Gilded Age: Immigration, Reform, and Politics

Immigration and Migration

  • Immigration Trends:

    • Influx of Europeans and Asians (Irish, German, Scandinavian, Chinese).
    • Motivations: escaping poverty, religious persecution, seeking social mobility and economic opportunities.
    • Settlement in urban areas, creation of ethnic enclaves to preserve culture and influence the receiving society.

  • Immigration vs. Migration:

    • Immigration: Movement from one country to another.
    • Migration: Movement within the same country.

  • Internal Migration: The Exoduster Movement:

    • Mass migration of Black people from the South to the Midwest.
    • Reasons: Escape Jim Crow laws, persecution, and violence (lynching, KKK).
    • Desire to establish homesteads and become farmers.

Opposition and Assistance to Immigrants

  • Opposition from Nativists and Labor Unions:

    • Labor Unions: Opposed immigrants due to their willingness to work for lower wages, undermining union efforts to raise wages.
    • Example: Factory owners replacing union workers with cheaper immigrant labor.

  • Nativists:

    • Sought to protect the rights and culture of native-born people.
    • American Protective Association: Anti-Catholic sentiment directed towards Irish immigrants.
    • Chinese Exclusion Act: Restricted immigration from China due to Americans fearing job competition on the West Coast.
    • Social Darwinism: Nativists believed immigrants, particularly the Irish, would degrade the gene pool.

  • Assistance to Immigrants:

    • Jane Addams and Settlement Houses: Facilitated assimilation by teaching English and helping immigrants find jobs.
    • Hull House: Example of a settlement house.

Reform Movements

  • Social Gospel:

    • Growing number of Christians believed the gospel should address societal ills, not just individual sins.
    • Advocated for reducing poverty and addressing social injustices.

  • Socialism:

    • Attracted the working class due to the vast gap between the wealthy and poor.
    • Eugene V. Debs: Leader of a major labor union, champion of socialism, and founder of the Socialist Party of America.
    • Debs ran for president five times (once from prison) but never won.

  • Populist Party:

    • Represented the interests of farmers.
    • Aimed to correct the concentration of economic power held by trusts and banks.
    • Farmers struggled with railroad practices affecting their ability to bring products to market.
    • Omaha Platform: Populist platform that included:
      • Direct election of senators (previously voted by state legislatures).
      • Initiative and referendum to increase citizen involvement in legislation.
      • Unlimited coinage of silver to address financial troubles.

  • Women's Suffrage and Temperance Movement:

    • Push for women's right to vote (suffrage).
    • National American Woman Suffrage Association formed.
    • Involvement in the temperance movement to stop alcohol consumption.
    • Women's Christian Temperance Movement, Anti-Saloon League.

Politics in the Gilded Age

  • Party Divisions and Government's Role:

    • Politics resembled party divisions from the Civil War.
    • Debates over the proper role of government in American life.

  • Gilded Age Definition:

    • A thin layer of gold covering something not solid gold.
    • A few people doing well, but many suffering from corruption.

  • Political Parties:

    • Democrats and Republicans.
    • Continued debates over issues from the Civil War era.

  • Patronage and Civil Service Reform:

    • Spoils System (Andrew Jackson): Federal jobs in return for political support.
    • Pendleton Civil Service Act of 1881: Replaced patronage with competitive civil service examinations to ensure qualified individuals in federal bureaucracy.

  • Economic Debates:

    • Gold Standard: Paper currency held value against inflation.
    • Silver Coinage: Farmers and entrepreneurs advocated for silver coinage and more paper currency due to financial difficulties.
    • Tariffs: Protective tariffs supported American industry but made imports expensive.
      • Industrialists favored tariffs, while farmers who relied on imported goods found life difficult.

  • Government Corruption:

    • Urban political machines: Tammany Hall in New York, led by Boss Tweed.
    • Political machines bought elections by helping their communities in exchange for votes.