Immigration

  • Where did immigrants settle? Why did they leave their home countries?
  • Immigrant experience in America — How did they get to America, what was their experience when they did arrive? (depends on where they are from, when they are coming)
  • Who came from what countries and when? 1790s? 1840s-1880s? 1880s-1900s?
  • “Old Immigrants” vs. “New Immigrants” [1880s as turning point]
  • What type of work did immigrants do?
  • Nativism — What is it, who supported it and why?
  • Know-Nothing/American Party
  • Why were some nativists anti-Catholic?
  • Significant Immigration Legislation (from notes)
  • Which groups were targeted for exclusion and why?
  • Professor Kennedy’s speech on immigration: How does immigration today differ from immigration from 1820-1920?
  • What was the highest % of foreign born population at any given time? When was this?
  • Today, what is the foreign born %?
  • In 2010, what were the major sources of immigration (countries)?

Rise of Big Business

  • Factors that led to rapid industrialization?
  • Uneven distribution of wealth during “Gilded Age” — Mark Twain
  • Defenses of Gilded Age? Criticisms of Gilded Age? Robber Barons vs. Captain/Titans of Industry
  • Gospel of Wealth — Who wrote it and what did it argue?
  • What were the major industries and who led them? (Carnegie-Steel, etc.)
  • What were the first modern corporations? Why?
  • Incorporation and “limited liability.” What were they and why did they stimulate investment?
  • Trusts — What were they and which ones were regulated?
  • Holding companies — What were they and how did they differ from trusts?
  • Monopolies
  • Welfare capitalism — What was it and did it work? Why or why not?
  • Horizontal and Vertical Integration/Consolidation
  • Scientific Management — What was it, what were its effects?
  • Social Darwinism
  • Horatio Alger’s Stories — What myths did they reinforce?
  • Women and child workers — Fields and conditions/how did they differ from men?
  • In 2010 dollars, who was the richest American ever?

 

Labor

  • Terminology — organize, strike, scab, arbitration, picket, collective bargaining, binding arbitration, etc.
  • Major strikes and incidents (RR strike, McCormick/Haymarket, Homestead Strike, Pullman Strike, Flint, Air Traffic Controllers)
  • Shifts in public perception of labor union activity
  • Molly Maguires
  • Wagner Act
  • Fair Labor Standards Act
  • CIO, AFL-CIO
  • Major Unions over time — Knights of Labor (Uriah Stephens), American Federation of Labor (Sam Gompers), Industrial Workers of the World, Congress of Industrial Organizations — What was unique/radical about each? How successful were they?
  • Union membership % over time

Progressivism

  • What was it, when did it peak?
  • Four commonalities between most progressives?
  • Personal Responsibility vs. Social Baseline — be able to explain what this means
  • Socialism — What is it, when did socialist activity peak in the U.S.?
  • Working Conditions in cities during the late 19th century
  • Living Conditions in cities during the late 19th century
  • Political Machines — What were they and how did they work? (Boss Tweed, Tammany Hall)
  • Triangle Fire — Causes, effects beyond immediate casualties
  • Muckraking — What is it and who were the leading muckrakers during this period?
  • President Theodore Roosevelt — Policies? “Square Deal”
  • Progressive Legislation (Sherman Antitrust Act, ICC, Pure Food and Drug, Meat Inspection)
  • T.R. and Conservation — National Reclamation Act, U.S. Forest Service (Pinchot)
  • Progressive Amendments (#’s, years, and what they were)
  • Populism and legislation that gave more power to people (direct primaries, popular vote of senators, initiative, referendum, recall, women’s suffrage)
  • Settlement Movement — What was it, where did idea come from, who began it?