produce larger amounts of their product
at a price that consumers would like. Because hiring skilled craftsmen was expensive, more and
more businesses began to use new, efficient factories and machines to produce their products. This
new method of production called for the hiring of less expensive, unskilled workers. As a result,
products could be produced in mass quantity at lower costs.
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1 Change in Society
2 National Markets
3 Captains of Industry
4 Advertising
5 Lower Production Costs
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USII.4d
Notepage for Student
Page 2
An Industrial Nation is Born
(cont’d)
A number of factors led to the growth of industry in the United States. Some of these factors
included access to raw materials and energy, an available work force, new inventions, and
financial resources.
The tremendous growth of the railroad system greatly impacted the growth of other industries. In
addition to shipping manufactured goods across the country, railroads gave growing businesses and
industries access to the raw materials and energy they needed. Railroads connected factories
with raw materials like iron-ore, coal, oil, and wood needed to run their machines and produce their
products.
Industrial growth was also impacted by an available work force. As industries grew, so did their
need for workers. Due to the huge number of immigrants arriving in the United States during the
late 1800s, a large work force was readily available. These immigrants rushed to the new industrial
cities in search of jobs and a chance for a better life.
New inventions also affected the growth of industry in the United States. Some inventions like
the steam engine, electricity, and the light bulb made factories safer and more productive. Other
inventions, like the blast furnace, revolutionized an already prosperous steel industry. Cheaper,
stronger steel would advance the transportation and construction industries.
The availability of financial resources also helped industries expand and prosper. As industries
grew, owners found that they needed more and more money to keep their businesses running. To
raise money they encouraged people to invest in their companies. Americans began to buy shares of
stocks from businesses. As a stockholder, a person was part owner in the business and received part
of the profit from the business.
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6 Factors Leading to Growth
7 Impact of Railroads
8 Available Workforce
9 New Inventions
10 Availability of Financial Resources
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USII.4d
Notepage for Student
Page 3
An Industrial Nation is Born
(cont’d)
The rise of industry and big business also influenced life on American farms.
Mechanical
inventions such as the reaper reduced the number of farm laborers needed to produce and
harvest crops. By the early 1900s, one farmer could do the work of 30 men. This mechanization also
increased the amount of land that a farmer could work from about a hundred acres to over five
hundred acres.
As a result, productivity increased.
However, as the number of farming jobs
decreased due to new labor-saving inventions, farm laborers and small farmers moved to the new
industrial cities where jobs were plentiful.
Americans who remained in rural areas also benefited from industrialization. Consumer goods
not easily obtained in the past were now available through mail order companies like Sears,
Roebuck and Montgomery Ward. Mail order catalogues brought the city department stores to small
towns and farming communities all across the nation. Cities, too, benefited from industrialization.
Industrial development created increased labor needs which made jobs plentiful in American
cities.
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11 Mechanization
12 Mail Order Companies
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USII.4e
Notepage for Student
Page 1
The Impact of the Progressive Movement on the Nation
With the rise of big business and industrialization came new problems for the nation and calls for
reform. This period in American history, known as the Progressive Movement, marked a shift
from an agricultural society to an urban society. With this shift came new concerns about the
negative effects of industrialization, the rise of organized labor, workplace reforms, women’s rights,
and the Temperance Movement.
Negative Effects of Industrialization
As industries grew, so did their need for workers. As a result, thousands of American citizens and
immigrants rushed to the new industrial cities in search of new jobs and a chance for a better life.
With so many people looking for work, factory owners could hire workers who were willing to put in
long hours for very low wages. Wages were so low that it became impossible for a worker to
support his family. In order to pay the rent and put food on the table, many parents were forced to
send their children to work (child labor) instead of school. Children as young as eight worked
six days a week, eight to twelve hours a day for less than a dollar a day. They worked in factories,
mills, coal mines, picked fruit, shined shoes, and sold newspapers.
In addition to low wages and long hours, Americans also had to deal with unsafe working
conditions.
Factories and mills were filled with new machines that were very dangerous to
operate. As a result, thousands of workers were injured and hundreds more were killed each year.
In addition, many Americans worked in crowded, unsanitary buildings where exit doors were locked
to keep workers in and fresh air out. Locked doors also resulted in hundreds of worker deaths when
fires broke out and escape was impossible.
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1 Progressive Movement
2 Child Labor
3 Unsafe Working Conditions
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USII.4e
Notepage for Student
Page 2
The Impact of the Progressive Movement on the Nation
(cont’d)
The Rise of Organized Labor
As Americans became more and more concerned about their working conditions, some began to join
together against the unfair practices of the powerful industries and big businesses. Together they
formed organized labor unions. A labor union is an organization that protects a worker’s rights
to fair wages, a shorter work day, and safe working conditions.
One such labor union was the American Federation of Labor or AFL. Organized in 1886, this
labor union represented skilled workers such as cigar makers, plumbers, carpenters, bricklayers and
machinists. Its president and founder, a cigar maker by the name of Samuel Gompers, organized
many different skilled labor unions into one large federation of unions. He knew that in order to fight
back against big business, he would need a big labor union. By 1920 the AFL had over four million
members. Because of its size, many business leaders began to listen to the AFL’s demands for a
better American workplace.
In some cases, however, wealthy owners ignored the demands of unions for better treatment of
workers. As a result, workers would stop working, or strike, until their demands were met. Some
strikes were peaceful but some had deadly consequences. The Homestead Strike was one of the
most violent strikes during the Progressive Movement. It took place at the Carnegie Steel Mill in
Homestead, Pennsylvania after a manager announced an eighteen percent pay cut. During the
strike, a gun battle erupted. Sixteen people died and many others were injured. Most workers left
the union and returned to work after the strike. It took over thirty years for steel unions to regain
their power to represent steel workers.
Progressive Movement Workplace Reforms
During the late 1800s and the early 1900s, more and more Americans realized that drastic
reforms were needed in the workplace. These Progressives, as they were called, wanted to
expose the many problems facing the American worker and make life better for all Americans. They
fought for improved safety conditions, reduced work hours, and restrictions on child labor. As a
result of their efforts, the American workplace began to change. New laws set safety standards for
the workplace and businesses had to contribute money to the government to help pay workers who
were injured on the job. Laws were also passed to limit the number of hours in a workday. Other
laws restricted the number of hours children could work and set a minimum age for employment.
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4 Organized Labor Unions
5 AFL
6 Homestead Strike
7 Workplace Reforms
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USII.4e
Notepage for Student
Page 3
The Impact of the Progressive Movement on the Nation
(cont’d)
The Temperance Movement
The reforms of the Progressive Movement did not stop in the work place. Many reformers were
opposed to the making and consuming of alcohol in the United States. Members of this group
called the Temperance Movement believed that if alcohol was prohibited, or not allowed, it would
lower crime rates, reduce poverty, and increase the overall quality of American life. On January 16,
1919, their cause was strengthened when the 18th Amendment to the Constitution ended the legal
manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Fourteen years
later, however, the 18th Amendment was repealed and prohibition ended. In addition to being hard
to enforce, it had actually supported an increase in criminal activities and the amount of alcohol that
was being consumed.
Women’s Suffrage
During this time there were other reformers, like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, who worked for women’s suffrage, or women’s rights.
In the area of education, Susan B. Anthony called for equal opportunities for all. She campaigned
for the equal treatment of boys and girls. As a result, women’s colleges opened their doors all
across the nation. By the late 1800s, over forty thousand women were enrolled in colleges or
institutes of higher learning.
Due to these reforms, women now had more educational
opportunities.
In the mid-1800s, Susan B. Anthony met Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton organized the first
women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. During the convention a statement of
women’s rights called the “Declaration of Sentiments” was drafted. Together, Stanton and Anthony
led the struggle for a woman’s right to vote. Anthony also wrote books and lectured to spread
her beliefs. She devoted fifty years of her life to the woman's suffrage movement. Finally in 1920,
fourteen years after her death, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was
passed. Women now had the right to vote.
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8 18th Amendment
9 Susan B. Anthony
10 Elizabeth Cady Stanton
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USII.6a
Notepage for Student
Page 1
New Developments That Changed American Life
As the United States entered the twentieth century, emerging new technologies made their way
into in all areas of American life.
Developments in transportation, communication, and
electrification, which relied on new developments in factory and labor productivity, changed
the lives of Americans whether they lived in cities or out in neglected rural areas. How did progress
make social and economic life in the early 20th century different from that of the late 19th century?
Developments in transportation soon turned the United States into a country on wheels.
“Horseless carriages” or automobiles were first manufactured in Europe in the 1890s. They were
very expensive, and only the very wealthy could afford to own one. However, five years after World
War I, nearly 3 million cars were being produced each year. Much of this growth was due to the
development of assembly line production by Michigan carmaker Henry Ford. This method of
mass production caused the cost of automobiles to decrease and car ownership to increase. As a
result, many Americans suddenly found they had greater mobility to go where they wanted, when
they wanted.
This new mobility also resulted in the growth of transportation-related industries and the creation
of new jobs. The new gasoline-powered cars were responsible for the rapid growth of the oil and
steel industries as well as road construction companies, new automobile manufacturers, and gas
stations.
Another result of improved transportation was the growth of suburban areas. As automobile
ownership increased, Americans did not have to live in the cities where they worked. Instead, they
began to look at less crowded areas surrounding the cities as ideal places to build homes and raise
children.
The invention of the airplane also revolutionized life in 20th century America. In December of
1903, two brothers from Ohio, Orville and Wilbur Wright, became the first men to successfully
fly an engine-powered flying machine. Although this first flight near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
lasted only 12 seconds, it was the beginning of an aviation industry that within 25 years would
transport thousands of Americans across the country and around the world.
Developments in communication also changed the American way of life in the early 20th
century.
The increased availability of the telephone and the development of the radio and
movies made social and economic life in the early twentieth century different from that of the late
nineteenth century.
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2 Automobiles
3 Creation of New Jobs
4 Growth of Suburban Areas
5 Invention of Airplane
6 Developments in Communication
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USII.6a
Notepage for Student
Page 2
New Developments That Changed American Life
(cont’d)
The first telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. By the early 1900s, phone
networks zigzagged the country and millions of phones were operating in businesses and private
homes. This increased availability of telephones made communication easier and faster than it had
been in the 19th century.
The development of the radio and the rise of the broadcast industry also changed how
Americans communicated.
By the 1920s, radios provided a cheap and convenient way of
broadcasting news and entertainment into American homes.
The construction of a huge radio
transmission station in New York, called Radio Central, allowed the first direct communication
between the United States and Europe. By 1929, over 800 radio stations were broadcasting news,
sports, music, comedy shows, and product advertisements into millions of American living rooms.
Advertising had truly gone national!
The early 20th century saw the rise of another form of communication, the movie. By the mid1920s, movie making had become one of the top industries in the country with over 20,000 movie
theaters nationwide. As more and more Americans went to the theater, movies and movie stars
began to influence the way we dressed, how we talked, and how we viewed our world.
Developments in electrification also changed American life in the early 20th century. Thomas
Alva Edison used electricity to produce the first practical electric light bulb in the late 1800s. As a
result, manufacturers began to produce small and large electric appliances for use in the home.
Labor-saving products such as washing machines, electric stoves, water pumps, vacuums,
and refrigerators made the life of the American housewife easier and even more enjoyable.
Electricity also helped to improve communications by powering radios and movie-making equipment.
Many of the developments in transportation, communication and electrification that changed the
way Americans lived came about because of the new developments in factory and labor
productivity. Henry Ford’s assembly line revolutionized the operation of factories. To meet the
growing demand, radios, telephones and electric appliances went into mass production on assembly
lines just like the automobile. Individual parts were no longer made by hand. Instead, machines
were used to make the interchangeable parts needed on the assembly line. This mechanization of
factories and use of the assembly line made production faster and products better for everyone in
the United States.
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7 Alexander Graham Bell
8 Radio/ Broadcast Industry
9 Movies
10 Labor-Saving Devices
11 Assembly Line
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