President Encyclopedia 1877-1889

President Encyclopedia 1877-1889 — page 1 — 4 America in the Industrial Age America in the Industrial Age American society underwent enormous change in the late 1870s and 1880s During the Civil War 1861 1865 the economy of the North had grown dramatically because factories manufactured weapons and other goods needed to fight the war The America that emerged in 1865 was a thriving industrial giant This change deeply affected Americans in how and where they worked how they viewed life and politics and how they voted The North in the 1870s and 1880s In the North as the manufacturing industry grew rapidly working conditions and the nature of work itself changed Manpower came from two major sources America’s farms which more and more young people left in order to make a life in the cities of the North and millions of people who immigrated to the United States in the 1870s and 1880s Customs officers in San Francisco inspect the belongings of Chinese immigrants as they disembark from their ship in 1877 Words to Know annexed AN-eksd Added to or made part of what already exists Artist Charles Graham drew workers making bessemer steel at a plant in Pittsburgh in 1886

President Encyclopedia 1877-1889 — page 2

President Encyclopedia 1877-1889 — page 3 — 6 America in the Industrial Age Immigrants arriving as contract laborers in a U S port in the 1800s The immigrants came mainly from southern and eastern Europe Most of them were unskilled laborers who were willing to work for low wages They settled in the rapidly expanding cities of the North and the Midwest With this growth however came slums crowding disease and crime Immigration and the rapid growth of cities had some political consequences as well Most immigrants supported the Democratic Party In many large cities Democratic Party groups tended to needs of these new Americans making sure that they had housing and jobs The newcomers expressed their gratitude by loyally voting for Democratic candidates In Boston Massachusetts and New York City for example the large immigrant Irish populations supported and eventually controlled local Democratic politics On the presidential level however the Republican Party continued to dominate The Republicans had the support of many small-town Americans farmers and even though they still did not have the right to vote African Americans But the Republicans also had the support and sometimes found themselves under the control of big business These special-interest groups included manufacturers railroad owners and wealthy people in general They opposed government intervention in the economy except when it benefited their own businesses for example government grants of land on which to build railroads Politicians often used their positions to amass fortunes and corruption was rampant at all levels of government

President Encyclopedia 1877-1889 — page 4 — America in the Industrial Age 7 The South in the 1870s and 1880s Civil War devastated the economy of the South Agriculture especially the production of cotton took years to recover Cities were ruined transportation was destroyed and what little industry had existed was wiped out Reconstruction the period of rebuilding the South that followed the Civil War came to an end in 1877 with the inauguration of Rutherford B Hayes as president Federal troops withdrew from the South and white politicians most of whom were southerners took control of the state and local governments The political gains that African Americans had made during and after the war were soon erased After receiving the right to vote with the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1870 they were now systematically excluded from the polling places Those who attempted to exercise their right to vote were usually beaten and sometimes murdered African American children were denied access to white schools and what education was available to them took place in poor run-down segregated schools Their parents were forced to work at the most menial jobs Thomas Kelley depicted former slaves celebrating their lives and the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment granting the right to vote in 1870

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