Ch 8: Life at the Turn of the
th
20 Century
Science and Urban Life
Cities in every industrial area of the
country expanded both outward and
upward
 By the turn of the 20th century, 4 out of
10 people lived in
the cities.

Electric Transit
Allowed cities to spread outward
 Electric “Trolley Cars” ran from outlying
neighborhoods to downtown offices and
department stores.
 Some cities like Chicago elevated their
trains
 Other cities like New York moved them
underground.

Urban Planning
City planners sought to restore a measure
of serenity to the environment.
 In 1857 Frederick Olmsted drew up the
plans for Central Park in New York City.
 Daniel Burnham turned Chicago into a
beautiful city with parks and sandy
lakefront beaches.

New Technologies
Advances in printing increased the literacy rate
to 90% by 1890.
 December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers flew the
first engine powered plane.
 George Eastman created
film for use in cameras
and created the company
“Kodak” to bring picture
taking to the masses.

Expanding Public Education
 Most states had established public
schools by the Civil War; however,
many school-aged children received
no formal education
 Between
1865 & 1895- state laws
were passed requiring 12 to 16 weeks
annually of school attendance by
students between 8 and 14.
 They
emphasized reading, writing
and arithmetic.
 Kindergarten became popular
during this time. It was generally
created as a place where working
mothers could
leave their kids.
Growth of High Schools
 “Providing
ladders upon which the
aspiring can rise” Andrew Carnegie
 In
1900, more than ½ million
students attended high school.
 Subjects began to
expand to science,
civics and social
studies.
 African
Americans were mostly
excluded from public secondary
education.
 Immigrants
were encouraged to
go to school.
 Helped them to become
“Americanized.”
 Catholic Schools were formed
because they were
concerned about
the Protestant King
James version of
the bible.
Higher Education
Colleges
begin to Boom.
1880-1920- College enrollments
quadrupled.
Law and
Medical
schools
established.
Began
using the high school
diploma for college entrance
requirements.
With the help of the Freedman’s
Bureau, African Americans
founded Howard
University and
Atlanta (Clark)
and Fisk University.
Booker T Washington
 Was born as a slave.
 Graduated from Virginia Hampton
Institute.
 He said that racism would end once
blacks acquired the useful labor
skills and proved their economic
value to society.
R.C. Ogden, Senator Taft, Booker T. Washington,
and Andrew Carnegie
n.d.
Library of Congress
 1881-
started the Tuskegee
Normal and Industrial Institute in
Alabama.
WEB DuBois
 1st
African American to receive a
doctorate from Harvard in 1895.
 He founded the Niagara Movement,
which stated that blacks should seek
a liberal arts education so that the
African American community would
have well educated leaders
W.E.B. DUBOIS
African Americans Legal
Discrimination
 system
of legal policies of racial
discrimination and tried to find ways
to weaken blacks political power.
 literacy test to vote.
 Pay the Poll Tax to vote
 Grandfather clause for the whites
 Passes racial segregation laws (Jim Crow
Laws)
Plessy v. Feguson
 1896 South Carolina ruled that the
separation of races in public
accommodations was legal and didn’t
violate the 14th amendment.
 It established separate but equal as long
as it maintained separate facilities as
long as they were provided equal service.
 Permitted legalized racial segregation
for almost 60 years.
Discrimination in the North
 1900-
Many blacks moved to the North
in search for better paying jobs and
social equality.
 Big discrimination in the North also.
 Found themselves forced into
segregated neighborhoods.
 There was also discrimination on the
job.
Mexican workers
 In the late 1800’s the railroads hired
more Mexicans than members of any
other ethnic group.
 They were used to the hot dry
climate.
 Railroads made them
work for less money
than any other ethnic
group.
The Dawn of Mass Culture
 Middle
class Americans from all over
the country shared experiences as
new leisure activities, nationwide
advertising campaigns,
and the rise of
consumer culture
began to level
regional differences.
Amusement Parks:
 Coney
Island was built in 1884.
One of the first roller coasters
was located here.
 1st
Ferris Wheel of the world was
at the Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893.
Baseball
 1845, Alexander J Cartwright
organized a club in New York City.
Five years later, 50 baseball clubs
had been formed.
 1869- the Cincinnati Red Stockings
were touring the country playing
exhibition games. This lead to the
national league in 1876 and the
American League in 1900.
 First
World Series was held in 1903
between the Boston Pilgrims and
the Pittsburgh Pirates.
 African Americans, excluded from
the white leagues, formed their
own league called the Negro
American League and the Negro
National League.
Shopping
 Earliest form of a shopping center
opened in 1890 in Cleveland, Ohio.
 Marshall Fields was the first
department store in Chicago. He
found that paying attention to
female customers, business would
increase.
Woolworth’s
was the first
“chain” store.
Catalogs became popularMontgomery Wards and Sears
were one of the first to have
the catalogs.

The Morrill Act of 1862 and 1890 gave federal
land to the states to help finance agricultural
colleges.

When crop prices were high, farmers could
repay their loans.

When crop prices fell,
farmers grew more, which
caused prices to fall even
more

Railroads charged Western farmers a higher fee than Eastern
farmers

farmers needed to organize.

In 1867, Oliver Hudson Kelley started
the Grange.
Members learned how to
 Support political candidates,
 create legislation to regulate railroads,
 fight the power of the banks.
Leaders of the Farmer’s alliance created the Populist
Party, in 1892.
 The Populist Party demanded reforms:


to reduce debt from farmers and laborers

give the people a greater voice in their
government.
•
The Populists'
share the platform
of the Democratic
Party believe: The
government is
responsible for
reforming social
injustices.

The Democrats and populist’s favored bimetallism, either
gold or silver in exchange for paper currency or
checks.

The Republican favored the gold standard –backing dollars
solely with gold.

Republican Party William McKinley for president.

The Democratic Party nominated William Jennings Bryan
•
•
The voters of the industrial Middle West,
with their fear of inflation, brought
McKinley into office.
With McKinley's election, Populism
collapsed, burying the hopes of the
farmers..