The Gilded Age

Nativists in California in the 1880’s would most likely have supported the

•   creation of settlement houses to aid new immigrants

• passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act

• continuation of the contract labor system

• assimilation of Native American Indians into mainstream culture

After 1880, where did the majority of “New Immigrants” to the U.S. come from?

• Northern and Western Europe

• Canada and Latin America

• Southern and Eastern Europe

• China and Southeast Asia

During the last part of the nineteenth century, most immigrants to the U.S. found work as

•   unskilled factory and sweatshop workers

•   educated professionals

•    scientists and technicians

• skilled craftsmen

In the late nineteenth century, the “bosses” of urban political machines often

•   provided jobs to immigrants and the poor in exchange for votes

•   accepted bribes in return for favors

• wasted money on military spending

•      discriminated against migrant workers

During the late 1880’s and early 1900’s, prejudice against “New Immigrants” increased because these immigrants

•     had job skills superior to those of most American workers

• formed their own labor unions in order to receive higher wages

• came from cultural backgrounds different from those of the majority of Americans

• tried to replace American democracy with other forms of government

What major trend occurred to the population of the U.S. during the industrial expansion of the late nineteenth century?

•     farm population increased

• migration to rural areas increased

•    immigration decreased

     

• urbanization increased

In the late 1800’s, why did Congress pass restrictions on immigration from China?

•    to stop illegal immigration from Latin America

• to provide high skilled workers for industry

• to limit the power of urban political machines

•   to satisfy nativist prejudices in California

“Today three-fourths of our people live in tenements, and the drift of the population to the cities is sending increasing multitudes to crowd them.  The fifteen thousand tenant houses that were the despair of past generations have swelled into thirty-seven thousand, and more than twelve hundred thousand persons call them home.  We know now that there is no way out; the ‘system’ that was the evil offspring of public neglect and private greed has come to stay forever in our civilization.  Nothing is left but to make the best of a bad bargain…”

 

8. What is the main idea of the passage above?

• The conditions of tenement living have improved greatly.

    

• The number of people living in tenements is declining.

   

• Many immigrants face crowded conditions and despair in tenement housing.

• Living in tenements has led to improved working class conditions.

Which of the following issues is addressed in the cartoon above?

•   Growth of big business

• Growth of industry

•    Expansion of the west

   

•   Restrictions on immigration

The Gilded Age can be described as a period of

• intense political activity by the presidents

   

• uncontrolled use of the spoils system and unregulated business competition

• intense political activity by immigrants and African Americans

• decreased immigration to the United States and regulated business competition