State of the Union• The Census Department announces

that the ‘frontier’ is closed which means there are no more wide-open spaces in the West to settle.

• Factories produced goods faster than ever. Production went from $2 Billion in 1865 to $13 Billion in 1900.

• Better machines allowed for mass production. Iron and Steel production jumped by 1000% (3 Million tons to 29 Million tons produced)

• Mail order catalogs, home delivery, and department stores with every type of good took over the American economy.

• In the cities populations grew rapidly, in 1800 6% of Americans lived in cities which grew to 40% in 1900.

• There was so much to do: theaters, amusement parks, sports stadiums, department stores, and skyscrapers.

• Many immigrants and African Americans settled in cities while looking for work

• Over 12 million immigrants came to the US from 1870-1920. Many cities had populations where a majority were foreign born.

• Over half of the labor force was foreign born in the early 1900’s

Turn of the Century Problems“Living Conditions”

•Cities getting densely packed (Lower East Side 300,000 people/sq.mile) while the rest of

New York is at 90,000 people/sq.mile)•Tenements living space extremely small

•Inadequate infrastructure like roads, sewage, power, and transportation systems

•Most of the city is built from wood making it a fire trap

•Poor sanitation in poor neighborhoods help to spread disease

Workplace Problems

• Work was boring, strenuous, and at times very dangerous. (Sharp blades, cotton dust, and fire)

• Wages were very low and were often lowered requiring families to put all members to work, even the children

Unsafe Products• Little or no regulation of product quality• Toxic chemicals and preservatives contaminated

both “fresh” food and processed food.• Medicines were unregulated and often contained

addictive narcotics• Big Business grew bigger and monopolies

began to appear, hurting consumers• Muckrakers tried to protest and expose the big

businesses as they got richer and drove the small businesses into bankruptcy

Environmental Problems“Landscape Changes”

The country saw many of its large tracts of natural vegetation (forests, grasslands, etc.)

dug up and built over.

This left the land vulnerable to erosion.

Only a fraction of the nations natural forests stood by the turn of the century

Extracting Natural Resources

• Mining companies and oil companies began to dig up the landscape.

• Mining and drilling scarred the land and left a trail of pollution behind.

• There was very little government regulation to protect the landscape

• People exploited the land for profit, never considering the damage being done.

Polluting Air and Water• Factories sent black smoke into the air smelling

of sulfur, ammonia, kerosene• In some cities, the air was so dirty, that clothes

hung out to dry became permanently tinged with the “color” of the air

• Animals polluted the streets as some roamed free.

• Water pollution was a problem as factories dumped their waste and runoff carried contaminated water into the sources of drinking water.

• Some cities had to engineer water systems to prevent contamination

Problems in Politics“Political Bosses and Machines”

• Machines and Bosses were permanent politicians intent on keeping power indefinitely

• They would cheat city governments out of millions and take advantage of the misfortune of others

(votes in exchange for help with jobs, expenses, funerals, etc.)

• They were good for the immigrants in an era where no state or federal help was available to the newest

members of the nation• They could provide assistance to the unemployed

and the needy

Local and State Corruption• Bosses controlled many city jobs like police,

fire, or construction contracts.• Many times an unqualified person may get

these jobs.• Payoffs were everywhere as bosses took

money to provide city work contracts or to have government officials turn a blind eye to

regulations that could interfere with businesses

• Perhaps the worst crime was the rigging of local elections with bribes or ballot stuffing

• On the state level, lawmakers took bribes from big business to write laws that would

favor the business owners, but may, in fact, hurt the average American citizens

National Corruption• The US Senate became a breeding ground for

bribery as big business sought to buy allies in the government

• Campaign contributions or shares of stock were given to lawmakers in return for laws favorable to big business

• The practice of patronage saw many unqualified people holding government jobs

• Finally Congress steps up and passes Civil Service Reform. The Pendleton Act set up guidelines for hiring civil servants

• A civil service commission was started to administer civil service exams to applicants

• Civil service jobs would based on merit

Social Tensions• Social Classes

• Rich got richer, poor continued to suffer under tough conditions, and the middle class began to

get bigger as the economy got better• Rich lived in decked out mansions and had

fabulous summer homes • Middle class moved from cities to suburbs due

to great improvements in transportation• The poorer class remained cramped in the cities

in their ethnic neighborhoods with little chance to get out even if they wanted to.

African Americans• The blacks had to fight segregation and Jim

Crow laws, especially in the south• Many lost their voting rights as states created

loopholes around the 15th Amendment (poll taxes, literacy tests, property clauses, and

grandfather clauses)• Blacks faced violence as illustrated in the case

of lynchings (70 per year on average)• In response, many blacks fled the south in hope

of a better and more peaceful life in the North

Women and Family• More women working outside the home• New appliances made housework more

manageable, allowing women more time outside the home for social or charitable causes

• More women went to high school and college• Some could vote in western states but there was

no voting on a national level for women• 1 in 5 children worked as child laborers for up to

70 hour work weeks.

Women and Family

• Children workers did not go to school which hurt their future earning ability

• The tough lives of the working class saw the increase in alcohol abuse and the rise of the temperance movement

• The reformers wanted to see alcohol banned in order to help poor families get out of poverty as and improve social conditions in the cities

• Parents worried that city life was corrupting their children and worked to keep them away dance halls and amusement parks.