Chapter 4
Urban America
I. Immigration
A. European Immigration
1. Old vs New Immigrants
a. During19th century, the sources of immigrants
to the US changed
- “Old Immigrants” = North & Western
Europeans
- “New immigrants” came from southern
and eastern Europe
2. Push/Pull Migration Factors - US
Push Factors
Pull Factors
= factors that cause someone to leave
their native country
= factors that draw people into a
specific country
– (New ag
techniques in these European
regions removed the need for
thousands of farm laborers)
•Religious Persecution
•Political Tyranny
•Wars & compulsory military
service
•Lack of social mobility
(hereditary status)
•Repealed emigration laws
(allowed to leave)
•Economic opportunity
(plenty of work, plenty of land)
•Freedom of religion/speech
•Democratic political system
•Social mobility !!!
•Few immigration
restrictions (needed workers
thanks to industrialization!)
•Higher standard of living
• Poverty (Farm)
Those hateful bullies have gone too far. First they rode through town
shouting terrible things about us. Next, they wrecked our synagogue.
Now they break into our homes! The police do nothing to stop them. I'm
afraid it is time to leave.
--Nina, Russia, 1890
Push
or
Pull?
Jewish men look at the damage to a building after Russians
ransacked their village.
3. Ellis Island NY
Renze Kampstra and family
a. Most European immigrants disembarked and
were processed at Ellis Island
b. immigrants were subject to a medical exam;
provided various documentation
c. Families could become separated
Immigrants waiting for
processing at Ellis Island
Usually, families
would send their
most willing son,
or husband, to
America to find
work. The man,
who would now
be in New York,
would then send
for the rest of his
family
4. The Immigrant Experience
a. most settled in cities
- cheapest housing (tenements)
- most economic opportunities (unskilled, lowpaying factory jobs)
- convenience to transportation
b. sometimes faced hostility from nativists and
other immigrant groups
c. Despite hardships, spirit of optimism among
immigrants!
- worse conditions back where they came from
- provided more opportunities
- faith that life would better for the next generation
5. Ethnic Cities – allowed immigrants to
adjust to US
a. often lived in neighborhoods
among members of their own
ethnic group separated from
other ethnic groups
(see pg 347)
= preserved their culture
b. Other factors that helped
Immigrants adjust to life in
the USA
- learned English quickly
- adapted to American culture
- they had marketable skills
- already had some $$$
Mulberry Street – New York City’s
“Little Italy” c 1900
Little Italy Today
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Hester Street – Jewish Section
Pell St. - Chinatown, NYC
B. Asian Immigration
1. Push/Pull Factors behind Asian
Immigration
Push Factors
CHINESE
•High unemployment
•Poverty
•Famine
•Taiping Rebellion 1850 – against
Chinese gov’t – 20 million dead –
thousands flee to US
JAPANESE
•Industrialization/empire building
caused hardships
Pull Factors
•Discovery of Gold in CA
•Jobs with Central Pacific RR
(Transcontinental RR)
•Few immigration restrictions
2. Angel Island
a. Modeled after New York’s Ellis Island
b. point of entry for the majority of Asian
immigrants
In America, we are all immigrants
– or children of immigrants. Do
you know where you came from
– and when?
C. Resurgence of Nativism
1. Nativism
a. favoring the interests of native-born people
over foreign born people and a desire to limit
immigration
b. 1840s-50s: focus on Irish
c. Late 1800s: focus on Asians, Jews, E. Eur.
d. Reasons for opposing immigration
low
- feared influx of Catholics would give Catholic
Church too much power in US gov’t
- labor union opposition b/c immigrants work for
wages, become strikebreakers – undermine all
efforts of unions to achieve higher pay, fewer
working hrs, better working conditions
2. Anti-Immigrant Organizations
a. American Protective Assoc. - goal to stop
Catholic immigration
b. Workingman’s Party of California – goal to
stop Chinese immigration
3. Anti-immigration laws
a. Immigration Act of 1882: immigration ban on
convicts, paupers, mentally disabled + 50 ¢ tax
b. 1882-1902 Chinese Exclusion Act
– ban Chinese immigration &
prevented Chinese already here
from becoming citizens
Nativism Lives On……
Keppler Cartoon 1880
Keppler Cartoon 1893
II. Urbanization
A. Americans Migrate to the City
1. Statistics
a. 1840: 131 US cities; 1900: 1700 US cities
b. Growth of old cities
2. Immigrants flock to city factories
a. Lack $$ to buy farms
b. Lack education for higher-paying jobs
3. Standard of living better in US
a. Work long hrs for low pay but….
b. Social Mobility
- Europe: rigid social class system
- US: accepted that all could rise in society
– possible to move from working
class to middle class
Struggling Immigrant Families
3. Rural Americans move to cities
a. More jobs, higher pay
b. More amenities: lights, running water,
modern plumbing
c. More to do: museum, libraries, theaters
B. New Urban Environment
1. Skyscrapers
a. Thanks to steel, durable plate glass, elevators
b. Necessity: expensive/scarce land – build up,
not out
c. NYC = most skyscrapers
c.
The First
Home Insurance Building,
Chicago, IL
The
Skyscraper
brought to you by…
steel
durable plate glass
elevators
2. Mass Transit
a. Horsecar 1890 = 70% urban traffic
So what’s the problem?
• Horses deposited tons of feces and gallons of urine on the streets
every day (each horse = 24 lbs manure/day)
• A horse could work only part of the day, but would eat all day
• A horse car could run all day, but it would require many changes of
horses
• A line's investment in horses could be wiped out by diseases like
the Great Epizootic of 1872.
• Horses could not pull cars up steep hills
• When they died, were left on streets to decompose
History of the Horsecar
b. Cable Cars
- Began in SF
- Pulled along tracks by underground cables
c. Electric Trolley Car – Frank J. Sprague
Electric Trolley Car
Cable Car
Late 19th century street
congestion
d. Relieving Congestion on City Streets
- Chicago: Elevated Trains
- NYC, Boston: Subways
Chicago’s “EL”
NYC’s Subway
C. Separation by Class
1. High Society
a. wealthiest lived in fashionable districts in heart
of cities
Carnegie Mansion, NYC
Palmer Castle, Chicago
Vanderbilt, Chateau, NYC
2. Middle Class
a. Growing: Drs, lawyers, engineers, managers,
teachers, social workers, architects
b. Salaries 2x that of avg factory worker
c. Mass Transit allowed them to work in city
center and live outside in the “streetcar
suburbs”
3. Working Class
a. = majority of city dwellers
b. Many lived in tenements – dark, crowded
multi-family apts
c. Kids sent to work in factories
d. Rented space to boarders
Tenement Slum Living
“Dumbell “ Tenement,
NYC
“Dumbell “
Tenement
Airshaft of
a dumbbell
tenement,
New York
City, taken
from the
roof,
ca. 1900
Tenement Slum Living
Lodgers Huddled Together
D. Urban Problems
1. Hazards of City Life
a. crime & violence
- nativists blame crime increase on
immigrants
- in reality, no significant difference in crime
rate in immigrant community/native-born
community
- most likely, the increase in minor/major
crimes was due the rapid growth of cities
b. fire!
- many wooden structures
- lacked technology in fire-fighting
The Great
Chicago Fire
1871
c. disease and pollution
- improper sewage disposal (bad drinking
water); overcrowding; garbage in the
streets
– leads to cholera and typhoid fever
- horse waste left in streets
- smoke, soot, and ash from wood and coal
burning fires from factories and homes
High Death Rates in late 19th
century US cities
Deaths per 100,000
Boston, New York, New Orleans, and Philadelphia
Tuberculosis Intestinal
Disorders
Diphtheria
Typhoid
Typhus
Smallpox
1864-1888
365
299
123
66
53
1899-1913
223
196
58
19
25
What factors do you think contributed
to a decline in urban death rates in
the early 20th century?
2. Rise in Consumption of Alcohol
a. contributed to rise in crime rate
b. Jacob Riis’, How the Other Half Lives,
documented affect of alcohol abuse
- saloons corrupted politics
- brought suffering to wives/children of
drunkards
- corrupted children – sold to minors
Jacob Riis:
How the Other
Half Lives
(1890)
How the other half lives
c. led to the rise of the Women’s
Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
Temperance: the movement to reduce or eliminate
alcohol consumption
- headed by Frances Willard
- later leads to Prohibition (18th Amendment)
E. Urban Politics
1. Political Machine and the Party Boss
a. political machine: an organized group that
controls a political party in a city and offers
services to voters and businesses in
exchange for political and financial support
- came into power b/c cities grew faster
than city gov’t
- city dwellers needed housing, jobs etc
+
=
b. Party bosses (ran machines)
- exchanged city services for VOTES
- thus, immigrant groups voted for political
machines
2. Graft & Fraud – allowed party boss to
control city finances
a. graft: obtaining $$ through dishonest or
questionable means
1) accepted bribes for contracts
2) sold permits to friends to operate
public facilities (RRs
3. Tammany Hall – NY Democratic Political
Machine
a. led by the corrupt William M. “Boss” Tweed
(sent to prison 1874)
b. Other city’s machines controlled city svc including the police
William M.
Tweed, known
as "Boss"
Tweed, ran an
efficient and
corrupt political
machine based
on patronage
and graft
4. Despite corruption: some positive
contributions of political machines
a. provided necessary city services
b. Helped to assimilate immigrants to the cities
Now put away your notes and take
out a piece of paper. Quiz Time!!
You do not have to write out the question, and you do not have to answer in complete
sentences.
1. List one push factor that led many to emigrate from their
home country
2. From what part of the world did most of the era’s
immigrants come from?
3. What is the term for people who are American-born and
against immigration?
4. What act of Congress led to decades of discrimination
against the Chinese?
5. Thanks to the electric trolley car and other forms of mass
transit, to where did the middle class move?
6. In what type of housing did the working class live?
7. List one urban problem that developed in this era.
8. List one positive contribution of political machines.
III. Social Darwinism
and Social Reform
A. Characteristics of the Gilded Age
1. Gilded Age: the era of late 1800s America
characterized by a shining surface of prosperity
(great wealth, invention and growth of cities)
covering the problems of corruption and
inequality
a. Gilded = gold on the outside, while
inside made of cheaper material
b. In US History, although this was a time
of growth, beneath the surface were
corruption, poverty, and a huge gap
btwn rich and poor
Corruption: the use of public office for private
gain
2. Gilded Age Values, Forms of Art,
Literature and Entertainment:
a. Values: Individualism: the belief that
regardless of your background, you
could still rise in society (social mobility)
1) Could go as far talent,
commitment and hard work take
you
2) Horatio Alger – writer who
expressed individualism
philosophy
- wrote “rags to riches” novels
with theme of poor people
going to the city and
becoming successful
The ideology of success — the notion that anyone could
make it with enough hard work
b. Gilded Age Art and Literature: Realism
Realism: an approach to literature, art, and
theater that attempts to accurately portray
things as they really are and holds that society
will function best if left to itself
1) people portrayed in realistic situations
instead of idealizing them as romantic
artists had done
2) Thomas Eakins – paintings that
depicted everyday living. Famous for
detailed lighting
The
GrossClinic
(1875)
by Thomas
Eakins
The Agnew Clinic (1889)
by Thomas Eakins
3) Mark Twain wrote realistically
about everyday life in the pre-Civil
War US – Huckleberry Finn
Vaudeville
c. Theater and Pop Music in the Gilded
Age:
1) Vaudeville
- combined music and dancing;
animal acts, acrobats, gymnasts,
dancers in its performance
2) Ragtime = pop music 1890s!
Ragtime: type of music with a strong
rhythm and a lively melody with
accented notes
- most famous composer: Scott Joplin
Mapleleaf Rag
3) Tin Pan Alley
- Piano sales up after Civil War +
popularity of Vaudeville and
Ragtime music = demand for sheet
music up
- leads to rise of Tin Pan Alley =
the collection of New York City
music publishers and songwriters
who dominated the popular music
of the US in the late 19th century
and early 20th century
- famous Tin Pan Alley
songwriters: Irving Berlin, Cole
Porter, Scott Joplin, George
Gershwin
3. Recreation and Entertainment in the Gilded
Age: ($ left over after bills paid + shorter working hrs =
more time for leisure
a. Vaudeville Shows
b. The Saloon:
1) community and political center for
male workers
2) offered free toilets, water for horses,
free newspapers, free lunch etc
3) saloon keepers often served as key
figures in political machines
scandalous!
As Frank Wright of Chicago pointed
out… Saloons outnumbered grocery stores!
The Saloon
“The Voting-Place.”
During the 1840s and 1850s, anti-immigrant feelings grew amongst many native born
whites. These “nativists” argued that immigrants caused many of the nation’s ills by
rejecting “American” work habits, culture, and religion. Along with evangelical reformers,
nativists especially objected to the undisciplined and sometimes violent atmosphere of
working-class saloons. The saloons were the organizing centers for the reformers’ rivals,
urban political machines like New York’s Tammany Hall.
c. Coney Island in NY = an amusement park that
attracted working class families and single
adults
- offered amusements such as water
slides and RR rides
d. Sports = watching sports became popular
1) baseball appeared in 1830s
- 1st salaried team = Cincinnati Red
Stockings 1869
2) football & basketball also rose in
popularity
- football began in private colleges –
later caught on in public colleges.
The rest is history…
1st
Harvard vs. Yale
football game
Nov. 1875
B. Gilded Age Philosophies
1. Social Darwinism
a. developed by Herbert Spencer who applied
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and
natural selection and applied it to human
society
b. The gist? In every activity, humans compete
for success. The unfit or incompetent lose,
the strong or competent win. The winners =
natural upper class
- belief that society progressed and became
better b/c the fittest (smartest, most-talented,
hardest-working) people succeeded
c. Social Darwinism parallels the Laissezfaire philosophy
- Poverty will always exist b/c the stronger
members of society would triumph over
the weaker members.
- Gov’t can’t fix it, so shouldn’t interfere
- some are destined for wealth and power,
some for the opposite
d. Industrial leaders agreed with Social
Darwinism
1) Justified monopolies
2) According to John D. Rockefeller
(Standard Oil), "the growth of a
large business is merely a survival of the
fittest."
The Richest American Ever
Rockefeller and the
American Beauty Rose
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: "The American Beauty rose can be produced in
all its splendor only by sacrificing the early buds that grow up
around it."
2. The Gospel of Wealth
a. Andrew Carnegie (and other rich
industrialists) supported both Social
Darwinism and Laissez-Faire, but he
felt that those who profited from society
should give something back
b. Gospel of Wealth: wealthy Americans
were responsible to engage in
philanthropy, using great fortunes to
further social progress and enhance the
community
Andrew Carnegie and Philanthropy
In 1889, Carnegie
presented the 7
"wisest" fields of
philanthropy:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Universities
Free libraries
Hospitals
Parks
Concert halls
Swimming baths
Church buildings
Carnegie
Library of
Pittsburgh
Carnegie
Hall
NYC
C. Social Criticism – Some believed that
society’s problems could be solved if
Americans & the Government took a more
active role in regulating the economy & those in
need (contrary to Laissez-faire and Social
Darwinism)
1. Henry George on Progress & Poverty
a. Believed LAND was the key to wealth –
people could get rich just waiting for
land prices to rise
b. Solution to poverty? TAX LAND!
- believed it would make society
more = and provide gov’t with $$
to help the poor
2. Reform Darwinism ala Lester Frank Ward
a. Argued that humans are different from
animals – could think, make plans,
produce future outcomes
b. People succeeded b/c of their ability to
cooperate, rather than compete
c. Gov’t could regulate economy, cure
poverty, promote education better than
competition could
3. Naturalism
a. Naturalism: belief that nature can be
understood through scientific observation &
that society functions best w/ some gov’t
intervention
b. Believed some people were caught in
circumstances they couldn’t control
– thus, gov’t should regulate the
economy in some form
D. Helping the Urban Poor
1. The Social Gospel
a. Believed that competition was the
cause of many social problems causing
good people to behave badly
1) against unregulated free enterprise
2) against child labor
3) supported safer working conditions
4) supported Temperance movement
b. Worked to better conditions in cities according
to biblical ideas of charity & justice
c. Inspired many churches to expand their
missions
d. Churches took on community functions
designed to reduce human suffering
and improve society (gyms, day care,)
2. Salvation Army & YMCA: Social Gospel in
Action
a. Salvation Army
- military style org combining
religion, faith & interest in reform
- combined practical aid & religious
counseling to the urban poor
b. YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Assoc.)
- tried to help industrial workers & the
urban poor by providing Bible studies,
citizenship training, grp activities (gyms,
pools, libraries, low-cost hotel rooms)
YMCA
3. Settlement Houses
a. Jane Addams
b. Hull House: middle class citizens lived &
helped poor residents, mostly immigrants
c. Provided programs such as medical care,
recreation, English classes, hot lunch
E. Public Education
1. Public School crucial to success of immigrant
children
a. Americanization: children learned American
culture
Americanization: causing someone to acquire
American traits and characteristics
b. Kids learned English, US History,
responsibilities of citizenship, work ethic,
values
c. Who’s left out of improvements in public
education? Rural Americans and Black
Americans
- leader of black education movement?
Booker T. Washington. Founded the
Tuskegee Institute in Alabama 1881
2. Education for the Workplace
a. Public schools help immigrants assimilate
b. Prepare future workers for jobs
- grammar school: focus on attendance,
neatness, efficiency
- Vo-tech programs High Schools: teach
skills required in specific trades
3. Expanding Higher Education
a. Morrill Land Grant Act
- $$ to states to build A & M Colleges
- college enrollment increases
b. Higher Education for women
- opening of pvt women’s colleges:
Vassar,Wellesley etc
- women’s campus’ added to existing
campus: Harvard, Columbia
4. Public Libraries
a. Provided free education to city dwellers
b. Andrew Carnegie funded construction of
libraries across the US
- believed knowledge was the key to
getting ahead in life
IV. Gilded Age Politics and Reform
A. Problem: Corrupt and Unresponsive
Government
1. Reforming the Spoils System
a. The Problem: Americans concerned that
machine politics and the spoils system
prevented gov’t from addressing issues
and corrupted those who worked in politics
b. Employees working for gov’t are said to be
in “civil service”
c. Since 1820s, most civil service jobs
appointed through patronage (or the spoils
system)
* spoils system = the practice of giving
gov’t jobs to political supporters
d. Results of the Spoils System?
1) incompetent office holders
2) records kept of campaign
contributions from office holders
3) president’s loss of time dealing w/
office seekers
2. The last Straw: The assassination of Pres.
Garfield
a. Charles Guiteau assassinated Pres. Garfield
– furious that he had not been given gov’t job
b. Public outraged at the assassination –
demanded reform of the spoils system
President James
A. Garfield was
shot by Charles
Guiteau on 2
July 1881.
Garfield suffered
through a painful
summer before
succumbing.
3. Solution? Congress responds to calls for
reform with The Pendleton Act
a. also known as the Civil Service Act of 1883
b. replaced the spoils system of appointing
office-holders on a reward-for-political support
basis, with a merit system based on
examinations
c. Reduced the power of political machines,
diminished patronage-related corruption and
created a more efficient federal bureaucracy
d. Provisions of the Pendleton Act
1) competitive exams
2) jobs awarded on merit
3) trial period before final
job confirmation
4) no soliciting for political support
5) can’t be fired for political reasons
6) Presidential extension of civil service
list
B. Problem: Americans distrustful of Big
Business
1. The Situation
a. Industrialization and growth of labor
unions caused unrest in US - violent
strikes
b. Power of big biz also caused concern,
especially for small biz and farmers
1) believed that RRs were gouging (ripping
off) small biz & farmers by giving rebates
rebate: partial refunds to lower the rate of a
good or commodity
2) believed RRs were giving lower fares to
big biz, high volume users
2. States respond by regulating RR rates
regulation : gov’t imposed rule or law
3. States forbidden from regulating
interstate commerce
interstate commerce: refers to the purchase, sale or
exchange of commodities, goods, money, or the transportation
of people or money and navigation of waters between
different states
a. Wabash v. Illinois (1886)
- Supreme Court ruled that only the
Federal gov’t (NOT states) could regulate
interstate commerce
b. Interstate Commerce Act (1st federal law
that regulated interstate commerce)
establishes the Interstate Commerce
Commission (ICC)
1) limited RR rates to “reasonable & just”
level
2) forbade rebates to high-volume users
3) illegal to charge higher rates for shorter
haul
C. Problem: Tariffs
1. The problem with Tariffs
a. effect of tariffs? price of manufactured
goods rose
b. other nations retaliated with tariffs on US
goods (especially ag goods) making it
hard for US farmers to export their
surpluses
c. Some felt tariffs were no longer
necessary because US companies were
now capable of competing internationally
- Democrats favored cutting tariffs
- Republicans favored keeping tariffs to
protect US manufacturers from foreign
competition
2. Solution? The McKinley Tariff
a. Its provisions
1) cut tobacco taxes and sugar tariffs
2) increased tariffs on other goods such as textiles
– to discourage Americans from buying
those imports
b. Its effects
1) lowered federal revenue (income)
2) changed budget surplus to a budget deficit
D. Problem: Growing number of Trusts
1. The problem with Trusts
a. reduced competition
b. potential for price increase and quality
decline
2. The Solution? Sherman Anti-Trust Act
a. attempted to break up
monopolies and trusts that
exploited consumers
b. was largely ineffective
however, because court
rulings generally favored
business owners
D. Problem: Unrest in Rural America
1. Populism: the movement to increase
farmers’ political power and to work
for legislation in their interest
2. Problems facing farmers
a. overproduction = lower prices
- new technology led to production
increases (more crops) which led to
increased supply (surplus) which led to
lower prices (remember, when supply
is greater than demand, prices fall!)
b. high tariffs = higher prices for manufactured
goods + harder for farmers to sell their
surplus overseas.
why? Because in response to US tariffs on
manufactured goods from Europe,
Europe retaliated with tariffs on US
goods – agricultural goods!!
c. Victimized by banks and RRs
- faraway banks set loan rates
- RRs set shipping rates
3. Additional concerns
a. The Money Supply
1) to help finance the Civil War, gov’t
issued greenbacks
greenbacks: paper currency that could be
exchanged for gold or silver
2) rapid increase in money supply w/o
rapid increase in goods for sale caused
inflation
inflation: a decline in the value of $
which causes an increase in prices
3) to control inflation, gov’t stopped
printing greenbacks and paid off bonds,
stopped making silver coins…result?
Not enough money supply to meet the
needs of a growing economy
4) Decreased money supply = Deflation
deflation: an increase in the value of $$ which
causes a decrease in prices)
b. Deflation Hurts Farmers
1) farmers had to borrow $ to plant crops
- short supply of $ caused a rise in
interest rates
- rising interest rates increased amt that
farms owed – made mortgages & other
loans more expensive & when farm prices
dropped, they still had to pay mortgages
& other loans at those high rates
2) falling prices meant farmers sold their
crops for less
4) some farmers wanted more
greenbacks to expand $ supply –
others wanted gov’t to mint silver coins
4. The Grange Takes Action
a. The Grange: a national farm organization
formed for social & educational purposes –
1st national farm org.
1) pressured state legislatures to regulate
RR & warehouse rates which they
thought were too high
2) some joined “Greenback Party” –
wanted more greenbacks to increase $
supply
3) put their $ together & created
cooperatives (store where farmers
bought products from each other; an
enterprise owned and operated by
those who use its services)
- pooled members’ crops & held
them off market to force price
increase
- negotiated shipping rates from RRs
b. The Grange fails
1) unable to improve economic conditions
for farmers
2) co-ops fail
3) by late 1870s, many farmers left the
Grange & joined other orgs that helped
to solve their problems
5. The Farmers Alliance
a. formed in 1877 – most members from
South or Great Plains
b. organized large co-ops called
exchanges for the purpose of forcing
farm prices up & making loans to
farmers at low interest rates
c. Co-ops fail again
E. The People’s Party, or Populist Party is
formed
1. to push for political reforms that would
help farmers solve their problems
2. Farmers met in Ocala, FL & made a list of
demands intended to guide farmers in
choosing whom to vote for in the 1890
midterm elections
a. free coinage of silver
b. end to protective tariffs & national banks
c. tighter regulation of RRs
d. direct election of senators by voters
instead of state legislatures
e. adopt subtreasury plan ( an attempt to
help farmers by holding their crops off
the market long enough to force prices
up)
3. Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 passed
a. Republicans pushed this through in an
attempt to keep farmers from voting for
Populists
b. authorized US treasury to purchase silver
- put more $ in circulation
- did little to help farmers though
4. 1892 Election
a. Populist Party held 1st nat’l convention
- Nominated James B Weaver as their
presidential candidate
b. The People’s Party (Populist Party)
Platform
1) unlimited coinage of silver @ 16:1
- wanted this to increase the $ supply
making it easier for farmers to repay
their loans
2) federal ownership of RRs
3) graduated income tax: tax higher
earnings more heavily
4) labor positions: 8 hr workday, less
immigration, denounce strikebreaking
c. Populists fail. Grover Cleveland (D) wins
1892 election
Results of
1892
Presidential Election
4. The Panic of 1893
a. begins after Reading & Philadelphia RRs
declare bankruptcy
b. worst economic crisis to that date –
depression! 18% unemployment, stock
market crash, bank failures
c. Crisis with nat’l gold reserves. Why? People
began cashing in their bonds for gold
d. Cleveland repeals Sherman Silver Purchase
Act. Why? b/c gold was being lost every
time people exchanged silver for gold under
that Act
D. Election of 1896
1. The Candidates
a. William Jennings Bryan (D)
- supported unlimited coinage of silver
- supported by Populists (farmers)
b. William McKinley (R)
- “front porch” campaign - promised full dinner pail
- supported by urban workers & immigrants
Results of
1896 Presidential Election
2. Klondike Gold Rush
a. 1896: gold discovered near Klondike River in
Canada’s Yukon territory
b. Gold rush brought over 100k prospectors
hoping to strike it big
1) difficult in the remote region. Miners had to brig
a year’s worth of supplies
2) hundreds died from cold, starvation, avalanches
etc.
c. Helped develop lower Alaska
d. Helped increase the money supply
without having a return to silver
coins or paper currency
3. Economy improves in late 1890s
a. Klondike Gold Rush led to increased gold
supply = less opposition to gold-based
currency
a. Led to increased money supply w/o turning
to silver
b. 1900: US officially adopted a gold-based
standard with the Gold Standard Act
4. Populist party declines
a. Failures:
1) economic hardships of farmers not eased
2) more regulations on big biz not achieved
b. Success: several of the Populist’s proposed
reforms become law later in history (such as
graduated income tax and some gov’t
regulation of the economy)
5. Historical Significance of Third Parties
Third Party: any political party other than the
Republican or Democratic Party
a. Often the main parties (R and D) will take up
the issues important to the third party and
those issues will be addressed
b. A strong third-party candidacy can play a
“spoiler” role in an election where the two
major parties are evenly matched - can take
enough votes away from one of the two
major parties to cost its candidate the
election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spgdy3HkcSs&feature=player_embedded
Crash
Course US
History by
John Green
V. Rise of Segregation
A. Resistance and Repression
1. Life for Black Americans
a. Technically free, but extremely poor
b. Many are landless sharecroppers, farmers
who work land for an owner who provides
equipment and seed and receives a share
of the crop
B. Black Americans are disenfranchised
disenfranchise: deny the right to vote
** Southern States restricted voting rights
of black Americans
1. Poll Tax: (a tax of a fixed amount per person
that had to be paid before the person could
vote) – Kept black Americans from voting b/c
many were extremely poor
2. Literacy Tests – kept black Americans from
voting b/c over 50% were illiterate in this era.
Even those who could read often failed b/c
local officials picked complicated reading
passages that few could understand
3. Grandfather Clause
Grandfather Clause: a clause that allowed
individuals who did not pass the literacy test to
vote if their fathers or grandfathers had voted
before Reconstruction began
C. Legalizing Segregation
1. Segregation: separation or isolation of a
race, class or group
2. Segregation North vs South
a. North = defacto segregation: segregation
by custom and tradition
b. South = dejure segregation: segregation
by law
Jim Crow Laws: statutes or laws created
to enforce segregation
4. 14th Amendment
a. Says that no State could deny equal
protection under the law based on race
b. But private organizations and businesses,
were still free to practice segregation
c. As a result, Southern states passed a series
of laws that enforced segregation in virtually
ALL public places: restaurants, RRs, hotels,
pools, etc
5. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
a. Background: 1892, Homer Plessy rode in the
whites only RR car and was arrested – case
went to Supreme Court
b. Supreme Court ruled that “separate but
equal” facilities for the races was legal
c. Established the legal basis for discrimination
in the South for 50 yrs +
d. Facilities always separate, but almost never
equal.
6. Racial Violence
a. Mob violence in the South
b. Lynchings: executions w/o lawful approval
1) 80% in the South
2) 70% of the victims were black Americans
D. African American Response
1. Ida Wells led campaign against lynching
a. Denounced mob violence and demanded a
“fair trial by law for those accused of a
crime”
b. organized women’s clubs to fight for black
civil rights
c. b/c of her activism, lynchings decreased
significantly in the 1900s
2. Mary Church Terrell
a. Led a lifelong battle against lynching, racism
and sexism
b. one of the first black women to get a college
degree and later, a master’s degree
c. one of the founder’s of the NAACP and
served as its first president
3. Booker T Washington
a. Believed that blacks had to achieve
economic independence before civil rights
b. taught that black people must tolerate
discrimination while they proved themselves
equal. They would eventually gain white
respect, and full voting and citizenship rights
would follow.
c. To achieve economic independence,
vocational training, or job skills were
needed
d. founder of the Tuskegee
Institute in Alabama
4. W.E.B. Du Bois
a. Disagreed with Booker T Washington
- said blacks still stripped of civil rights even
with improvements in education and
vocational training
b. said blacks had to demand their social and
civil rights now or else be permanent victims
of racism
c. His solution to discrimination? Protection of
voting rights and other constitutional rights
d. cofounder of NAACP
Knowledge is Power!
Now go study for that test!