Gilded Age Book by Hannah Stewart

The Age of IndustryDuring a time of immigrationand industry monopolies, halfof the United States strug lesto get by while others spendtime monopolizing citizensand wasting the food thatothers would adore. In thisbook you will learn how yourworld used to be. In many waysyou will be surprised so readwith caution and prepare to beshocked.

General Immigration Immigrants moving to the United State came from Europe, Canada, Latin America, and Asia. Many moved to the U.S. because they had more job opportunities. Also, many wanted to escape persecution and restrictions because of social classes. One more reason for immigrants to leave their home country is the fact that their countries were “running out of room.”

Greek immigration Greeks came to the U.S. because there were not enough jobs or employment. Also Greece was in foreign debt and farmers were going bankrupt. They came to the U.S. because the U.S. had jobs, places to live, and freedom. Greeks mostly settled near the East Coast or the midwest. The Greek brought along the idea of the Greek Orthodox Church. This particular church is still seen today.

Nativism Nativism is when native-born people dislikenew immigrants. Nativism was unfair toimmigrants looking for work because the ownersof businesses would not pay them as much as theywould native-born people. If for some reason anative could not work then immigrants would fillin for them, get paid less, and have to live poorly.

The building of skyscrapers & public transportation Skyscrapers were built due to the lack ofroom in the city. So, instead of building out, theybuilt up. This developed more places to work butcaused many death due to not having enoughsafety precautions. New transportation vehicles were also beingused during this time. Things like cable cars wereused to transport people to their jobs instead ofusing railroads and/or walking.

Tenement housing Tenements were full of people constantly.Most houses like these were almost toocrowded. There were normally only one or twobedroom(s). Normally people who lived intenement houses were poor and didn’t havegood paying jobs. These homes were almostalways unsanitary and barely meeting livingstandards.

Problems due to urbanization Urbanization had many effects in the U.S. Things like citycongestion, pollution, sanitation, tenement housing, and crime areonly a few of the effects. Congestion is when you have way toomany people in one area. Pollution coming from factories.Sanitation coming from waste being thrown out on the streets neartenement houses and tenement house alone are unsanitary. Crimespeaks for itself. Obvious things like pick-pocketing and murderincreased due to urbanization.

Political machines and party bosses A political machine was a political group of peoplemeant to gain and keep power. They heard of thepeople needing food, housing, money, and protectionand they, being the political machines, wanted votes.So, the political machines gained power by trading thevotes for supplies given by party bosses.

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall was a Democratic politicalmachine in New York City. Tammany Hall was themost disgraceful organization during this time.William Tweed Tammany Hall and ran it until he wasarrested in 1874.

Social Darwinism Social Darwinism a philosophy created byCharles Darwin. Social Darwinism inforced theidea of individualism. Individualism is thebelief that regardless of what class you wereborn in or how you low you are, if you workhard you can achieve greatness. For example,you could be born into the lower class, live in atenement house all throughout school andthen once you graduate from high school youbecome an entrepreneur and become wealthy.

Gospel of Wealth The Gospel of Wealth was anotherphilosophy built on the idea of SocialDarwinism. This philosophy was created byAndrew Carnegie. Carnegie believed thatall those who are wealthy should give backto the people of the U.S. He encouragedother wealthy people to do things like buildschool, libraries, or hospitals.

Reforms When Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president he firedeveryone that was hired under the Spoils System and decided toonly hire reformers. This decision created three different types ofpeople in the Republican party. They were called Stalwarts, HalfBreeds, and reformers. Stalwarts are the people who wanted tospoils system. Half Breeds were the people who did not wantedeither reform or the spoils system. Lastly, Reformers are thepeople who wanted reform. Also the document called the Pendleton Civil Service Actwas signed in 1883. This document was created to address theoverflowing jobs in the government.

Realism in Art Realism is considered the first modern movement inart. Realism rejected traditional form of art andliterature. Artist now used real-live events and people intheir art instead of using things like idealistic imagery liketraditional artists.

Populists and Populist Party Populists were people who people (farmers) who did notagree with Republicans or Democrats. They believe both wereunfair to farmers. So they created their own party where theytried to elect James B. Weaver. Sadly for the farmers, Weaverdid not win the election.