The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People (Brinkley), 7th Edition

Chapter 18: The Age of the City

Study Questions

1
How did the immigrants, rising in number after the 1880s, differ in ethnic background and economic status from most of the earlier immigrants?
2
What social institutions and community actions helped facilitate immigrant assimilation, especially that of European immigrants, to life in America?
3
What organizations and laws resulted from the resentment that many native-born Americans felt toward the new immigrants? Why didn't Congress pass more such laws?
4
In what ways was the huge migration into the United States part of a worldwide phenomenon? What were the "push" and "pull" factors that brought immigrants to the U.S.?
5
What were the main environmental problems of the cities? What improvements were made in the early twentieth century?
6
What factors contributed to the rise of political machines and their bosses? What were the positive as well as the negative aspects of boss rule in large cities?
7
Describe the changes in income and purchasing power of the urban middle and working classes. Who made the greater gains? Who lagged behind?
8
How did turn-of-the-century Americans come to reconceptualize their idea of "leisure"? How was this manifested differently among different groups?
9
How did the rising respect for scientific inquiry combine with Darwinism to affect a wide range of intellectual inquiry?
10
Describe the evolution of free public schooling in the United States. What parts of the nation lagged in education?
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