Gilded Age and Population

• Ellis Island


  Located in New York Harbor, it served as an immigration station for millions of immigrants arriving in the U.S. from Europe between 1892 and 1954.
• Angel Island


  Asians-primarily Chinese, arriving on the U.S. West Coast were processed at this immigration station in San Francisco Bay, California between 1910 and 1940.
• Chinese Exclusion Act


  A law, enacted in 1892, that prohibited 

  All Chinese except students, teachers, merchants, tourists, and government officials from entering the U.S. The law was not repealed until 1943.
• Gentlemen’s Agreement


  In San Francisco the Board of Education in 1906 took all Asian school children and placed them special Asian Schools. As a result Anti-American riots broke out in Japan. In 1907-1908 an agreement was reached in which Japan agreed to limit Japanese emigration to the U.S. and in return San Francisco withdrew its segregation orders.
• Nativism


  An anti-foreign feeling that arose in the 1840's and 1850's in response to the influx of Irish and German Catholics.
• Americanization Movement


  This movement took shape in many cities where volunteers ran programs to help newcomers learn English and adopt American dress and diet.
• Social Gospel


  A 19th-century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to help improve working conditions and alleviate poverty.
• Social Gospel


  They believed that by following Bible teachings about charity and justice, people could make a “society of God.”
• Settlement Houses


  A community center providing assistance to residents - particularly immigrants - in slum neighborhoods.
• Dawes Act, 1887


  It tried to dissolve Indian tribes by redistributing the land. Designed to forestall growing Indian poverty, it resulted in many Indians losing their lands to speculators.
• Political Machines


  Controlled the activities of political parties in the city.
• Ward bosses, precinct captains, and the city boss worked to:

  1. Ensure that their candidates were elected
  2. Make sure that city government worked their advantage
• William M. Tweed


  Political Boss that was the head of the New York City Political Democratic Machine called Tammany Hall. He ran the machine in the late 1860’s and early 1870’s.
• William M. Tweed

  Under his leadership, the “Tweed Ring” stole as much as $200 million dollars from the city.
• Tammany Hall

  Name of New York City’s powerful Democratic political machine in the late 19th Century.
• W.E.B. DuBois

  DuBois believed that black Americans had to demand their social and civil rights or else become permanent victims of racism. Helped found the NAACP. He disagreed with Booker T. Washington's theories.
• Booker T. Washington


  Washington believed that African Americans had to achieve economic independence before civil rights. In 1881, he founded the first formal school for blacks, the Tuskegee Institute.
• Ida B. Wells


  African-American woman who campaigned against lynchings in the South. As a black teacher, she helped to block the establishment of segregated schools in Chicago. She was a founder of the NACW – National Association of Colored Women.
• Populist Party


  Also known as the “People’s Party”, this political party was formed in 1891 – 1892 by farmers to give them a bigger voice in government. This party advocated a larger money supply and other economic reforms.
• William Jennings Bryan

  • 1896 Democratic candidate for President of the U.S., who was backed by both the Democrats and the Populists.
  • Bryan favored using both gold and silver as the nation’s currency.
  • Best known for his “Cross of Gold” speech.
  • He lost the election
• Cross of Gold Speech, 1896

  Given by William Jennings Bryan, he said people must not be "crucified on a cross of gold", referring to the Republican proposal to eliminate silver coinage and adopt a strict gold standard.