Gilded Age: Immigration & Urbanization

Reasons Immigrants were seen as valuable

source of cheap labor & source of votes

Ellis Island & Angel Island

entry points into the US during late 1800s-early 1900s

nativism

favoritism toward native-born Americans (Anglo-Saxons)

Chinese Exclusion Act

banned entry to all Chinese, except students, teachers, gov't officials, merchants

Gentlemen's Agreement

Japan would limit emigration of unskilled workers in exchange for repeal of segregation in San Francisco

Americanization Movement

education program designed to assimilate immigrants into American culture

urbanization

growth of cities (late 1800s-early 1900s)

Great Migration

movement of African Americans from the South to North--seeking jobs & better life

Problems with Urbanization

tenements were overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, crime, fires, political corruption

Jane Addams

founded Hull House & leader in settlement house movement--helped provide services to the poor & push for better living & working conditions

political machine

group that controlled activities of a political party--offered services to voters & businesses in exchange for political or financial support

graft

using one's political influence for personal gain

Tammany Hall

led by William "Boss" Tweed & dominated gov't in NYC; stayed in power by providing welfare to immigrants, voter fraud, kickbacks to businesses

muckrakers

journalists who helped expose abuses & problems in society (Jacob Riis, Thomas Nast, Lincoln Steffens)

patronage

giving jobs to supporters

Pendleton Act

created Civil Service Commission & merit based hiring

Technological Developments in Cities at Turn of 20th Century

steel bridges, skyscrapers, elevators, subways, planned urban parks

Influential Inventions at Turn of 20th Century

faster printing press, airplane, camera

Booker T. Washington

encouraged African Americans to seek vocational education so they could prove their worth to society

W.E.B. DuBois

encouraged African Americans to seek a liberal arts education & sought immediate inclusion into society

Voting Restrictions in South

poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clause

Jim Crow Laws

laws requiring segregated facilities; were upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson

Plessy v. Ferguson

established the "separate but equal" doctrine--separate facilities did not violate the 14th Amendment equal protection clause

yellow journalism

sensationalism; exaggeration of the news in order to sell more newspapers

Leisure Activities at Turn of the 20th Century

amusement parks, bicycles, tennis, boxing, baseball

Developments in Retail Industry at Turn of the 20th Century

shopping districts, department stores, chain stores, advertising, catalogs