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The Gilded Age GERMANY By: Lindey Thomas

German Immigration ● Almost half of the german population immigrated to the United States. They immigrated because of civil unrest, unemployment, and horrible living conditions. They knew america had several job opportunities for them. The new technology also attracted them. The medical readiness that was there also made them migrate to the U.S. . In europe they were trapped in social classes and the german people knew that the U.S. had no such thing. They were also seeking religious freedom as that was available in the U.S. . The German immigrants were also seeking education as there wasn’t much in Germany.

NativismThe nativist of America were against the immigration of thecountries. They feared that the new religions would interruptthe mostly protestant land. The U.S. also feared that theseimmigrants would come in and steal their jobs leaving the nativistwith less money for their families. Two anti-immigrationorganizations were formed; The american Protective Associationand The Workingman’s Party. THe Chinese Exclusion act and theImmigration act were passed to slow down the rate of immigrantsentering into the U.S..

Skyscrapers and TransportationThe creation of new technologies turned into rapid growth.This meant people would have to find out ways to fit andtransport all the new arrivals. This is when the creation ofskyscrapers arose. They had to build up so that they could fiteveryone in the towns. The new transportations meant morepeople could be hauled more easily. Horsecars moved about70% of the traffic and also cable cars were a hugeinnovation.

Tenement housingMost migrating families were searching for housing to eventually live in.For now however, they were forced to live in tenements. These were smallmulti livable apartments. By that I mean that they they could holdmultiple families in one tenement. They fit but it was an extremely tightfit. They were very poor living conditions with very little free space aswell as food. It was the only source of housing due to the influx of peoplemoving.

Urbanization ProblemsThe problems of crime, violence, fire, disease, and pollution.Thieves began to thrive during this time period. The murder rateincreased by 75 million. Pollution and disease were even worsethan the crime. Sewage wasn’t properly drained and this left thecities contaminated with germs. With pollution smoke was beingrapidly released from the chimneys, cow manure was left in thestreets, and also ash from coal and wood fires. These made livingconditions worse and the urbanization was getting even moreworse.

Political Machines and Party BossesPolitical Machines began to rise because they wanted to keep the powerbecause the cities had started to grow much faster than theirgovernments. These were just informal political groups. Party Bossesalso rose but they provided the necessities in return for votes. Partybosses controls finances as well. Political machines mainly grew theirwealth illegally. Corrupt political bosses sold permits to their friendsfor things such as; railroads, waterworks, and powersystems.

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Social DarwinismSocial Darwinism was a philosophy based on Charles Darwin'stheory of evolution and natural selection. THis said that humanshave developed through competition and natural selection withonly the strongest surviving. Most like to shorten this definition tosurvival of the fittest. Many religious people found theseconclusions offensive because of the evolution part of the process.

Gospel of wealthThis was created by Andrew Carnegie was the creator of all ofthis. This was his philosophy that people should engage inphilanthropy and give their wealth to people that could use thethings to help themselves. The buildings of schools and hospitalsgave them actual things to rely on. Carnegie’s ideas wereaccepted by the nation’s wealthy people. The late 1800s was atime when many people made a lot of money. This was also an eraof philanthropy when the wealthy people gave away a great dealof money to make American society better and build up Americanculture.

ReformsProgress and Poverty was created to challenge Social Darwinism. This also statedthat Laissez-Fair economics was making things worse not better. Dynamic Sociologywas created where Lester Frank Ward argued that humans were different fromanimals because they had the ability to make plans to make the future outcomes theywanted. This became known as reform Darwinism. Looking Backward, created byEdward Bellamy, was a reform novel of socialism. Naturalism, a new form was writing,was created due to challenging Social Darwinism. This was the thought that people hadthings going on in their life that they could not control.

Realisms in artThe form of art known as realism was created in the 1800s and itillustrated ordinary people doing ordinary things. This wanted todisplay life realistically instead of fantasizing it. With this formof life it captured the way of life during that era. People began toadd it in their novels for readers to connect with their bookmore easily. Writers such as Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens werejust a few that used realism in their novels.

Populism and the Populist PartyPopulism was the movement to increase farmers political power and workfor legislature in their interest. This favored free coinage andgovernment controlling railroads. Under this idea the Populist Party arose.These were the people who wanted unlimited coinage of silver, graduatedincome tax, and to appeal organized labor. Eventually they had to sidewith the democrats because they did have enough supporters to backthem in the election. WIth William Jennings Bryan being the candidatethey were following in the election. Although they didn’t win, their wantswere later recognized and came into play. The populist were just aheadof their time.

Leisurely activitiesActivities such as reading, watching shows, working, and theftbecame leisurely for the german people. I know that workingdoesn’t seem like a fun free time activity but to them, they knewno different. The show were known as “leg shows” that wereusually watched by men. Reading was an everyday thing formany people of this era. Theft arose because of the freedomthat many of these immigrants were experiencing.