Life at the Turn of the 20th Century

1
Life at the Turn of the 20th Century

• Immigration
• Political Scandal Reform
• Discrimination

2
UrbanizationGrowth of cities

• Pull Factors
• Open factories new job opportunities
• Luxuries of city (plays, concerts, dept. stores)
• Technology indoor plumbing electricity
• Anonymity
• Chain migration bring families

• Push Factors
• Mechanization machines produce goods faster,
  more efficiently gt no need for man power
• Bad crops
• Poor economy

3
Immigration

• U.S. Land of Opportunities
• 1800s stream of immigrants gt flood
• Between 1880-1920, 25 million immigrants (1/2 as
  many people as living in entire country)
• Immigration facilitated by transportation
• 1st sight of U.S. Statue of Liberty Ellis
  Island
• Most went to cities
• Created ethnic diversity

4
Waves of Immigrants

• New Immigrants
• Made up 80 of immigrants between 1890-1920
• From S. E. Europe (Italy, Greece, Poland,
  Russia)
• Roman Catholic, E. Orthodox Jewish
• Uneducated, illiterate
• Poor

• Old Immigrants
• Came before 1890
• Mostly from N. W. Europe (GB, Ireland, Germany,
  Scandinavian countries)
• Spoke English
• Protestant religion
• Well-educated
• Some wealth ()

5
Social Problems

• Major Problems
• poor housing political corruption
• White racism gt difficulty for immigrants to
  Americanize or assimilate
• Nativists prefer native-born Americans over
  immigrants
• Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 prohibit Chinese from
  entering for 10 yrs (ban not lifted until 1965)

• Cities
• Low pay jobs gt additional source of income
  (gambling, robbery, extortion, prostitution,
  drugs)
• Population increased gt violence increase (murder,
  gangs)
• Lack of adequate services (fire, police, sewage,
  garbage)

6
Labor Structure

• Immigrants
• Made up over ½ of working population
• Hierarchy
• Native born whites
• Old immigrants - skilled N. Europeans (farming)
• Jews (clothing, banking)
• New immigrants (S. E. Europe) dirty jobs
  custodial garbage
• Blacks servants

7
Urban Life

• Wealthy
• in industry/ business nice homes
• Middle Class
• Accountants, managers, teachers, engineers,
  lawyers, doctors
• Standards for living
• Working Class
• Low wages housing shortage gt tenements
• Unhealthy, no plumbing
• City Map Structure

8
City Map Structure

• What would be in the center of the city? Why?
• Who would live closest to the city center? Why?
• Whats next?
• Then?
• And around the outside of the city?

9
Settlement House Movement

• Settlement House
• Place for people to go for shelter, food, help
• Focused on women, children immigrants
• Jane Addams
• Started 1st settlement house (Hull House) in
  Chicago
• Social Gospel Movement
• Faith should be expressed through good works
• Moral duty to help others

10
Political Machines

• Political Machine
• Organization of professional politicians who won
  support by promising jobs or helping families
• Made cities run better but often corrupt
• Tammany Hall
• Most famous machine
• In NY City
• Led by William Tweed gt became rich gt convicted of
  fraud imprisoned

11
Farming Reforms

• Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
• Reasonable railroad rates
• 1st time federal govt passed law to regulate
  industry
• Populist (Peoples Party)
• Founded by farmers
• Return to gold AND silver standard
• Regulate railroads

12
Segregation

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
• Supreme Court UPHELD segregation
• Said separate BUT equal facilities did NOT
  violate the 14th Amendment (citizenship)

• Jim Crow Laws
• Created enforced segregation in public places
• Passed by Southern state legislatures
• Lynching
• Worst outcome of discrimination
• Murder of an individual by a group or mob

13
Discrimination

• Booker T. Washington
• Blacks should accept segregation work w/in
  system
• W.E.B. DuBois
• Blacks should demand full rights immediately
• Helped found NAACP
• Other groups
• Hispanic, Asian Native Americans all faced
  discrimination