5: Lecture September 12, 2007 Impulse of reform in the late 19th century that transformed America Origins are important If you were an adult American in 1895 and you were looking back at period of civil war and looked at that 30 year period and looked at the changes you would be struck by how different America was Not all issues had be settled 1865-1895 is a period of extraordinary tumult, turbulent period, every aspect of American life is changed so dramatically that you cant recognize it o Agriculture to urban nation o Growth of cities is huge Chicago 4,400 people to 300,000 people o Small towns become big cities o Population doubles 35 million to 70 million after civil war People have large families A lot of immigration o There is a large advancement of architecture New sky scrapers Tallest buildings in the word Housing commerce Many mansions rise, people living in these houses have achieved great affluence and are part of the American dream o By end of the century no country can equal it capacity to achieve wealth as America o There are railroads from coast to coast and border to border o Steel industry becomes a central feature in America o Immigration nation, numbers grow every year Coming from a wider variety of places New immigration coming from eastern and southern Europe Not as welcome, have greater problems assimilating to America Catholic, peasant classes, not from industrial countries Came from east-> they were Jews Some immigrants would never be able to assimilate that we should prohibit them from entering Chinese exclusion act People came nevertheless o People become more present-minded o Public health was a major issue Epidemics hit US frequently No sewage system People begin to worry about human waste
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There were highly populated cities NYC population density was the greatest in the world Infant mortality rate is rising Jacob riis Decided he would capture scenes of new york that were largely unseen by wealthier populations How the Other Half Lives was his book, it became a best-seller If you look American as political system it was highly corrupted--gilded age At every level of government The protests in American became more and more apparent Farmers became the most obviously aggrieved class in the united states They were the true Americans Homestead Act Opened up hundreds of millions of acres of land in the west Not for family farming Specialization of farming--commodity farming Famers begin to believe that they are being manipulated Cheated by the railroad, feel exploited Launch one political protest after another in late 19th century Great magnitude, emotion, and depth Added to labor protest, which expresses in form of massive strikes and demonstrations against hunger and poverty You have thousands of people demanding change Labor conflict/class conflict is the norm Democracy is in decline People are worried a brand new workers organization begin to undermine capitalism Want America to work to their advantage Feel that they are not getting rightful share of wealth in America Knights of Labor Screwiest organization in history Secret organization-> never speak of it or write of it Catholic church became deeply suspicious of organization Wanted to create an alternative to capitalism Grows very slowly Begins to be associated with labor conflict By 1984 it gives up secrecy Mostly because of catholic church They successful strikes Caused workers to join This wasn't the cause of the knights but workers didn't care Begins to grow substantially Founders of knights are very religious Knights scare Americans
By 1888 about 2/3 of membership has left If you were a member you were blacklisted Because they were so self-interested and launched strikes all over the country All they want is more o Labor conflict reveals that workers want fair treatment o The populist movement People realize that they are on their own and will probably not be able to amass the power to reach their goals This is the greatest assault on the 2-party system that the US has ever seen Want to save American from its own self-destructive tendency