Immigration of Gilded Age

CH. 7

Immigration and Urban America

• America is flooded with immigrants from SE Europe

• Migration caused by industrial revolution

• Majority of immigrants live in filthy cities– Hit and Stick– Northeast and Great Lakes

Urban America• Immigrants and poor live in

tenement housing• Sanitation!!!!! Little or no indoor

plumbing• Modern urban infrastructure

nonexistent • Jacob Riis’s “The Other Half”

– The New York Times Slide Show

Origins between 1880 and 1921:•Italy-4.5•Austria-Hungary- 4•Russia- 3.5•Germany- 3•Ireland- 2•Britain- 1.5

Old vs. New Immigration

WASP (old/1st)• White Anglo-Saxon

Protestants• Typically more

affluent • Some Germans and

Irish assimilated • Dry • Progressive• Dominate rural US

SE European (new/2nd)

• Diverse group• Catholic, Jew, &

Orthodox• Chinese and

Japanese to west coast

• Wet• urban

Discrimination and Nativism• KKK *

– Southern terrorists– Moves N by 20’s– vs new imm.– Membership! 3 Million by 20’s– “Respectability”

• American Protective Association– Econ discrimination– created to discriminate against new

immigrants

Immigration Conclusion

• Immigrants not always welcomed:– Resented by labor

b/c of competition– Resented by others

b/c of cultural & religious differences

– Resented by some b/c of political influence

Politics of the Gilded Age (7.3)

1868-1901

Introduction

• Gild: to coat thinly in gold in order to give the appearance of quality

• Best individuals drawn to industry and not politics

• Industrialist are ruling gov’t for their interests

Andrew Johnson

U.S. Grant

Rutherford Hayes

Election of 1880Stalwarts v. Half-Breeds (Rep

Division)Stalwarts• Pro-Grant• Silent @ patronage

Half-Breeds• Oppose Grant &

Pro-Blaine• Against patronage

system

Republican Nomination

DeadlockCompromise on

diverse ticket:• ½ Breed James Garfield

for Pres and Stalwart Chester Arthur for VP

• Garfield assassinated*• Arthur surprises all and

signs Pendleton Act: (civil servants entrance exam + tenure for civil servants

Election Results

Charles Guiteau

Grover Cleveland

Benjamin Harrison

William McKinley

Party’s Political Bases

Republican Party• Eastern

Entrepreneurs and factory workers

• Western Farmers*• Civil War Vets• Few enfranchised

African Americans• Strong central

gov’t to help big business and farmers

Democratic Party• Southern farmers (solid

south)• Political machines of

cities• Catholics (new

immigrants)• Western Farmers*• Limited National

Gov’t; states rights rule

Tweed and Tammany Hall

• Machines– Patronage– Imm and voting

• Boss Tweed runs the most notorious machine

• 3 million NYC Courthouse costs 13 million to build

• Flees to Spain, but captured b/c of cartoonist Nast

“Tweed Courthouse”

Revolution????

• Labor’s problems are not being addressed

• Poor immigrants (only help is from machines!)

• Farmers:• Abused by Railroads, Bankers, and Big Business• Form the Populist Party who are proponents of

Free-Silver!!! (inflation)

• Government not taking substantive actions to help these groups

19th Century Summary

• ALL IS NOT WELL IN AMERICA– Farmers– Labor– Gov’t is corrupt

• Rep- patronage• Dem- machines

– Reacial/ethnic tension

• If it ain’t fixed soon, we might experience class warfare!!!!! (IWW, WV coal wars)