problems at the turn of the century. muckraker: a journalist who wrote about social, environmental,...
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter 16 NotesProblems at the Turn of the
Century
Muckrakers muckraker: a journalist who
wrote about social, environmental, and political problems Americans faced in the early 1900s• Teddy Roosevelt gave them the name because “"raked the mud of society.“
State of the Union 1900 Rise of industry = rise of
urbanization: the growth of cities- Drawn in by jobs and amusements
U.S. becoming an urban, industrial society with an increasingly diverse population
Mechanization = more production More production= new methods of
selling goods• Montgomery Ward and other catalogs• Department Stores
Poor Living Conditions People lived in slum tenements
• New York's Lower East Side, for example, housed 450,000 people in 1900. =than 300,000 people per square mile.
Poor living conditions because of poor infrastructure: the facilities or equipment required for an organization or community to function, including roads, sewage and power systems, and transportation
Lack of fire protection and sanitation
Poor Working Conditions Factory work boring, strenuous, and
dangerous Unsafe products
• No Gov. regulations• Meat- the Jungle• Medicine- Coca Cola
Problems with the Environment
Reduction of Natural Resources• Ranching, farming, logging• extractive industries: businesses that take mineral resources from the earth Coal, oil, etc.
Pollution• Factories, animal waste, household sewage
Problems in Politics political machines: an organization consisting of
full-time politicians whose main goal was to retain political power and the money and influence that went with it• Tammany Hall: a political machine in New York City- Boss
William Tweed• patronage: the practice of politicians giving jobs to
friends and supporters• Rigged elections, money from entertainment, helped people for
votes, Corruption Pendelton Act-an 1883 federal law that limited
patronage by creating a civil service commission to administer exams for certain nonmilitary government jobs
Social Problems During the late 1800s, the gap between rich and
poor grew wider African Americans
• Not many gains since civil war• Found ways to not allow them to vote• Many moved North
Women• Worked outside the home• Attended college
Families• Public education expanded but many can’t go b/c need
children to work• temperance movement: a reform movement calling for
moderation in drinking alcohol- Seen as way to improve family life