Discovering Our Past: The American Journey to World War I

Chapter 17: America Enters a New Century

Chapter Overview

In the mid-1880s, the pattern of immigration to the United States began to change. "New" immigrants arrived from eastern and southern Europe as well as from Mexico and Asia. Some emigrated to escape persecution or economic troubles in their homelands. Others were drawn to America as a land of jobs, plentiful and affordable land, and opportunities for a better life. Many of these immigrants contributed to the growth of the nation's cities. Sometimes, ethnic, racial, and religious differences contributed to tensions between Americans and the new immigrants.

People poured into the cities faster than housing could be built to accommodate them. While the wealthy lived in luxurious mansions and the middle class in comfortable suburban homes, most of the poor lived in small, dark tenements. Rapid urban growth created problems with sanitation, public health, and crime. Many individuals were dedicated to solving these problems and to improving the architecture of cities. Others worked to improve the transportation systems in the nation's cities.

By the turn of the century, government and business leaders and reformers believed that for the nation to progress, the people needed more schooling. Public schools, colleges, and universities all increased their enrollments. More educational opportunities were also made available to women and African Americans. American artists and musicians also began to develop a distinctively American style. As people enjoyed increasing amounts of leisure time, spectator sports, theaters, and movies gained popularity.

Progressive reformers exposed the corruption of the government and big business in the 1800s. Political machines controlled the local government of many areas, and many political bosses manipulated the system and made personal profits. The spoils system also came under fire, and several acts attempted to disband the policy of rewarding political supporters with jobs and favors. Journalists, or muckrakers, joined the cause of the progressive reformers by exposing corrupt political machines, unfair practices of the oil trust, and the horrors of the meatpacking industry. In the early 1900s, Oregon started a political process to give voters more power. Also during that time, the Seventeenth Amendment provided for the direct election of senators, and women's suffrage succeeded in 1919 with the Nineteenth Amendment.

Leaders who wanted to expand American territory acquired Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands. After the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, the United States went to war with Spain, and Cuba gained its independence. For years, the United States traded with Latin American countries, but growing instability in Latin America threatened it. President Theodore Roosevelt worried that the instability would cause European countries to intervene in the region, so he proclaimed authority to police Latin America. The United States also sought a way to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the Isthmus of Panama seemed the like the natural location. While the United States had trouble abroad, discrimination troubles existed on the home front. Jews, Catholics, Asians, and African Americans came under scrutiny in a predominantly white, Protestant nation. Leaders like Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois struggled for equal opportunity.