Chapter 18: Society and Politics in the Gilded Age, 1865–1900
CORE OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the effects of urban growth during the Gilded Age, including the problems it
TRUE/FALSE
1. The growth of cities helped to solve many major social problems of the late nineteenth
century.
2. The spread of mass transit was a major factor in the growth of the suburbs.
3. Reformers lobbied to replace horse-drawn trolleys with electric-powered streetcars or
trolleys.
4. The peak decade of immigration was the 1890s.
5. The Immigration Restriction League sought to pass legislation banning illiterate
immigrants, even though illiterate British and German immigrants had been permitted in the
past.
6. Examples of the new types of entertainment that became popular during the Gilded Age
included vaudeville shows and Wild West traveling shows.
7. During the Gilded Age, Americans came to expect a great deal of direct support from the
federal government.
8. Throughout the Gilded Age, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress.
9. President Hayes was committed to civil service reform.
10. Mugwumps tended to oppose civil service reform.
11. When first created, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was too weak to regulate
the railroads effectively.
12. As president, Benjamin Harrison supported generous pensions for veterans.
13. Farmers were generally hurt by the high tariff.
14. The Grange was the leading farm organization through the 1890s.
15. The Farmers’ Alliances accepted black members.
16. President Cleveland made the Panic of 1893 worse by convincing Congress to switch back
to only minting gold.
17. In 1896, the Republican party supported the gold standard.
18. By 1897, economic prosperity in the United States was returning as a result of inflation
from a flood of gold discovered in South Africa, northwest Canada, and Alaska.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. In the late nineteenth century, the growth of cities brought
a. the greater availability of resources for government officials to feed and shelter
newcomers.
b. a number of social problems such as widespread poverty.
c. “gilded” social and economic lives to average Americans and recent immigrants.
d. prosperity to small farms and increasing crop prices.
e. the decreased influence of lobbyists and businesses in politics.
2. During the period immediately after the Civil War, major cities in the United States
a. experienced growth, with populations sometimes increasing by the millions.
b. suffered from the post-war recession, as factory workers returned to their farms.
c. experienced a crime wave as prohibition became legal.
d. passed bonds to finance internal improvements to help rebuild their destroyed trade
centers.
e. created Freedmen’s Bureaus to provide economic assistance to the newly freed slaves.
3. Which of the following statements regarding the “Gilded Age” is true?
a. Only a relatively small percentage of society experienced rapid income growth.
b. Wages for unskilled laborers increased at a faster pace than skilled laborers.
c. Entrepreneurs invested profits primarily in higher wages for their employees.
d. Income growth was generally the same for all Americans.
e. Economic equality extended to the agricultural sector of the economy.
4. In the 1870s, what invention allowed the construction of large apartment buildings to
become significantly cheaper?
a. The sawmill
b. Steam radiators
c. Steel
d. The light bulb
e. The automatic chimney sweep
5. Dangerously overcrowded, filthy, and poorly maintained __________ were where the poor
of the urban areas lived.
a. tenements
b. government housing
c. central housing authorities
d. colonials
e. skyscrapers
6. Which of the following statements about reforms in the cities during the Gilded Age is
accurate?
a. Reformers first introduced horse-drawn carriages to the cities, making transportation
easier and safer.
b. Reformers convinced millions of people to leave the cities and start their own farms in
rural areas.
c. Regular trash collection and the creation of sewer systems did not begin until well after
1900.
d. Reformers argued that slaughterhouses should stay within city limits because they
provided healthy food options.
e. Public health officials and engineers improved tenements by calling for rules regarding
more windows and plumbing.
7. By 1900, what percentage of the residents in major cities was foreign born?
a. 10 percent
b. 30 percent
c. 50 percent
d. 70 percent
e. 90 percent
8. In the time between 1860 and 1920, what made immigration different than in previous
years?
a. The immigrants tended to come from eastern and southern Europe.
b. The immigrants tended to come from western and northern Europe.
c. The immigrants tended to come from Central America.
d. Fewer immigrants tended to come to the United States at all.
e. There were very few labor jobs for immigrants once they arrived.
9. In 1885, the U.S. government stopped
a. companies from recruiting immigrant workers, such as at the ports upon their arrival.
b. companies from paying to import workers from outside the nation.
c. any immigrants from Poland, Russia, and Greece from entering the country.
d. racial prejudice from influencing government legislation on immigration.
e. discrimination against Chinese immigrants through laws protecting their rights.
10. Immigrants who arrived before 1890 to the United States were mainly
a. Hindus and Buddhists.
b. Jewish.
c. Protestants and Roman Catholics.
d. Eastern Orthodox.
e. Muslim.
11. Which of the following statements accurately characterizes immigrants’ accommodation to
city life in the United States around 1900?
a. They were able to quickly discard their ethnic customs and languages.
b. Company recruiters only sought immigrants for jobs in coastal rather than inland cities.
c. They were only considered for simple, repetitive work as opposed to dangerous mining
work.
d. They were often targets for exploitation because of a lack of familiarity with
employment practices.
e. They easily blended in and quickly grew accustomed to American culture.
12. Native-born Americans who were concerned by the influx of new immigrants to the United
States and motivated by racial prejudice were called
a. sanitary reformers.
b. nativists.
c. the American party.
d. muckrakers.
e. mugwumps.
13. The first federal law passed to restrict immigration on the basis of race was the
a. Anti-Irish Immigration Act.
b. German Exclusion Act.
c. Anti-Polish Immigration Act.
d. Chinese Exclusion Act.
e. Eastern Orthodox Anti-Immigration Act.
14. What organization was formed primarily to prevent the Anglo-Saxon “race” from being
“contaminated”?
a. Immigration Restriction League
b. Populist Party
c. American Party
d. Anti-Mason League
e. Workers Progress Association
15. Which of the following were associated with new forms of entertainment and social
activities in large cities during the Gilded Age?
a. Political organizations and labor unions
b. Community volunteer programs
c. Fitness clubs and gyms
d. Centers of transportation
e. Religious organizations
16. According to the textbook, what helped spur the development of professional sporting
events in cities?
a. Streetcars
b. Public organizers
c. Mass media campaigns
d. Radio broadcasts
e. The standardization of the daily sports sections in newspapers
17. The most popular leisure destinations for urban working-class men during the Gilded Age
were
a. football stadiums.
b. temperance organizations.
c. the streets as a public space.
d. saloons.
e. opera halls.
18. During the Gilded Age, temperance organizations were best associated with
a. the Republican party.
b. the Democrat party.
c. saloons.
d. the Immigration Restriction League.
e. vaudeville halls.
19. What was reform Darwinism?
a. A conservative method of thinking that predominantly valued competition as the means
to social progress
b. A belief system that promoted “rugged individualism” and opposed government
regulation of business
c. The idea of active human control over the process of evolution, emphasizing
cooperation as the means to social progress
d. A way of thinking strongly at odds with the “progressive” movement of the late
nineteenth century
e. An application of evolutionary theory that used the concept of “survival of the fittest” to
justify class distinctions and oppose sanitation and housing standards
20. During the Gilded Age the real movers and shakers of the United States could be said to be
a. the Supreme Court.
b. the labor unions.
c. corporations or “robber barons.”
d. Congress.
e. the president.
21. Unlike today, citizens during the Gilded Age expected the __________ government to have
little to no effect on their daily lives.
a. state
b. local
c. city
d. federal
e. municipal
22. What is the definition of a party “boss”?
a. An absolute political leader who uses his “machine” to govern local politics, promoting
personal and party interests
b. The name given to a leader and scholar who studies and promotes the ideas of social
Darwinism
c. A union leader who organizes social activities for members and fights for better
representation of workers
d. A political leader who represents a rural area and refuses to associate with or participate
in the corruption of the city
e. A business tycoon who dominates trade but refuses to interact with politicians because it
is more advantageous for him to keep those spheres separate
23. This power meant that those newly elected could appoint people to jobs in their sphere of
authority.
a. Pardoning
b. Peculation
c. Patronage
d. Primogeniture
e. Paternalism