Chapter 5

Mass Culture

Similar consumption patterns as a result of the spread of transportation, communication, and advertising.

Push Factors

1. Farmers were pressured by land reform and low prices. 2. Revolution and war disrupted economies and left political refugees. 3. Religious persecution forced many to flee violence.

Why did immigrants come to the United States, and what impact did they have upon society?

1. Immigrants came to the U.S. for religious and political freedom, for economic opportunities, and to escape wars. 2. Immigrants adopted parts of American culture, and Americans adopted parts of immigrants cultures.

Life was hard in the cities, but most people preferred them to the country.

1) Workers's children could attend city schools. 2) Churches, theaters, social clubs, and museums offered companionship and entertainment. 3) Most city workers were able to enjoy a higher standard of living, and some moved into the growing middle class.

What challenges did city dwellers face, and how did they meet them?

1) City dwellers faced the noise, dirt, and crime of the cities, the hardships of factory work, and the overcrowded, dangerous conditions of tenements. 2) Governments and city planners tried to alleviate dangerous conditions and make cities better, safer places to live.

What luxuries did cities offer to the middle class?

1) During the last part of the 19th century, a new middle class lifestyle gained popularity and influence in America. 2) Though some disliked the values of this era, the shared American culture created then would persist for the next century.

Mass transit reshaped the nation's cities.

1) In 1888, Richmond, Virginia started using streetcars powered by overhead electric cables. 2) Within a decade, every major city followed. 3) Electric streetcars were quieter, cleaner, and more efficient than coal-driven commuter trains or house-drawn trolleys.

One of the effects of the spread of transportation, communication, and advertising was that Americans became more alike in their consumption patterns.

1) Rich and poor wore the same clothing styles. 2) People bought the same kinds of products. 3) This phenomenon is known as mass culture.

Schools began to do a better job of preparing people for careers.

1) Schools taught skills that workers needed in budding industries. 2) Teachers attended training schools, and reformers such as John Dewey introduced new teaching methods. 3) Universities began to provide specialized training for urban careers such as social work.

During the Gilded Age, literature and art that explored harsh realities was popular.

1) Stephen Crane wrote about New York slums. 2) Horatio Alger wrote about characters who succeeded through hard work. 3) Robert Henri and others developed a style of painting known as the Ashcan School, which depicted the squalor of New York slums.

At this time, cities had filthy, unpaved streets and sanitation problems, conditions perfect for breeding epidemics.

1) To solve these problems, governments and city planners tried to regulate housing, sanitation, sewers, and public health. 2) They began to take water from clean reservoirs and to use water filtration systems.

The foreign-born population of the U.S. nearly doubled between 1870 and 1900.

1. In the 1840s and 1850s, German and Irish Catholics had immigrated to the United States. 2. Despite differences, their children were often able to blend into American society. 3. But starting in 1870, some people feared "new" immigrants would destroy American culture.

Immigrants had some help coping with their new surroundings.

1. Settlement houses ran Americanization programs to help recent immigrants learn English and adopt American dress and diet. 2. Immigrants formed fraternal associations-based on ethnic or religious identity-which provided social services and financial assistance.

In 1882, Congress started to restrict immigration to the United States.

1. The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited immigration by Chinese laborers, limited the rights of Chinese immigrants in the U.S., and forbade the naturalization of Chinese residents. 2. Congress passed another law that prohibited the immigration of anyone who was a criminal, immoral, a pauper, or likely to need public assistance.

Pull Factors

1. The U.S. offered plentiful land, employment, and opportunity. 2. Many "chain immigrants" already had family in the U.S. 3. Immigrants could find religious and political freedom in America.

Immigrants transformed American society.

1. They fueled industrial growth. 2. They helped build the railroads and worked in factories, mills, and mines. 3. Their traditions became part of American culture. 4. Increasingly, they became active in labor unions and politics, and they demanded reforms.

Chinese Exclusion Act

1882 law that prohibited immigration by Chinese laborers.

William Randolph Hearst

A competitor of Pulitzer's who also published sensationalistic newspapers.

Frederick Law Olmsted

A landscape engineer who designed Central Park in New York City, and parks in other major U.S. cities.

Horatio Alger

A novelist who wrote about characters who succeeded through hard work.

Rural-to-urban migrant

A person who moves from an agricultural area to a city.

Mark Twain

A satirical novelist who wrote about American life in the late 1800s.

Joseph Pulitzer

An immigrant who became a publisher of sensationalistic newspapers.

Americanization

Belief that assimilating immigrants into American society would make them more loyal citizens.

Nativism

Belief that native-born white Americans are superior to newcomers.

Elisha Otis

Developer of a safety elevator that made skyscrapers more practical.

Urbanization

Expansion of cities accompanied by an increase in the number of people living in them.

Angel Island

Immigrant processing station that opened in San Francisco Bay in 1910.

Ellis Island

Island in New York Harbor that served as an immigration station for millions of immigrants arriving to the United States.

Tenement

Multistory building divided into apartments to squeeze in as many families as possible.

Mass Transit

Public transportation systems that carry large numbers of people.

Conspicuous consumerism

Purchasing of goods and services to impress others.

Suburb

Residential area surrounding a city.

"melting pot"

Society in which people of different nationalities assimilate to form one culture.

"new" immigrant

Southern and Eastern European immigrant who arrived in the United States in a great wave between 1880 and 1920.

Gilded Age

Term coined by Mark Twain to describe the post-Reconstruction era which was characterized by a facade of prosperity.

Steerage

Third-class accommodations on a steamship, which were usually overcrowded and dirty.

Skyscraper

Very tall building built with modern materials like steel.

Vaudeville

Type of show, including dancing, singing, and comedy sketches, that became popular in the late 19th century.