Urbanization + American Culture (3)

Unit 6

Late 1800s Immigration

• Europeans fleeing poverty, overcrowding, persecution, etc.

• U.S. offers many opportunities

Old + New Immigrants

• “Old” immigrants → Northern & Western Europeans

• “New” immigrants → Southern + Eastern Europeans (Italians, Greeks, Croats, Slovaks, Poles, and Russians)

Restricting Immigration

• 1882: Chinese Exclusion Act: Shuts down Chinese immigration

• Other new laws restricted immigration of “ undesirable” people

• 1886: Statue of Liberty completed in NYC

Support for Immigration Restrictions

• Labor unions, nativists, social darwinists, and many others

• 1900: Almost 15% of the U.S. population are recent immigrants

Overcrowded, filthy slums and tenement buildings appear

• Crammed 4,000 ppl into every city block

• “How the Other Half Lives” → “book” by Jacob Riis

• Creation of ethnic-based neighborhoods

“Political Machines” (Corrupt Politicians) take control of many city governments

• Highly organized groups of corrupt politicians

• Ex. Tammany Hall in New York City

• Political machines could be generous and sometimes helped out new immigrants

• They could also be greedy - often stole millions from the city’s taxpayers

The Social Gospel

• Applied Christian principles to social problems in cities

• Middle Class Americans should help urban problems

Settlement Houses

• Established by young, educated men and women

• Provided assistance and services for the poor

Wyoming

• 1st state to grant full suffrage to women in 1869

Temperance Movement

• Bars and saloons closed down in some states

Urban Reforms

• Effort to combat city government corruption

• Ex. Theodore Roosevelt tried to clean up the NYPD

Public Schools

• New compulsory education laws

• Growing support for tax-supported public high schools

Higher Education

• Number of U.S. colleges greatly increases

• Colleges offer more diverse courses and extracurricular activities

New emphasis on Realism in art, literature, and paintings

• Ex. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)

New forms of entertainment help distract workers from their misery

• Theater, vaudeville, circuses, and “Wild West” shows

• Start of professional spectator sports → ex. boxing + baseball (only men)