2023 The Challenges of Urbanization

The Challenges of Urbanization

Section 3

Politics in the Gilded Age

Political Machine- organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city and offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political or financial support.

Organized as a pyramid to get votes for their candidates.

Migration from Country to City

Civil Service Replaces Patronage

Due to rapid improvements in farming technology, many southern farmers lost their jobs- many of these were African Americans.

Between 1890 and 1910, 200,000 African Americans moved north and west to cities to escape racial violence, economic hardship, and political oppression.

Patronage- giving of government jobs to people who had helped a candidate get elected.

Reformers began to press for elimination of patronage and the adoption of a merit system for jobs in civil service (government administration).

Municipal Graft and Scandal

Reformers Mobilize

Urban Opportunities

Business Buys Influence

Urban Problems

Grover Cleveland (D)- wanted to lower tariffs after his election in 1884 but failed without Congress's support. Would be reelected in 1892, and succeed by lowering tariffs with the Wilson-Gorman Tariff.

Benjamin Harrison (R)- elected in 1888, signed the McKinley Tariff Act raising tariffs to their highest level.

William McKinley (D)- raised tariffs once more after being elected in 1896.

Housing:

Tenements- formerly single family houses that now housed two to three families.

Transportation:

Mass transit- transportation systems designed to move large numbers of people along fixed routes.

Water:

After outbreaks of cholera and typhoid fever, improving water quality was obvious.

Urbanization- growth in cities

Americanization movement- designed to assimilate people of wide-ranging cultures into the dominant culture.

Social Gospel movement- preaches salvation through service to the poor.

Settlement houses- community centers in slum neighborhoods that provided assistance to people in the area.

Jane Addams- one of the most influential people in this movement. Won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

If the loyalty of voters was not enough, fraud would be used to win elections.

Graft- illegal use of political influence for personal gain. "Kickbacks"

Boss Tweed- head of Tammany Hall (New York City's powerful Democratic political machine).

$13 Million, 120 counts of fraud, 12 years of jail.

Reform Under Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur.

Urban Problems

Rutherford B. Hayes (R)- named independents to his cabinet and investigated customhouses.

James A. Garfield (R)- assassinated by Charles Guiteau.

Chester A. Arthur (R)- Garfield's Vice President. Helped urge Congress to pass the Pendleton Civil Service Act that authorized a bipartisan civil service commission to make appointments to federal jobs through a merit system based on candidates' performance on an examination.

Sanitation:

By 1900, many cities had developed sewer lines and created sanitation departments.

Crime:

As populations of cities increased, pickpockets and thieves flourished.

Fire:

Housing was mainly made out of wood, combined with lack of water access, made fires devastating to cities.

The Role of the Political Boss

The boss did not have to serve as mayor but would control access to municipal agencies to solve urban problems. They could also help immigrants obtain citizenship, in exchange for their votes.

They could provide government support for new businesses, a service which they were often paid very well for.