A Nation of Cities and New Ways of Life (2.5 and 2.6)

Vocabulary flashcards covering urbanization, socioeconomic stratification, immigration impacts, urban challenges and innovations, and the rise of mass culture and consumerism from sections 2.5 and 2.6.

Lower Class

A socioeconomic group of basic laborers and unskilled workers who lived in crowded, poor, and unsafe urban tenements, had a low standard of living, and required all family members to work.

Tenements

Urban dwellings characterized by crowded, poor, and unsafe conditions where lower-class workers and their families lived.

Middle Class

A socioeconomic group of skilled workers, such as managers, accountants, and engineers, who enjoyed a higher standard of living, sent their children to school, and could live in suburbs due to mass transit.

Upper Class

A socioeconomic group consisting of business owners and politicians who owned multiple homes, employed servants to manage their household and children, and whose wives did not work.

Chinese Exclusion Act

A restrictive immigration law enacted as a political response to the increase in immigration into the United States.

Gentleman's Agreement

A political measure restricting immigration to the United States during the era of rising immigration.

Literacy Tests

Examinations introduced as legal restrictions to limit the flow of immigrants arriving in the United States.

Melting Pot / Salad Bowl

Cultural concepts representing how immigrants brought diverse new traditions and cultural ways of life to the United States.

Americanization

A social movement driven by native-born Americans who expected incoming immigrants to assimilate into American culture and language.

Xenophobia

Fear, hatred, or prejudice directed toward immigrants and foreign nationals, which increased alongside high immigration levels.

Skyscrapers

Tall multi-story buildings developed to solve the lack of urban living and working space, made practical by the development of elevators.

Mass Transit

Urban public transportation systems, including subways, trollies, and street cars, that solved commuting challenges and allowed workers to live in the suburbs.

Indoor Plumbing

An infrastructural solution implemented in growing cities to control the spread of illness and disease.

Mass Culture ('Pop Culture')

Shared entertainment, activities, and interests popular among the majority of people in a particular region and age group, encompassing music, sports, news, literature, and fashion.

Mass Consumerism

A social and economic trend during urbanization where people purchased goods and commodities in greater quantities than ever before.

Department Store

A retail business that offers a wide variety of merchandise under one roof.

Mail Order Catalog

A publication allowing consumers to purchase goods from home without traveling, which was especially beneficial to rural Americans.