BECOMING A MODERN SOCIETYChapter 17 Visions

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BECOMING A MODERN SOCIETY:AMERICA IN THE GILDED AGE, 1877-1900

Gilded Age - The name for the period 1877–1900 that suggested the amazing achievements of the period were like a thin gold layer that covered many unresolved social problems.

George Pullman Residence

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BECOMING A MODERN SOCIETY: AMERICA IN THE GILDED AGE, 1877-1900

I. The Rise of the City

II. A Search for Solutions

III. New Habits, Roles, and Lifestyles

IV. The Challenges from Below

The Rise of the CityA. To the Cities

B. The Emergence of Ethnic Enclaves

C. The Troubled City

D. “Boss Rule”: The Political Machine

(Refer to pages 500-504)

The Emergence of Ethnic EnclavesEthnic Enclave - Urban neighborhoods dominated by one

particular immigrant group, often leading to names such as Little Germany and Little Italy.

The Troubled CityTenements - Multiple family dwellings of four to six stories

housing dozens of families that became the most common form of housing for poor city dwellers by the 1860s.

“Boss Rule”: The Political MachinePolitical Machines - Powerful urban political organizations

that mobilized large blocs of working-class and immigrant voters and often engaged in corrupt and illegal activity.

Living among the Poor: Settlement HousesSettlement House - Institutions established in cities

beginning in the 1880s and dedicated to helping the poor by providing a wide range of social and educational services.

Jane Addams

The White CityCity Beautiful Movement - A movement begun in the 1880s

that advocated comprehensive planning and grand redesign of urban space to eliminate pollution and overcrowding.

New Roles and Expectations for WomenWomen’s Suffrage - The effort to obtain voting rights for

women that eventually gained passage of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920).

New Woman - A phrase used to describe young women in the 1890s and early 1900s that reflected their rising levels of education, economic independence, and political and social activism.

Lifestyles of the Rich and FamousConspicuous Consumption - A term used to describe lavish

displays of wealth by the rich, including construction of opulent mansions and hosting lavish balls.

The Challenge from BelowPeople’s Party - A third party effort launched in 1890 by a

coalition of farmer organizations, reformers, and labor unions and dedicated to curbing corporate power and increasing the voice of the masses in politics.

Farmers’ Alliances - Organizations in the 1870s and 1880s dedicated to helping farmers struggling with rising costs and falling crop prices by advocating farmer cooperatives and laws to regulate banks and railroads.

The People’s Party

Industrial Conflict and DepressionCoxey’s Army - A protest march from Ohio to Washington,

D.C., in 1894 organized by Jacob Coxey to publicize demands for the federal government to alleviate the suffering brought on by the Panic of 1893.

Company Town - A town built and owned by a corporation and rented to its employees, reflecting both the corporation’s desire to help their workers and to control them.

Industrial Conflict and DepressionPullman Strike - A bitter strike that began on May 11, 1894,

at the Pullman Palace Car Company and soon spread nationwide, paralyzing the railroad system. President Cleveland sent in federal troops and broke the strike.