jan.7 notes :]

January 7, 2009

This morning was absolutely miserable due to the large amount of rain. In class today, we took notes which were a continuation from those taken yesterday.

Rich Industrialists:

• they looked to keep money and income for themselves.
• eventually, they aided the community (generally once they were ready to retire).
• Carnegie advocated a "Gospel of Wealth". he began the trend of donating money to the community (and not individuals).
• they are the driving force behind industrialization.

Obsession with Physical and Racial Fitness;

• the 1890s were a time of heightened enthusiasms for competitive sports, physical fitness, and outdoor recreation.
• ^ college football became important
• ^ women got involved in sports and began dressing accordingly
• this enthusiasm for sports was in part a reaction the the regimentation of industrial society
• racialist thinking received "scientific" sanction.
• ^ many intellectuals believed society developed according to Darwin's "survival of the fittest."
• ^ if this were the case then the wealth of the industrialist made anglo-saxons the fittest compared to the immigrants.

Immigration:

• 1880 - 1914 - new immigrants came from eastern and southern Europe (italians, russian and polish jews, hungarians, slavs, greeks, turks, and others)
• old immigrants had been from Great Britain, Scandanavia, and Germany; they were considered racially fit.
• new immigrants spoke new languages, were Catholic, Greek orthodox, or Jews, were rural peasants unused to the city atmosphere, and come from countries with limited democratic experience
• ^ most came because of economic hardship
• ^ most came intending to find work, save, and return home
• ^ while in 1880, there were some Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Mexican and French Canadian immigration. the U.S. refused to admit Chinese immigrants after 1882 (the Chinese Exclusion Act) and Japanese males (Gentlemen's agreement) after 1907.
• most immigrants were European,
• ^ between 1900 and 1910 immigrants made up of 70% of the workforce.
• ^ they took the hardest, least desirable jobs: building railroads, minding coal, making steel, packing meat at slaughterhouses (upton sinclair, a muckraker, wrote the Jungle), garment making sweat shop work.
• working conditions were difficult.
• ^ few states restricted child labor (over 25% of boys and 10% of girls between 10-15 were employed)
• ^ injuries were common.
• ^ fire at the Triange Shirtwaist Company in New York; 146 workers died; mostly young women and teenagers because they were on the upper stories; no fire escapes; doors locked on each floor.
• ^ work weeks averaged 60 hours; six ten hour days.
• living conditions weren't much better.

Corrupt City Governments & Organized Crime Grew:

• a contractor eager to win a citycontract would find it necessary to "pay off" government officials who could award the contract. this is "graft."
• holding office paid so well that politicians built political organizations called "machines" to guarentee their re-election. contracts went to those who offered the most graft. the head of the machine, usually the mayor, was known as a "boss."
• the machines used word bosses to win the loyalty of city-dwellers - particularly immigrants by helping them find jobs, homes, and sometimes food or clothing.
• organized crime often came in the form of gansters who threatened small manufacturers and contractors with violence and economic ruin if they did not pay for "protection."

After these notes, we watched a powerful video about the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in New York. This event greatly changed the attitude in the country.

the endddd , (by lindsay bakum).