Immigration Restrictions
- The 1891 Immigration Act created the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration within the Treasury Department
- The Superintendent oversaw a new corps of U.S. Immigrant Inspectors stationed at the country’s principal ports of entry
- January 2, 1892, the Immigration Service opened the U.S.’s best known immigration station on Ellis Island in New York Harbor
- WW1 affected people's views on foreigners
- Chinese exclusion act of 1882-ended 1892: It was one of the most significant restrictions on free immigration in US history, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers. People that were already in America they had to refill out forms in a way explaining themselves
- Geary Act regulated Chinese immigration until the 1920: law that extended the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 by adding onerous new requirements
- 1885 Alien Contract Labor Law: Also known as the Foran Act, was an act to prohibit the importation and migration of foreigners and aliens under contract or agreement to perform labor in the United States, its Territories, and the District of Columbia
Social: Immigration Restrictions are social changes due to the heavy affect it had on people lives. The United States targeted certain groups of people one example of this was their restrictions on the Chinese workers. People were kicked out, moved and not let into the United States during their time of need. Many groups of people had to go through extensive back ground checks to even be considered.
Industrialists
Carnegie: While working for the railroad, made many wise choices and his investments in oil brought in substantial returns. Carnegie built plants around the country, using technology and methods that made manufacturing steel easier, faster and more productive. This made Carnegie known as one of America's "builders," as his business helped to fuel the economy and shape the nation into what it is today. By 1889, Carnegie Steel Corporation was the largest of its kind in the world.
Rockefeller: sensed an opportunity in the oil business in the early 1860s. Rockefeller decided that establishing an oil refinery near Cleveland,and within two years it was the largest in the area. Incorporated the Standard Oil Company which immediately prospered from favorable economic/industry conditions and Rockefeller’s drive to streamline the company’s operations and keep margins high. Had a near monopoly of the oil business in the U.S. and consolidated each division under one giant corporate umbrella.
Vanderbilt: partnered with Thomas Gibbons in a steamship business, the Union Line. Vanderbilt learned how to manage a large commercial operation and became a quick study in legal matters. He built profitable shipping lines in the New York region, undercutting competitors’ fares and offering top service. New conglomerate revolutionized rail operations by standardizing procedures and timetables, increasing efficiency and decreasing travel and shipment times. Cornelius Vanderbilt financed a monument to his empire: the Grand Central Depot.
Economic: It was an economic impact since these industries and industrialists made lots of money (an increase in profit). They involved the distribution of large commodities of oil and steel and provided easier transport to Americans.
Social Darwinism
- A theory arising in the late nineteenth century that the laws of evolution, which Charles Darwin had observed in nature, also apply to society. ("Survival of the fittest" or in this case "the richest")
- Advocated by Herbert Spencer and others was popular in the late 19 th century
- Followers believed the wealthy had won the natural competition- thought they owned nothing to poor and by helping the poor it would only mess up the system or "process"
- Well-known followers included Karl Marx, founder of Communism, and William Graham Sumner, who introduced the term "ethnocentrism" - Even Andrew Carnegie, who nearly monopolized steel production, by crushing competitors through vertical and horizontal methods
- Apply this idea to whole nations and races- saying powerful people have natural gifts that allow them to gain superiority over others
- For many Social Darwinists, if the natives of a country could not fend off the military of another, then they were unfit to survive
- Used to justify political conservatism, imperialism, and racism and to discourage intervention and reform
Social:The social impact/change of Social Darwinism was the increased and deepened sense of racism and imperialism it created. It gave the wealthy whites and etc. more of a reason to believe they were better than the other groups of people like the blacks, furthering the struggle for racial equality. It also lead the wealthy to believe they had to right to take over the weak, because they believed they were naturally better.
Black Activists
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois:
- First African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895
- The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study (1899)
- The Souls of Black Folk
- Pan-Africanist philosophy held that slavery and colonialism depended on and encouraged negative, unfounded categorizations of the race, culture, and values of African people. These destructive beliefs in turn gave birth to intensified forms of racism, the likes of which Pan-Africanism sought to eliminate
Booker T Washington:
- Born a slave, Virginia
- one of the most influential African-American intellectuals of the late 19th century
- In 1881, he founded the Tuskegee Institute, a black school in Alabama devoted to training teachers
- National Negro Business League 20 years later
- Adviser to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft
- Washington clashed with other black leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois and drew ire for his seeming acceptance of segregation
- He is recognized for his educational advancements and attempts to promote economic self-reliance among African Americans
Marcus Garvey: (1887-1940)
- Became a leader in the black nationalist movement by applying the economic ideas of Pan-Africanists
- New York in 1916, founded the Negro World newspaper~ international shipping company called Black Star Line and the Negro Factories Corporation
- 1920s, Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was the largest secular organization in African-American history
- Indicted for mail fraud by the U.S. Justice Department in 1923
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- Militant movement rooted principally in the northeast, but gained adherents
- Violent battles between pro- and anti- slavery forces
- Black participants & leaders; also racial tensions within movement
- 20th century tendency to ignore the history of White abolitionists
- Political & social meaning of ignoring abolitionism as an important movement
- 13th: abolishes slavery “except as punishment for a crime”
- 14th: all persons born or naturalized in the US have rights of citizenship regardless of race, religion, national origin, or previous condition of servitude
- 15th: right of men to vote regardless of race etc.
Social:Black activists affected the United States socially. The activists worked to expand the injustices that blacks faced. They formed many groups that were trying to abolish the ideas behind Pan-Africanism because it was still present. Their success was shown in the amendments passed but the tensions are still prevalent.
Harlem Renaissance
- was a phase of a larger New Negro movement that had emerged in the early 20th century
- Started after Great Migration of African Americans: from rural to urban spaces and from South to North
- centered in the Harlem neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City
- Explosion of new African-American cultural expressions (a 'rebirth') :that spread across the urban areas in the Northeast and Midwest United States
- As musical and artistic creativity began to grow, so did the popularity of Harlem
- Africans American performed for people of any race
- Whites flocked to clubs like the Cotton Club to see African Americans perform such things like jazz music
- Not just music also writing, acting, and etc.
- Literature focusing on a realistic portrayal of black life and artists painted pieces that focused on the culture and history of African Americans
- With the advent of the civil rights movement, it again acquired wider recognition
Social: It created a social impact/change because the Harlem Renaissance transformed black culture in the US and brought along new artists/musicians/writers
Prohibition
- Outlawed selling and drinking of alcohol
- Part of temperance moment that arose in mid 1800s
- Started by social reform group- mostly white women
- Temperance activists believed alcoholism caused split families (due to men drinking), violence, unemployment, and economic and moral bankruptcy
- By 1916, 21 states banned saloons, and by 1919 Congress passed the 18 amendment that outlawed making and selling of alcohol- but the buying or consumption of it
- Instead of deceasing the consumption of alcohol, really only increased it
- Found other ways to obtain alcohol : illegal saloons called speakeasies, which were usually concealed behind fake business fonts
- Saloons got the liquor for bootleggers who hid bottle of whiskey in their boots or made their own
- Many started to make homemade alcohol like "moonshine" from their crops (ex. corn)
- Some got liquor from government approved alcohol distributors or even different countries like Canada
- Despite the moral foundations, Prohibition lead to an increase in crime- anyone who wished to drink became a lawbreaker
- Violence went hand and hand with illegal alcohol trade
- The laws of Prohibition were difficult to enforce due to the number of people drinking include law enforcement, and lack of money and Prohibition agents
- In the end of the 1920s, there were about 75,00 arrests a year and 160 dead (some falsely accused of bootlegging)
Social and Economic: Economically effected the country greatly in a negative way. The closing of breweries, distilleries and saloons led to the elimination of thousands of jobs and many states revenue came from liquor taxes, which didn't exist during the Prohibition era. Socially effected the country, due to the fact when people are told they can't have something they in turn only want that item more. Because of the this mentality, there was a rise in lawbreakers and violence.
Arts
Georgia O'Keefe:
- Spoke on women rights/power through her works
- Painted landscapes ~New Mexican landscapes, flowers, New York Skyscrapers
- Recognized as the mother of American Modernism
Alfred Stieglitz:
- Photographer and American modernism promoter
- Photographed American industry
- Strived to have photography become an accepted art form
Diego Rivera:
- Painted Mexican murals on public buildings in Mexico and The United States.
- Worked on pieces that contained social realism and modern art
- His artwork consists of social inequality, nature, industry, and history of Mexico
Social:Arts created social changes through the overall messages in their pieces. People were able to see and connect to the art. The popular artists seemed to enjoy expressing modernization and also their ideas and perspectives.
Women's Rights
- Concerned with making the political, social, and economic status of women equal to that of men and with establishing legislative safeguards against discrimination on the basis of gender
- Reform women also began to redefine the role of the federal government in American society.
- Women's access to higher education expanded, as both single-sex and coeducational institutions opened their doors.
- Females could begin to enter traditionally male professions, becoming authors, doctors, lawyers, and ministers.
- Women also became involved in other political causes, especially labor issues, and opened settlement houses to aid the poor.
Social: Was mainly a social change because women's rights transformed the relationship between men and women in US, which also affected each genders level of education and work
Radio
- First licensed radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh- broadcasted 1920 election results
- Cheaper prices and increase in consumerism- lead to boom in radio popularity and availability
- They began broadcasting things like popular music, classical music, sporting events, lectures, fictional stories, newscasts, weather reports, market updates, and political commentary.
- At the end of 1922, three million Americans owned a radio- a common household item
- Importance: Live broadcasts connected Americans with nationwide events- Americans unified
- Provided enjoyment-the drama of news and pleasure of cultural trends
- Also provided flexibility for lifestyles and religious practices- could listen whenever they wanted
Social:Overall, the radio was a social change due to the great unification it brought the people of America. The radio allowed Americans to be informed of both important and important world topics faster and in a way brought Americans closer together.
Movies
- By 1922 - almost every community had at least a small 100 seat theaters
- Cost -10 to 75 cents
- Movies often shot in Hollywood so it had the view of a rich, crazy, fun city
- Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor who then became idolized by fans
- People followed Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks wedding in 1920
- Sound and color entered late 1900s, sound first.
- Zoogyroscope:Viewing photos in sequence
- Mainly for entertainment but also helped with profit
- The Jazz Singer" - first movie with sound
- Movies with sound were called "Talkies"
- -Speaking movies helped Warner Brothers become very successful bringing in over $2 million
Social:1920s Movies are a social change. At first people weren't even paid well, actors were rarely known. As time went by and the movie industry shifted from not so popular to extremely popular. Technology also improved to bringing us silent movies longer than a minute. People started to idolize the stars, follow them around. This changed the way people acted and dressed because they wanted to be like the stars they liked.
Automobiles
Henry Ford developed and manufactured the first automobile that many middle class Americans could afford. In doing so, Ford converted the automobile from an expensive curiosity into a practical conveyance that would profoundly impact the landscape of the 20th Century.
- $260 for Model T in 1925
- Assembly line produced Model T every 10 seconds
- Affordable for many Americans
- Allowed isolated farmers to travel to the city, and urban workers to find cheap housing
Economic: Was economic impact/change because automobiles changed the affordability of faster transportation and provided common people with them in little time
Airplanes
- Initially built predominantly of lightweight materials like wood and canvas but continual developments eventual led to increasing use of metal parts and panels until complete all-metal airplanes became the norm.
- The Wright Brother known for "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight"- credited Otto Lilienthal as a major inspiration
- The First World War (1914-18) hastened the development of airplanes
- By the early 1920's planes were much more reliable and capable of flying longer distances and carrying heavier loads. This made possible the carrying of passengers and freight on a commercial basis.
- The use of airplanes also facilitated aerial exploration and surveying of inhospitable areas like the Antarctic
- Impact: increases in the speed of travel, drastic changes in warfare methods, commercial impacts and increase in jobs
- Charles Lindbergh:one-time barnstormer, worked as airmail pilot
- Made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1927
- 33 hours and 30 minutes flight- from NY to France
- When he returned to NY, he received a 25,000 dollar prize
- Afterwards, Americans began to see flying in new light
- Amelia Earhart: was an American aviation pioneer and author - barnstormed, toured, and performed in small towns and rural areas
- She gave 10 million people 5 minute rides for 5 dollars
- Was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean- received the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for this accomplishment
- Attempted to fly around the world, but mysteriously disappeared before completing the flight
Social and Economic: Impact and change caused by airplanes included: Jobs were created by construction of airplanes and the commercial flight industry, changes in perception of the world, environmental damages and noise pollution.
Reds
- Bolshevik Revolution ~Red scare began after this Russian Revolution
- The first "Red scare" worked its way around the US throughout 1917-1920
- Said that 150,000 anarchists and communists in the US at this time
- Fear was that people were trying to turn the United States into a communist country
- Trust became a large issue
- Restrictions put on how many immigrants from anarchist and communist people could come into the United States
- Das Kapital published by Karl Marx sets forth basic communist critics say of capitalist system
- 1921 Lenins New Economic Policy also became a place of concern
- Woodrow Wilson: pressured the Congress to legislate the anti-anarchist Sedition Act of 1918 to protect wartime morale by deporting putatively undesirable political people
- On June 2, 1919, in eight cities, eight bombs simultaneously exploded. One target was the house of U.S. Attorney General Palmer, where the explosion killed the bomber
- The Palmer Raids were caused by the Red Scare which was the anti-radical and and anti-immigrant hysteria and fear that anarchists, socialists and communists were conspiring to start a workers revolution in America
Social: Communism had an affect on social changes because of the red scare. The Red scare didn't last long but it was an important event. Many Americans were scared and didn't feel safe, due to the lack of trust and arrests. The scare shifted some people's view on the United States political standpoint. This conflict between people against communism and for it was what created the social changes.
KKK
The first Klan flourished in the Southern US in the late 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. White supremacy, white nationalism, anti-immigration (first), Nordicism, anti-Catholicism, and antisemitism (second), through terrorism aimed at groups or individuals whom they opposed. The second group was founded in 1915, and flourished nationwide in the early and mid-1920s, particularly in urban areas of the Midwest and West. The second klan was rooted in local Protestant communities and opposed Catholics and Jews, and stressed its opposition to the Catholic Church. This second organization adopted a standard white costume and used code words which were similar to those used by the first Klan, while adding cross burnings and mass parades.
Political: Was political impact or change because the Klan wanted power and radical change using terrorism throughout mainly the south and later the whole country
Indigenous People
Important to tame because the Americans were worried the Native Americans would disturb the social and cultural mainstream of the American ways- need to be "civilized"
- Indian Boarding School: Boarding schools were established during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to educate Native American children and youths according to Euro-American standards
- First established by Christian missionaries, who often started schools on reservations and founded boarding schools to provide education for kids who didn't have any
- "Kill the Indian, Save the Man"- Indian Schools were designed to destroy American Indian cultures, languages, and spirituality.
- Students had to accept white culture, the English language, and Christianity
- By 1900, most American Indian children were taken from their families and brought to schools, where they would be put into uniforms, have their hair cut, and be forced to act and speak like white people
- Many spent their entire childhood in the American Indian Boarding School system, without seeing family
- Often when they returned home, students felt a loss of identity- nether fit in with the whites or their tribes
- Students were taught that the teachings and practices of their culture were wrong and even “savage.”
- By 1902 there were 25 federally funded non-reservation schools across 15 states and territories with a total enrollment of over 25,000 American Indian students
- Dawes Act: aka the General Allotment Act or the adopted by Congress in 1887, allowed the President to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians- Native Americans treated as individuals instead of members of a tribe
- Battle of Wounded Knee: it all began in 1888 with a Paiute holy man called WOVOKA, who came up with the "Ghost Dance" ( believed the 'dance' would revert the world back to the old days- Indians return to their lands and the buffalo would once again roam the Great Plains)
- Wovoka and his followers began performed what became known as the GHOST DANCE - soon the movement began to spread throughout the South and West
- Residents of South Dakota demanded that the Sioux end the ritual of the Ghost Dance- when they were ignored, the U.S. Army was called for assistance
- Fearing aggression, a group of 300 Sioux did leave the reservation- but eventually the two sides came into contact and the Sioux reluctantly agreed to be tranported to Wounded Knee Creek
- On the morning of December 29, 1890, the army demanded the surrender of all Sioux weapons. Amid the tension, a shot rang out, and the U.S. 7 th Cavalry opened fire on the Sioux
- Aftermath left almost 300 Native Americans dead- complete massacre
Social: Socially impacted (and changed) mainly the Native Americans and their culture, as they were forced to change their "savage" ways and conform to the white ways and culture, such adopting their religion, Christianity. Also aspects like the Dawes Act furthered the conformation of the Natives, as the government started to treat them as separate individuals, instead of members of a tribe.