Ch.15.1 Politics of the Gilded Age

• Q - How did business influence politics during the Gilded Age?

• A - Business used money & corruption to get the Government to not regulate their industries, while at the same time working out favorable deals to buy and use Federal lands

• Mark Twain coined the term “Gilded Age” to describe the prosperity that covered up the corruption of the time

Ch.15.1 Politics of the Gilded Age

• Q - In what ways did government reform the spoils system and regulate railroads?

• A - Congress established the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) to help regulate the railroads, but it had very little real power

• The Pendleton Civil Service Act created a classification of govt. jobs that could not be awarded based on politics but rather based on abilities

Ch.15.2 People on the Move

• Q - What were the experiences of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s?

• A - Most of the nearly 10 million immigrants that came to the US between 1865-1890 were leaving bad living conditions in their homeland.

• More than 70% of all immigrants during this time came to America through New York City

Ch.15.2 People on the Move

• Q - What different challenges did immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Mexico face?

• A - European immigrants often formed neighborhoods with people from their same country called ghettos

• Eastern Europeans and Jews were often treated poorly and in some cases viewed as lowly as African Americans at the time

Ch.15.2 People on the Move

• Q - What different challenges did immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Mexico face? (cont)

• A - Asian immigrants came over because of being hired by the railroad companies

• In some cases Asian immigrants were segregated from whites

• In 1906 Pres. Roosevelt forms a “Gentlemen’s Agreement” w/ Japan to end the segregation but to have them stop issuing workers passports to come to the US.

Ch.15.2 People on the Move

• Q - What different challenges did immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Mexico face? (cont)

• A - Mexican immigrants began to come to the US to work on ranches and mines.

• When Congress passed the limits on European and Asian immigration in 1921 more Mexicans began to migrate because of the labor shortages

Ch.15.3 The Challenge of the Cities

• Q - What new developments helped cities grow?

• A - From the 1860 to 1900 Transportation went from walking to horse drawn carriages to motorized vehicles

• Elevated trains and subway trains first started being used during this time

• New construction methods allowed for cities to expand upward

Ch.15.3 The Challenge of the Cities

• Q - What were the results of city growth?

• A - Cities grew so fast they became difficult to govern and life could be unstable

• Cities featured a wide variety of interest groups and a distinct disparity between the wealthy and the poor

• Political machines were developed to organize, control and profit from these situations

Ch.15.4 Ideas for Reform

• Q - How did different movements help the needy?

• A - Charity Organization - Wanted immigrants to give up their old way of life and adopt new American customs

• Social Gospel - Applied religious teachings to social problems

• Settlement - Established in poor neighborhoods and provided a variety of services

Ch.15.4 Ideas for Reform

• Q - How and where did sociology develop?

• A - Sociology developed as a scientific study of how people interact in a society

• The main cause of this work was to understand the effects that industry and urban growth had on communities and people

Ch.15.4 Ideas for Reform

• Q - What efforts were made to control immigration and personal behavior in the late 1800s?

• A - Anti Immigrant feelings developed when problems from urban growth developed

• Groups like the APA (American Protective Association) formed to prevent immigrants from coming to the US or allowing them to assimilate to US culture