Complete the Guided Reading as you view the Power
Point.
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Objective 5.01: Evaluate the influence of
immigration and rapid industrialization on urban
life.
Essential Questions:
• How did immigration and industrialization shape
urban life?
• How did the rapid industrialization of the Gilded
Age create economic, social, and political change in
the U.S.?
• Did immigration and rapid industrialization have a
positive or negative impact on the economic and
social structure of the United States?
Industrialization
Immigration
and
Urban Life
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After the Civil War the U.S. continued to become
an industrialized society
Inventions that helped industrialization:
◦ Telegraph- Samuel Morse- increased communication for
people and businesses
◦ Telephone- Alexander Graham Bell- increased
communication for people and businesses
◦ Light Bulb- Thomas Edison-people could see after sunset,
work longer hours, and produce more products
◦ Elevators- allowed people and businesses to operate in tall
buildings
◦ Typewriter- increased the rate that letters and documents
could be written and exchanged
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Many people left their farms and moved to the
city where they could earn higher wages
◦ Rising farm costs and declining prices for agricultural
products
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Many people from other countries moved to the
United States in the late 1800’s
◦ Irish- potato famine
◦ Displaced workers from Europe due to
industrialization
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Most came from Europe and settled in the
Northeast
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Why is it important?
◦ To handle the large number of immigrants the federal
government opened Ellis Island in 1892
◦ Located near Statue of Liberty in New York harbor
◦ Reception center for immigrants arriving by ship
◦ Immigrants were examined by doctors to avoid the
spread of disease
◦ Mentally and physically disabled were often not
allowed entrance into the United States
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Visit Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
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Immigrants experienced culture shock as they
moved to the United States and were
surrounded by many different people an
cultures they were not accustomed to
The increased number of immigrants and people
moving to cities made urban areas population
grow during the late 1800’s
Before 1870 most immigrants were from
Western Europe and found it easy to adapt to
United States culture
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After 1870 many immigrants came from
Eastern and Southern Europe
Why is it important?
◦ Most spoke different languages
◦ Many practiced different religions such as Judaism
and Catholicism
◦ This caused most Eastern and Southern European
immigrants to have a difficult transition into
American culture
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The American culture developed into a melting
pot
Melting Pot: a place where people of all
backgrounds could come and blend into
American society
Most immigrants did not want to assimilate into
American culture they wanted to maintain the
traditions of their own cultures
As more people from different countries moved
to America, cities began to experience cultural
pluralism
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Positive effects of immigration: greater
diversity, larger labor force for industries
Problems from immigration:
◦ Americans thought immigrants took their jobs
◦ Americans mistrusted foreigners
◦ Americans were suspicious of ethnic ghettos
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Ethnic Ghettos: Areas in the inner cities
where immigrants from certain regions or
countries lived together due to common
culture, language, and heritage
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Many Americans saw immigrants’ desire to continue
their culture as disloyal to the United States
Religious differenced were a big problem
concerning immigration
Most Americans were Protestant while most
immigrants were Catholic or Jewish- this created a
problem for many Americans
Problems also arose within the immigrant
communities as people from different nations and
ethnic groups developed rivalries with one another
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As ideas of nativism grew (people opposed to
immigration) hate groups like the KnowNothings increased
Immigrants often faced violence and
discrimination
The government reacted to nativism concerns
by passing laws to restrict immigration to the
U.S.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: prohibited
Chinese immigrants from legally coming to the
U.S.- was not repealed until 1943
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Many immigrants experienced difficult living and
working conditions
Many lived in tenements- small, overcrowded
apartments
Large families often lived in one room apartments that
were unsanitary and unsafe
Immigrants worked long hours under hazardous
conditions for low wages in factories
Some worked in sweatshops- makeshift factories in
small apartments or unused buildings
Why is it important?
◦ Sweatshops were poorly lit, poorly ventilated and unsafe
◦ Sweatshops would hire poor workers to work long hours for
little pay
Tenements
Tenement
Neighborhood
Child Labor
Chinese Factory 2011
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The troubles faced by immigrants inspired
many reformers to offer their help
Jacob Riis wrote “How the Other Half Lives”
and was able to get New York to pass laws
aimed at improving tenements living conditions
Jane Addams- part of the Social Gospelpeople who believed their Christian faith
required them to take an active role in social
issues of the day
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Jane Addams is referred to as the Mother of
Social Work
She opened and ran Hull House- a settlement
house in Chicago
Settlement House- established in poor
neighborhoods where social activists would live
and from which they would offer assistance to
immigrants and underprivileged citizens
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Urban life changed as populations in cities
grew
Electric Trolley- transportation that allowed
people to live outside the city but still be able
to work and play inside the city (later people
used trains and subways)
Why is it important?
◦ Suburbs developed◦ Divisions in economic classes developed
 Middle and upper classes moved to the suburbs and left
the poorer classes and immigrants in the cities
Trolley Car
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On farms people worked until all the work was
completed
◦ Leisure activities were limited to certain celebrations
and seasons
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With industrialization factory workers worked
by the clock and looked for new activities to
entertain them after hours
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Why is it important?
They began to look for leisure activities to
entertain themselves after work
◦ Saloons became popular as places to drink, meet people,
and talk
◦ Dance halls and cabarets developed (musical shows)
◦ Amusement parks and Vaudeville shows developed (variety
shows like America’s Got Talent, X Factor)
◦ Movies and spectator sports developed
◦ City parks developed
 New York’s Central Park is the most famous
 Designed by Frederick Olmstead- a famous landscape architect
 Desigen Olmstead Park in Raleigh
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Objective 5.02: Explain how business and
industrial leaders accumulated wealth and
wielded political and economic power.
Essential Questions:
• What characteristics were vital to the
success of industrial leaders of the Gilded
Age?
• How did captains of industry accumulate
wealth and power?
• Should an individual be allowed to accumulate
as much wealth as possible?
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Industrialization brought new opportunities and
chances to make money
Some Americans became very, very wealthy
This wealth changed the role of American
business and the role of the government in
the nation’s economy (economy deals with
money and business)
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STEEL!!!!!!
1850’s Henry Bessemer developed a method for
making steel known as the Bessemer process
Manufacturers could make steel much quicker
and more efficiently
Why is it important?
◦ Increased production of steel meant faster expansion
of railroads and more construction of buildings
◦ Steel became very important to the nation’s economy
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Andrew Carnegie- dominated the steel
industry
Carnegie’s company controlled the steel
industry through a process known as vertical
integration- the company owns the company
that produces the finished product but also the
companies that provide the materials necessary
for production- they own it all from start to
finish
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Carnegie owned steel mills, iron ore and coal
mines, railroads and ships that transported
resources and products
Carnegie formed a monopoly- control over the
supply of a product with no competition
Carnegie believed in the Gospel of Wealthresponsibility of wealthy to spend money on
helping others, not waste it
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OIL!!!!!!
Edwin Drake successfully drilled for oil in Pennsylvania
John D. Rockefeller- became one of the nation's
richest and most powerful businessmen
Rockefeller owned Standard Oil- the nation’s first
trust
Trust- business arrangement under which several
companies unite into one system- GOAL is to destroy
competition and create monopolies
Through the trust Rockefeller was able to dictate
prices, eliminate competition and control the U.S.
industry
Like Carnegie, Rockefeller used vertical integration
and owned all the steps in producing his oil
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Cornelius Vanderbilt- extended his New York
Central railroad to Chicago, Illinois
Why is it important?
◦ Travelers could go from New York to Chicago without
having to change trains
◦ Helped railroad industry by making travel faster and
easier for passengers
Biltmore House Asheville, North Carolina
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The change in business brought a new business
leader- finance capitalist- bankers who applied
economic influence through companies’ stocks and
bonds
J.P. Morgan was the most powerful finance
capitalist
Morgan eventually influenced control over banks,
insurance companies, and stock market operations
Morgan and his company had assets of over $22
billion
Morgan bought Carnegie’s steel company and
formed US Steel- the price he paid made Carnegie
the richest man in the WORLD!
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George Westinghouse founded Westinghouse
Electric Company and made electricity more
accessible to all people and developed new
ways electrical power could be used
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Industrial leaders established power through
monopolies, trusts, and interlocking
directorates
Interlocking Directorates allowed directors of
one company to serve as directors for other
companies
Why is it important?
◦ These leaders controlled entire industries, increased
their wealth, and eliminated competition
◦ These leaders became super wealthy during the age
of industrialization
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Mid 1800’s Herbert Spencer introduced a concept
known as Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism- used the theories of Charles
Darwin to argue life is a battle for the “survival of
the fittest” (the strongest survive)
Many business leaders supported this idea and used
it as a foundation for their business beliefs
They used it to support their belief in laissezfaire capitalism- keep government out of business
or try to regulate it
They believed it was best for the country and the
economy if only those industries who were the
strongest survived
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They believed that supply and demand could
dictate business actions without the “unnatural”
interference of government
Many people agreed with the ideas of the
business leaders
One reason was the belief that anyone could
become rich if they tried hard enough
In the children’s book “Horatio Alger” Horatio
was able to go from poverty to wealth through
hard work and determination
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Not everyone agreed with Social Darwinism
Many believed that the wealth of a few came to
them at the expense of the poor
They referred to the leaders of industry not as
captains of industry, but as robber baronsgreedy, rich, unethical businessmen
They did not believe business leaders should
become rich while workers remained poor with
unsafe, unsanitary working conditions
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The period from 1877 to the early 1900’s
became known as the Gilded Age
The Gilded Age is a term from writer Mark
Twain- it refers to a time when a thin layer of
prosperity was covering the poverty and
corruption that existed in most of American
society
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Objective 5.03: Assess the impact of labor
unions on industry and the lives of workers.
Essential Questions:
• Why social, economic, and political factors led
to the need for the formation of labor unions?
• To what extent were labor unions effective in
meeting the political, economic, and social
needs of laborers?
• How effective were labor unions in improving
the lives of American workers?
Workers
and the
Labor Unions
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Work in factories was monotonous, with long
hours, low pay and very dangerous
Workers did not have Social Security or
unemployment benefits at this time
Child Labor was common
To help pay the bills children as young as 5
years old would work in factories and not go to
school
With no education they had little hope of
every working another job or improving life’s
situation
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Unions- organizations of workers formed to
protect the interest of its members
2 kinds of unions
Craft Union- unions for skilled workers with a
specific craft
Trade Union- unions for less skilled workers
Famous Unions from the late 1800’s
◦ Knights of Labor
◦ American federation of Labor
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1869- hoped to organize all working men and
women into a single union
Included factory workers, farmers,
shopkeepers, office workers
It included African Americans
Supported equal pay for equal work, 8 hour
workdays, the end of child labor
Union ended by the 1890’s
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1886- Craft Union led by Samuel Gompers
Supported issues of wages, working hours and
working conditions
Used strikes and boycotts as economic
pressure to support workers
Strike- when employees refuse to work until
business owners meet certain demands
Boycott- refusal to buy or pay for certain
products to force owners to change policies or
actions
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The AFL used collective bargaining and mediation
Collective Bargaining- employees negotiate as a
united group to increase their bargaining power
Mediation- using a neutral their party to help
negotiate an agreement acceptable to both sides
you and your friend get angry and Mrs. Zappia
helps you resolve it)
Arbitration- form of mediation where the third
party has the power to make a decision for all
involved (you and your friend get angry and Mr.
Colvin tells you how it will be resolved)
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AFL supported Closed Shop workplaces where
employers could only hire union members
They hoped to increase their power of
negotiation by having a united workforce
Closed Shops forced employers to deal with the
union because they could not hire non-union
employees
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Employers hated unions
Many forced employees to sign yellow dog
contracts which forbade workers from joining
unions
Some placed union workers on blacklists- lists
of workers employers refused to hire
Some used lockouts- locking out employees
from returning to work
Some would hire scabs as replacement workers
during strikes
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The government supported employers during
strikes
Employers asked the government for
injunctions- court orders that forbade strikes
because they violated the law or threatened
public interest
Some employers used violence and intimidation
to stop labor unions
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1877 Railroad workers went on strike in the Midwest and
East over wages
Workers responded to the threat of wage cuts with violence
President Rutherford B. Hayes sent in federal troops
twice to stop the protests
The railroads carried the mail
The mail is under the jurisdiction of the federal government
so federal law gave the president the power to use force to
stop any strike that might interfere with the mail
Why is it important?
The Great Railway Strike of 1877 showed employers they
could appeal to the federal government for help in dealing
with strikes
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May 1886 workers across the nation fought
for an 8 hour workday
May 4, 1886 demonstrators held a rally at
Chicago’s Haymarket Square
A group of radicals (extremists) set off a bomb
and killed 7 police officers
A riot broke out- police and protesters were
killed
The Haymarket Riot turned people against
unions- they identified then with anarchy and
violence
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1892 Homestead Strike- steel workers at the
Carnegie Steel plant in Homestead,
Pennsylvania went on strike
The Pinkertons, a private police force, was
hired to stop the strike
Strikers and Pinkertons shot at each otherseveral people were killed or wounded
The public saw the strikers as violent
The union was forced to end the strike
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1894 employees went to railroad car industrialist George
Pullman to protest the laying off of workers
Pullman fired three of the labor representatives
The union called for a strike
Pullman closed the plant to avoid having to negotiate
American Railway Union called for a national boycott of
Pullman cars
120,000 workers went on strike
The federal government took out an injunction against the
union
President Cleveland sent in federal troops to enforce the
injunction
Why is it important?
◦ Pullman Strike set a precedent for factory owners to appeal to the
courts to end strikes
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Objective 5.04: Describe the changing role of
government in economic and political affairs.
Essential Questions:
• How did the government’s role in economic and
political affairs change during this era?
• To what extent did industrialization affect the
relationships between government, business, and
the worker?
• How did technological advancement affect
industrialization and the role of the government?
• To what extent was the government’s changing
role necessary and positive in this era?
The Role of Government in
Economic and Political Affairs
Corruption
in
Government
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As you know from Unit 3- after the death of Abraham
Lincoln corruption became more common in the federal
government under President Grant
Andrew Jackson began the spoils system of giving
government jobs to friends and family
1881- a man who was angry he was not given a job he
was promised, assassinated President James Garfield
Why is it important?
Garfield’s death lead to the Pendleton Act
It established the Civil Service Commission- requires
applicants to pass a civil service exam before being
hired for any government position
Now jobs were given out based on merit rather than
friendship or politics
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Corruption was common in local and state
government in the 1800’s
The fast growth of population in cities meant
government had to increase police, fire
departments, and transportation systems, public
services, sewage, etc.
This meant more public money and a greater power
for government
People fought for government positions to establish
control and power
Political Machines- unofficial group with the goal
of keeping a certain party or person in power
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Political Machines were led by a boss
Graft- the use of your political position or job
to gain wealth
Politicians gave contracts and political favors in
exchange for money and as a way to keep their
power
Most famous boss was New York City’s Boss
Tweed
Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall- a political
club that controlled the city’s Democratic Party
Tweed stole $100,000 million from the city
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Political cartoonist Thomas Nast helped to
expose Boss Tweed and bring him down
Tammany Hall continued to dominate New York
City politics after Boss Tweed lost his power
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1884- several scandals hit the presidential
campaigns of the Republicans and Democrats
Democrat Grover Cleveland had a baby outside of
marriage- he admitted to it and was seen as more
trustworthy as the Republican candidate
Mugwumps- a group of reform Republicans who
switched sides and voted for Cleveland and helped
him win the election of 1884
President Cleveland began to regulate business
Signed the Interstate Commerce Act which began
the Interstate Commerce Commission
He regulated railroad rates for trains traveling
between states
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1890- Under the presidency of Benjamin Harrison
Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act which
made monopolies illegal- ensured competition
1895- United States v. EC Knight Co- the
Supreme Court ruled under the Sherman Antitrust
Act the government had the authority to break up
monopolies in the distribution of products, but
NOT in the manufacturing of products
Why is it important?
◦ Major victory for business and a setback in the fight
against monopolies
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Populists- political group who fought for the rights
of farmers, and other workers
Populists called for Political Reforms:
◦ Secret Ballots: votes to be secret (also known as the
Australian Ballot)
◦ Referendum: when citizens vote directly on certain issues
rather than have representatives do it (school bond)
 Wanted president and US Senators to be elected directly by
the people
◦ Recall: the power of the people to remove a corrupt
official from office before their term expired
◦ Initiative: people can force a vote on an issue if they could
petition enough support from registered voters- people
would have a voice in the political agenda of the
government
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Why is it important?
◦ Even though the Populists movement faded by the
early 1900’s…
 Populists helped make changes in government
 Populists helped make changes in the regulation of
business
 Many populists goals became reality during the
progressive Movement of the early 1900’s
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American West and Labor Unions
The Development of New Cities
Urban Transformation
Miners Strike