u.s. history flip book

THE​ G​ ILDED​ ​AGE​ 1​ 870​ ​-​ 1​ 900          Created​ b​ y​ ​:​ M​ adison​ ​Wise              

Immigration:  Irish:​ t​ hey​ ​were​ ​among​ ​the​ p​ oorest​ ​to​ ​immigrate​ ​to​ ​america.​ t​ his​ ​caused them​ t​ o​ ​usually​ e​ nd​ u​ p​ a​ s​ r​ ailroad​ ​workers,​ ​miners,​ d​ ockworkers, ditch-diggers,​ ​and​ f​ actory​ ​workers  Ethnic​ g​ roups:​ S​ ome​ ​ethnic​ g​ roups​ i​ ncluded​ ​the​ ​Europeans,​ ​Serbians, Russians,​ ​Austro-Hungarians,​ ​Greeks,​ a​ nd​ I​ talians.   Impacts:​ ​These​ ​immigrants​ ​helped​ w​ ith​ d​ iversity​ i​ n​ A​ merica’s​ ​cities​ a​ nd changed​ t​ he​ ​demographics​ o​ f​ w​ orkforce.  Push​ f​ actors:​ ​Very​ ​high​ ​rent​ ​and​ ​taxes,​ u​ nemployment,​ ​land​ ​shortages, and​ c​ holera​ e​ pidemic.  Pull​ f​ actors:​ A​ ​ l​ ot​ o​ f​ i​ mmigrants​ w​ ere​ v​ ery​ ​poor​ ​and​ ​knew​ ​they​ c​ ould​ m​ ake money​ b​ y​ ​working​ a​ t​ ​industries​ ​in​ ​America.​ O​ thers​ w​ ere​ ​trapped​ ​in​ t​ he “social​ c​ lass​ l​ adder”​ ​in​ p​ laces​ l​ ike​ E​ ngland.  Immigration​ ​did​ ​more​ g​ ood​ ​than​ ​bad​ ​in​ t​ he​ 1​ 800s.​ ​Because​ s​ o​ m​ any immigrants​ ​came​ t​ o​ A​ merica,​ w​ hether​ i​ t​ b​ e​ f​ or​ ​jobs​ ​or​ ​to​ e​ scape​ ​from religious​ p​ ersecution,​ ​they​ b​ enefitted​ ​other​ ​Americans​ b​ y​ ​helping​ ​with diversity​ a​ nd​ a​ ​ ​new​ ​culture.                    

Nativism:   Most​ n​ ativist​ w​ ere​ ​Americans​ d​ escendents​ f​ rom​ t​ he​ I​ rish​ ​and German​ t​ hat​ ​claimed​ t​ he​ s​ outh​ ​and​ e​ ast​ p​ ortion​ ​of​ ​America.​ T​ hey​ w​ eren’t very​ f​ ond​ o​ f​ i​ mmigrants​ ​and​ ​saw​ t​ hem​ a​ s​ p​ oor​ ​and​ ​illiterate.​ ​Most​ o​ f​ t​ he immigrants​ ​were​ ​religious​ ​people​ b​ eing​ e​ ither​ ​Catholic,​ ​Jewish,​ ​or​ ​Eastern Orthodox,​ a​ nd​ w​ ere​ s​ trongly​ d​ isliked​ f​ or​ ​that.​ ​Many​ ​nativists​ h​ ated​ ​or​ e​ ven despised​ ​the​ ​Chinese​ ​immigrants,​ w​ ho​ w​ ere​ ​the​ p​ eople​ ​that​ s​ pent​ ​most​ o​ f the​ ​time​ ​building​ ​the​ ​railroads.​ ​In​ 1​ 882,​ ​Congress​ p​ assed​ a​ ​ C​ hinese Exclusion​ ​Act,​ t​ hat​ ​banned​ a​ bsolutely​ a​ ll​ ​the​ C​ hinese​ i​ mmigration.​ T​ he Nativist​ b​ lamed​ ​all​ ​the​ ​immigrants​ ​for​ d​ isease​ a​ nd​ c​ rime,​ ​stealing​ ​their jobs,​ ​and​ w​ ere​ ​very​ h​ ostile,​ ​even​ ​though​ m​ ost​ ​of​ t​ he​ N​ ativist​ ​were​ o​ nce immigrants​ ​as​ ​well.                                      

Skyscrapers​ a​ nd​ ​Public​ T​ ransportation:   In​ ​the​ G​ ilded​ ​Age,​ ​all​ b​ usinessmen​ ​wanted​ ​to​ ​feel​ p​ ower​ a​ nd​ w​ ealth. There​ ​was​ ​no​ b​ etter​ w​ ay​ t​ o​ f​ eel​ b​ ig​ ​rather​ t​ han​ ​being​ ​big.​ S​ kyscrapers helped​ ​the​ b​ usinessmen​ ​with​ b​ uilding​ u​ p​ i​ nstead​ o​ f​ ​out.​ T​ his​ h​ elped​ w​ ith the​ i​ nflux​ o​ f​ ​people​ m​ oving​ i​ nto​ ​urban​ ​cities.​ ​Another​ ​thing​ t​ hat​ h​ elped with​ t​ his​ m​ ass​ ​population​ ​was​ ​public​ ​transportation​ s​ uch​ a​ s,​ c​ able​ c​ ars, subways,​ t​ rolleys,​ ​and​ r​ ailroads.​ ​All​ o​ f​ ​these​ ​helped​ a​ ​ ​lot​ ​by​ ​getting​ ​people from​ ​one​ p​ lace​ t​ o​ ​another​ a​ ​ l​ ot​ q​ uicker​ ​since​ m​ ost​ o​ f​ ​them​ h​ ad​ j​ obs​ i​ n​ ​the city.                                   

Tenement​ h​ ouse:   Tenement​ ​houses​ w​ ere​ ​multi-family​ ​apartments.​ ​They​ ​were​ u​ sually dark,​ c​ old,​ c​ rowded,​ ​and​ ​barely​ m​ et​ ​any​ o​ f​ ​the​ l​ iving​ ​standards​ ​for​ ​normal homes.​ F​ or​ s​ omeone​ l​ iving​ i​ n​ t​ hese​ a​ partments​ ​only​ m​ ade​ a​ bout​ $​ 445 annually.​ ​Around​ 6​ 5%​ ​of​ ​working​ f​ amilies​ ​relied​ o​ n​ ​more​ ​than​ ​one​ i​ ncome. Other​ ​parents​ w​ orked​ ​and​ s​ ometimes​ e​ ven​ ​children.                                        

 Urbanization​ P​ roblems:   The​ ​cities​ ​grew​ ​very​ ​fast​ a​ nd​ t​ his​ ​caused​ ​problems​ f​ or​ ​the​ ​urban government​ a​ nd​ t​ hey​ c​ ouldn’t​ ​deal​ ​with​ ​all​ ​the​ i​ ssues​ v​ ery​ w​ ell.​ ​There were​ ​ton​ ​of​ ​fires,​ e​ xtreme​ ​pollution,​ d​ iseases​ ​&​ c​ rime.​ A​ lmost​ ​all​ ​of​ t​ he water​ w​ as​ ​contaminated​ a​ nd/or​ ​polluted​ ​and​ t​ hat​ c​ aused​ ​typhoid​ f​ ever and​ c​ holera​ ​minus​ ​when​ ​people​ f​ lushed​ t​ oilets.​ ​Basically​ a​ ll​ t​ he​ ​pollution was​ c​ aused​ f​ rom​ ​the​ h​ orses,​ f​ actory​ ​smoke,​ ​and​ ​ashes​ f​ rom​ ​wood​ b​ urning stoves.                       

Political​ M​ achines​ ​and​ ​Party​ B​ oss:   Political​ m​ achines​ a​ re​ ​informal​ p​ olitical​ g​ roup​ d​ esigned​ ​to​ g​ ain​ a​ nd keep​ p​ ower.​ ​A​ p​ arty​ b​ oss​ i​ s​ ​a​ p​ erson​ ​who​ ​is​ i​ n​ c​ harge​ o​ f​ t​ he​ p​ olitical machines.​ T​ hey​ g​ ained​ ​so​ m​ uch​ ​power​ ​from​ t​ his​ b​ ecause​ t​ he​ ​party​ ​bosses also​ c​ ontrolled​ t​ he​ c​ ity’s​ ​finances.​ T​ his​ ​helped​ ​politicians​ ​of​ ​machines​ ​get rich​ q​ uickly​ f​ rom​ f​ raud.​ T​ hey​ w​ ould​ p​ romise​ f​ ood,​ ​houses,​ ​jobs,​ ​police protection,​ a​ nd​ h​ eat​ i​ n​ ​exchange​ f​ or​ v​ otes.                                          

Tammany​ H​ all:   Tammany​ H​ all​ w​ as​ a​ ​ ​New​ ​York​ ​City​ ​democratic​ ​political​ ​machine. The​ l​ eader​ ​of​ t​ his​ ​was​ ​a​ ​man​ k​ nown​ ​as,​ ​William​ T​ weed,​ o​ therwise​ k​ nown as​ ​“Boss”.​ H​ e​ w​ as​ ​the​ ​leader​ ​from​ 1​ 860s​ t​ o​ ​1870s.                                          

Social​ ​Darwinism:   Social​ D​ arwinism​ w​ as​ ​created​ ​by​ ​Charles​ ​Darwin​ ​and​ ​was​ t​ he​ ​idea that​ ​in​ ​this​ ​world,​ o​ nly​ t​ he​ f​ ittest​ ​survive.​ T​ his​ ​helped​ ​reinforced individualism.​ I​ ndividualism​ s​ tates:​ ​no​ ​matter​ ​what​ y​ our​ ​background, through​ e​ ffort,​ ​someone​ ​can​ s​ till​ ​become​ ​successful.​ ​Along​ w​ ith​ ​that,​ t​ his also​ ​argued​ ​that​ ​plant​ ​and​ ​animal​ ​life​ ​has​ e​ volved​ t​ hrough​ n​ atural selection.​ ​This​ p​ rocess​ ​was​ ​that​ i​ f​ a​ n​ ​animal/plant​ ​could​ n​ ot​ ​adapt​ t​ o​ i​ ts environment,​ ​it​ ​would​ d​ ie​ ​off.                               

Gospel​ o​ f​ ​Wealth:   Andrew​ ​Carnegie​ ​wrote​ a​ ​ b​ ook​ c​ alled​ t​ he​ ​“Gospel​ o​ f​ W​ ealth”​ ​which said,​ ​Americans​ s​ hould​ ​engage​ i​ n​ p​ hilanthropy,​ u​ se​ t​ heir​ ​wealth​ ​to​ ​better and​ ​save​ ​themselves​ r​ ather​ ​than​ b​ uild​ s​ chool​ a​ nd​ h​ ospitals.​ ​Carnegie created​ ​many​ ​libraries​ ​and​ ​believed​ t​ he​ ​provided​ ​the​ i​ nformation​ ​to​ ​go​ f​ ar and​ ​get​ ​ahead​ ​in​ ​life.                                        

Reforms:   A​ r​ eform​ ​is​ a​ ​ t​ ype​ ​of​ ​social​ m​ ovement​ t​ hat​ ​tries​ ​to​ m​ ake​ ​change,​ o​ r change​ i​ n​ ​certain​ ​things​ ​of​ s​ ociety​ s​ lowly,​ r​ ather​ ​than​ f​ ast​ ​or​ c​ omplicated changes.​ ​Some​ ​reform​ m​ ovements​ a​ re​ s​ tarted​ f​ rom​ ​social​ ​movements. Reformists'​ i​ deas​ ​were​ ​often​ ​liberal.​ ​Some​ ​reforms​ ​were:​ ​Women’s suffrage,​ C​ ivil​ ​service,​ T​ emperance​ m​ ovement,​ ​People’s​ p​ arty,​ a​ nd​ o​ thers.                              

Populist​ a​ nd​ ​the​ ​Populist​ P​ arty:   The​ ​People's​ P​ arty​ o​ r​ ​“the​ P​ opulist​ ​Party”,​ w​ as​ ​developed​ ​Missouri​ ​in 1892​ ​to​ r​ epresent​ t​ he​ ​common​ ​people,​ ​especially​ ​farmers,​ a​ gainst​ ​the establishments​ ​of​ r​ ailroads,​ ​bankers,​ ​processors,​ c​ orporations,​ a​ nd​ ​the politicians​ ​with​ ​those​ i​ nterests.