BeckerUS History

Population on the Rise1870 to 1900, American population doublesPopulation in cities triples1885 Louis Sullivan invents skyscraperOtis invents elevator: tall buildings practicalElectric trolleys built in major cities Electricity, indoor plumbing, and telephonesMacy’s and Marshall Field’s dept stores

Problems in ParadiseMajor Crime problems in citiesSanitation issues: tenementsEthnic slums crammed with poor immigrants“dumbbell tenements” for the very poor

No plumbing, electricity, or ventilationGarbage and latrine in back alleys3-4 families in 2-room apartmentsFire and disease are commonplace

“Bandits Roost”

Tenement Living

New ImmigrationUntil 1880, most immigrants from W Europe

Mostly literate, to a degreeBelieve in some form of democracy

1880 forward, E and S Europeans dominateMostly illiterate, unskilled laborNot used to democratic governmentSome anarchists, some socialistsMost are poor, competing for same low-pay jobs

Assimilation?Most immigrants settle in ethnic communities

Italian and Jewish ghettos of New YorkRussian ghettos in BaltimoreIrish ghettos in BostonMost retain culture, language, remain “different”

As a result, face racism and hatredNativism develops against “different” peopleAssociation with poverty, slums, and crimeEventually, causes calls to limit immigration

Mulberry Street Italian Ghetto, NYMulberry Street Italian Ghetto, NY

““Businessmen welcome poor foreign Businessmen welcome poor foreign immigrants while “native” Americans are immigrants while “native” Americans are

unemployed on the streets…”unemployed on the streets…”

Fixing the SlumsRise of the social gospel

Walter Rauschenbusch & Washington Gladden Belief that churches had social responsibilityChristians should help cities’ poor

Settlement House movementJane Addams on a mission to help urban poorHull House in 1889 ChicagoProvide homes and education to help immigrant

children fit in to American societyAwarded Nobel Peace Prize in 1931

“Give Me Your Poor…” “nativism,” anti-foreignism returns in 1880sfear that mixing of blood would ruin white race“Native” Americans blame immigrants for gov probsBring dangerous ideas like socialism, communism Unions hate for willingness to work for low wagesImmigrants frequently used as strikebreakers/scabsAmerican Protective Association

formed to oppose immigrationEventually ideas lead to formation of the American Party

Ironically, the Statue of Liberty arrives in 1886

Religion RespondsNew generation of urban revivalists

Dwight Moody forms Moody Bible InstituteCardinal Gibbons is pro-immigrant Catholic leaderSalvation Army starts in England, comes to USMary Baker Eddy founds Christian Science

Healing of the body through the mindYMCA’s and YWCA’s also formed for urban youth

All of these to help immigrants assimilateProvide financial & education assistance in cities

MoodyMoody Cardinal GibbonsCardinal Gibbons

William BoothWilliam Booth

Mary Baker EddyMary Baker Eddy

• Women’s SuffrageWomen’s Suffrage• AbolitionAbolition• Urban PovertyUrban Poverty• TemperanceTemperance

Racial Equality?Few changes in South for blacksBlacks lag far behind whites in educationSegregation, widespread discriminationEx-slave Booker T. Washington has a plan

Forms Tuskegee Institute in AL for blacksTeaching blacks useful skills, trades to advanceBelieves in blacks helping themselves Believes change will not come overnightRacial stereotypes need to be broken by example“Prove to the whites that we are equal”

Other Views on EqualityW.E.B. Du Bois has different vision for blacks

first Black to get a Ph.D. from Harvard Northern black- different life experiencesDemands immediate, complete equality for blacks “We have nothing to prove- we ARE equal.”1910 founds National Association for the

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)DuBois, Washington represent competing views in

the black community on how to gain civil rights

WashingtonWashington Du BoisDu Bois

Gilded Age Authors Kate Chopin,

adultery, suicide, and women’s ambitions The Awakening.

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Gilded Age The Celebrated Jumping Frog of

Calaveras County.

Gilded Age Authors Bret Harte

California gold rush stories. William Dean Howells

editor in chief of the Atlantic Monthly ordinary people and controversial social

themes. Stephen Crane

steamy underside of life in urban, industrial America

Maggie: Girl of the Street. The Red Bad of Courage, (Civil War)

Henry James Daisy Miller Portrait of a Lady women as central characters

Gilded Age Authors Jack London

wild unexplored regions of wilderness Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis The Call of the Wild The Iron Heel.

Frank Norris The Octopus corruption of the railroads.

Paul Laurence Dunbar Charles W. Chesnutt

Black writers used Black dialect and folklore

Entertainment Phineas T. Barnum and James A.

Bailey 1881 create the “Greatest Show on Earth” Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus

“Buffalo Bill” Cody “Wild West” show Featured markswoman Annie Oakley Only contact of most Americans to “Indians” Treats Natives with respect and dignity, but…

James Naismith invented basketball in 1891