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New England Families
Puritans believed that society’s foundation rested not on the individual but on the family. There were very few divorces; just 27 were issued by Massachusetts from the year 1639 to 1692. In addition, New England families lived longer and raised larger families than almost any society in the world in the 17th century and more than 80% of all infants survived long enough to get married. -
Family Roles in Puritan Culture
Women bore, nursed, and reared the children. They were also in charge of work in the house, barn, and garden. In addition, they had to make the food and clothing.
The men were the head of the family’s crops and livestock. They conducted most of its business transactions, and represented it in town government. -
Puritan migration to New England
Also known as the Great Migration, Puritans migrated to Massachusetts. Most were in groups that were in search of exercising their religion. -
Proclamation of 1763
Issued by King George III (following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War) it limited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. -
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal was completed on October 26, 1825. It allowed for cheaper goods and cities such as New York City flourished due to economic activities . -
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Indian Removal
Indian Removal created land for settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains. They were moved to areas west of the Mississippi; land obtained from the Louisiana Purchase. -
Wives and Husbands
The wife and husband were becoming “equal” by separate spheres. Men were "superior” in making money and women were “superior” for moral influence, raising children. -
Westward Expansion/ Manifest Destiny
By 1840, one-third of Americans were living between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River.
Migrants expected better opportunities westward.
Many families travelled westward and created cities where individuals were from same region. -
Mexican - American War
After America defeated Mexico in the Mexican - American War, the new acquired territories of New Mexico and California added onto the size of the United States and set stage for the California gold rush, -
8 Western Indian Reservations created
By 1860, eight western Indian reservations had been established. -
Immigration and Settlement
From 1860 - 1890, America was impacted by huge waves of Immigration. Irish were predominating in New England and French-Canadians migrated south to work on the mills in New England. Germans and Scandinavians were settling in the Midwest. In the West, Chinese were settling in California. The amount of immigration was so great that "New York City contained twice as many Irish as Dublin." -
Migrants
Many workers were drawn to good wages and jobs in the city due to the growth of industries. Thus, many farmers and families in the rural areas migrated to the city in search of a better life. In addition, not just men but women also began to seek job opportunities. -
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Systematic Hunting of Western Buffalo by Whites
As settlers moved West, they began to hunt buffalo for trade and efforts to undermine the Plains Indians' resistance to western settlement. The slaughter of the buffalo took a heavy toll on the Plains Indians, who not only used every part of the buffalo but were dependent on it for their way of life. -
Women in Civil War
Nurses were greatly needed during the Civil War. Over 3,200 women served the Union and the Confederacy as nurses.
- Dorothea Dix became the head of the Union’s nursing corps.
-Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross.
The response was mixed because women were often pictured to be in the home and taking care of children. -
Homestead Act
The Homestead Act guaranteed ownership of 160 acres of land to anyone who applied and actively maintained it for 5 years, bringing about mass migration further West in the mid- to late 19th century. In the 1870s and '80s, many immigrants of English, Irish, Norwegian, German, Swedish, Danish and Czech descent moved to the frontier. -
Fort Laramie Treaty
In the Fort Laramie Treaty, the Lakota Sioux agreed to move into South Dakota in exchange for money on the condition that they would receive holy lands, the Black Hills. -
Completion of the Trans-Continental Railroad
1869 marked the completion of the trans-continental railroad from Nebraska to California by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies. This lead to an increase in western migration, as it became faster and easier to go west. The majority of the workers on the railroad were Chinese, Irish, black and Mexican-American. -
Urban Growth (Cities)
During the late 19th century, American cities experienced a growth of population. During 1870-1900, the population of Los Angeles exploded from 5,728 in 1870 to 102,479 in 1900. Seattle also experienced a growth from 1,107 to 237,194. New York City also grew from about 1.5 million to almost 3.5 million during this time period. These drastic changes were fueled by migration and foreign immigration. -
"Suburban Sprawl"
During the 1870s and 1880s, wealthy city dwellers began moving to suburbs to distance themselves from the crowded districts. Individuals and families in the suburbs bought larger lots. The Middle-class also followed the path set by the wealthy. -
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Urban Growth
During 1870 - 1900, the urban populations experienced a large growth of population. This was fueled by the 11 million immigrants coming to America in search of a new life. Many people wanted to destroy the customs of the immigrants and so the late 19th century saw an intense struggle for control of the city. -
Settlement-House Movement
In the 1880s, women such as Jane Addams opened Hull Houses for immigrants. This Hull House provided immigrants with important skills such as reading, cooking, and dressmaking. Although their sympathetic attitudes had good intentions, the idea of social harmony had different outcomes. Although some immigrants were thankful, some complained that the Hull House leaders were "a bunch of people planning for us and deciding what is good for us without consulting us or taking us into their confidence." -
Divorce Rates
From 1880-1900, 1 in every 21 marriages ended in divorce. By 1900 the rate rose to 1 in 12. This is because women were more openly about their husbands' failures and spoke out more frequently. This change was all taking place during the shift from the Victorian Lady to the New Woman. -
Cult of Domesticity
Victorian views on the morals of women began to change in the late 19th century. During the 1880s and 1890s new obligations of an artistic environment were added to the traditional woman's role within the home. In addition, women began to go into education to study and began working as well. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese immigrants during the 1880's were coming in, taking jobs in California and lowering the wages. In order to stop this, Congress raised anti-Chinese immigration plans. The Chinese Exclusion Act placed a 10 year suspension of Chinese Immigration. The ban was later made permanent in 1902. -
Oklahoma Land Rush
Oklahoma, previously an enormous reservation for the "Five Civilized Tribes," was opened up to settlers. The white settlers poured in and 6000 Homestead claims were fulfilled. -
Subdivision of New York City based on race
During the 1890, New York City began to segregate into different sections based on race. The West Side of Manhattan was dominated by Irish while the East Side of Manhattan was mostly German neighborhoods with numerous Poles, Hungarians, Russians, Italians and Chinese. Furthermore, immigrants divided themselves by the region of the country they were from. -
New Immigrants
In the 1890s, the old immigrants who were from northern and western Europe were joined by new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe (Italians, Slavs, Greeks, Jews). Many of the new immigrants were not welcome since they took jobs, and set the minimum wage lower. Many immigrants just came to America to earn money and would later return to their home country. -
Slums and Ghettos
Almost every major city had neighborhoods that were overcrowded and rundown. Since immigrants had little money, they often shared a tenement with multiple families in order to save money. Slums were very unsafe, but it was particularly difficult for the children. Many infectious diseases took toll and infant mortality was high. -
Spanish-American War
Though very few men died in combat, roughly 5000 American soldiers succumbed to malaria, yellow fever, food poisoning and other diseases. -
Annexation of Hawaii and acquisition of Guam and Philippines
In 1893, American sugar plantation owners overthrew Hawaii's Queen Liliuokalani. The planters proclaimed the independent Republic of Hawaii and requested for U.S. annexation. In 1898, Hawaii was proclaimed an American territory.
After the Spanish-American War, America was given the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam. These acquisitions, especially the Philippines expanded the American population. -
The Gentlemen's Agreement
In response to the segregation of Asian children into separate schools by the San Francisco school board, President Roosevelt negotiated with Tokyo to reverse the legislation in return for Japan's pledge to restrict Japanese immigration to America. -
Ellis Island, Angel Island - Foreign Immigration
New York established a special facility for admitting immigrants. The immigrants were checked for diseases before they could enter America. Ellis Island was the major facility in New York for immigrants coming across the Atlantic and Angel Island in San Francisco was the major facility for immigrants coming from Asia. -
Black Migration
During World War I, about half a million African Americans moved north during the war for economic opportunities. As the war progressed, there was more demand for military products in Europe as well as in the United States. Blacks filled the jobs of many of the northern white city workers that went to war. By 1920, 1.5 million African Americans were working in northern factories and urban based jobs. -
Women in World War I
About 1 million women worked in the industry during World War I. Previously, women typically did not work outside of the household but during WWI, women stepped up in place of their husbands and helped fill the positions and the demand in the American Industry. Since this time, the role of the woman was no longer confined to the house. -
World War I
After America joined the war in 1917, by the end of the war in 1918, America had sent almost 5 million troops to fight against the central power. 2 million of those troops were black. -
Influenza and Pneumonia Epidemic
During and after World War I, the deaths related to the flu skyrocketed. In a single month, the flu killed 195,000 Americans. Influenza hit especially hard in urban cities where people lived in confined and close spaces. This deadly virus killed more than 6 times the total battle deaths in France. As many as 30 million people were killed worldwide. -
Urban Population - Blacks
For the first time, the urban population of America surpassed the rural. The United States had become an urban nation. Urbanization affected Americans differently. African - Americans migrated cityward in large numbers, especially after the Mississippi River floods. By 1930, more than 40% of the nation's 12 million blacks lived in cities. -
Suburbs
Due to the automobile industry, the wealthy and upper middle class could move from the grand cities to suburbs where families and individuals could still commute to work, but not have to live in the heart of the cities. -
Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance influenced the growth of New York City's black population. New York City's black community surged from 152,000 to 327,000. Most of the blacks that migrated to New York City settled in Harlem. Harlem became a vibrant center of black culture. -
Women's roles
Due to the automobile industry, women could now explore "new possibilities for excitement, for leisure and for sociability." This idea of women pursing their ambitions was different from the old idea that women were not supposed to leave the house. -
Hispanic Newcomers
Immigration from Latin America soared in the 1920s due to the poverty and domestic political turmoil within Mexico. By 1930, at least 2 million Mexican born people lived in America's Southwest. Calfornia's Mexican - American population grew from 90,000 to 360,000 in just 10 years. -
Urbanization - Women
In 1925, nearly 75% of working - class women reported that they spent less time on housework than had their mothers. Women were also affected due to the urbanization of America. Now, due to the advancements in technology and the ability to use electricity, women could now spend less time on housework. The previous idea that the “women's place is in the house” began to fade. -
Suicide rates climb almost 30% from 1928-1932
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Population grown falls to 7%
Birth rate has declined and immigration is not as commonplace as it once was -
Black migration North continues
By 1940, 23% of African Americans live in the North. -
Birth rate declines
The birth rate declines throughout the 1930s as families want to limit their size for economic reasons. This was facilitated by birth control devices such as diaphragms and condoms. -
New Quota Sets 50-Person Annual Limit on Filipino Immigrants
A new annual quota is set of 50 Filipino immigrants annually, and Filipino Americans are offered free travel back to the Philippines. -
Hispanic-Americans settle in the United States
Caribbean immigrants settle in East Coast cities, while Mexicans go to the Southwest or midwest. -
500,000 Immigrants Return to Mexico
Half a million Mexican immigrants return to Mexico, either voluntarily or forcibly by immigration officials. -
Dust Bowl
Across the Great Plains, a drought combines with the effects of poor farming techniques, turning the soil to dust. Crops fail, people in the states of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kanss, and Oklahoma die. Almost 3.5 million leave to go west or to cities. -
Internment of Japanese – Americans
For the American government feared disloyalty, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which ordered the "removal from military areas of anyone deemed a threat". About 37,000 first generation Japanese immigrants and 75,000 native - born Japanese - American citizens were relocated from the west to more inland America. There were forced to sell their land and relocate quickly into detention camps in the remote parts of the West and Great Plains. -
Home Front cont.
Because of the migration, few of the "boom communities" had resources to supply their populations. Urban blight and conflicts between newcomers and old-timers rose. As women worked out of the home, people feared that this would cause the family to disintegrate, juvenile delinquency increased and divorce rates rose to 27 per 100. Although divorce rates soared, so did marriage rates and birthrates. High school enrollments decreased as full - time employment of teenagers rose to 3 million in 1944. -
GI Bill of Rights leads to prosperous middle class and baby boom
The GI Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act) gave WWII veterans assistance with coming back to work after the war, veterans hospitals and provided low-interest loans. The loans in particular allowed veterans to purchase homes more easily. Most importantly, the GI Bill also gave veterans 4 years of college or vocational training, causing 1.3 million veterans to attend college and be able to have white collar jobs. -
Home Front
By the end of the war, about 15 million men moved due to military service and many other moved in search of job opportunities. In addition, at least 6 million people left farms to work in urban areas. The American lifestyle became "freewheeling" as Americans left their hometowns and ignored traditional values. Due to this mass move, housing shortages left millions of people in garages etc. Overcrowding along with wartime separations strained the family life, resulting in high rates of divorce. -
Women in World War 2
Millions of both married and young, single women entered the work force to contribute to American industry and war production while their husbands were fighting for the liberties of America. More than 6 million women entered the work force during World War 2. Rosie the Riveter became the symbol of woman war worker. Although they worked the same tasks as other men, women were paid less. -
Divorce rates spike among couples married during the war
By 1950, more than one million war-time marriages had ended in divorce. In some cases, this was because women (who had held jobs while the men had enlisted) had become more independent, befuddling their husbands who were accustomed to their submissiveness. -
Cold War advances in medical science expand life expectancy and quality of life
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Between 1940 and 1960, percentage of Americans in suburbs jumps from 19.5% to 30.7%
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22% of people live below the poverty line, but go unnoticed as the "other America"
Many of the nations poor inhabited depressed rural areas in this era, in particular migrant farm workers. The majority of the poor lived in depressed urban areas.These people lived in inadequate shelter (caves or chicken coups in rural areas, slums and airless cellars in the city), didn't get proper nutrition, and got sick far more easily and experienced higher infant mortality rates. -
Hispanic migration into US cities and Southwest
Many Puerto Ricans came to New York City as they were US citizens and could do so legally, as well as Mexican-Americans, though some were illegal aliens. Agricultural lands opening up in the Southwest brought many Mexican immigrants, and many stayed illegally after their work contracts were up. -
60,000 American Indians relocate from depressed reservations to cities
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"Rosie the Riveter" disappears as women revert to traditional roles
After the war, most women give up their jobs as men return from the army to get married and have children. The average marriage age for women drops to late teens (eg, 18-21), with marriage romanticized and feminism and women's rights activism at a low, though some women do work office jobs to supplement family income. -
Brown vs Board of Education outlaws segregation
Though the decision reversed Plessy vs. Ferguson, for many years to come, the South refuses to bend to the new law and make many (sometimes violent) efforts to maintain segragation. -
Antibiotics bring down diseases such as diptheria, the whooping cough and polio
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Baby Boom
With one woman in three married by age 19, a baby was born every 7 seconds in America at the peak of the baby boom in 1957. -
Decline of Family Farm
From 1960 - 1994 the number of family farms decreased from 6% of the labor force to 2.5%. The farm population was declining as a result of young people seeking opportunities in cities. -
The Birth Control Pill comes onto the market
The introduction of the Pill meant women could be more sexually active without the risk of unwanted pregnancy. It also gave women more sexual freedom and placed the decision to have or not to have children in their hands. -
Women's lives
From 1960 - 1992, the proportion of women working outside the home changed from 35% to 60%. This resulted because many families couldn't depend on a single income.
Women held nearly 20% of medical and legal professions.
Women delayed marriage to purse higher education or careers and the median age of first marriage rose from 20 to 24 in 30 years.
The birth rate also fell from 1960 to 1991. -
Immigration Act
The Immigration Act of 1965 (part of the Great Society programs) abolishes the 1924 immigration quotas, causing a major influx of immigrants, particularly from Latin America. The population of Chinese, Koreans and Filipinos was also hugely increased by this legislation. -
Infant Mortality drops by a third
As a result of the Great Society, infant mortality rates dropped by a third. -
80% of enlisted men in Vietnam are working class
By the mid 1960s, 80% of the men fighting in Vietnam were from poor and working-class backgrounds. This was because draft deferral was granted to students in college, and only the middle and upper classes could afford college tuition. Wealthier individuals would also deliberately fail pre-draft testing, for example, by pretending to be color blind. -
Gay Liberation Movement emerges publicly
The Gay Liberation movement became public when the homosexual patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, fought back against police in a routine raid. This causes a new sense of activism and self-pride among homosexuals, and groups such as Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis (for lesbians) are formed. Also in 1969, the movement was able to convince the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from their list of mental disorders. -
1960-1970- divorce rate
The divorce rate climbed from 2.2 per thousand in 1960 to 3.5 per thousand, and doubled by the end of the 1970s. -
Yuppies
The "Young Urban Professional" was the new stereotype of the 1970's culture. Yuppies were preoccupied with physical fitness and consumer goods. They were a replacement of the hippies of the 60's.
Yuppies reversed the middle - class flight to suburbs by purchasing rundown inner - city apartments (Gentrification). -
Roe v Wade
In this Supreme Court case, all state laws banning abortion are struck down and abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy becomes legal throughout the nation. In New York in 1970, one baby was aborted for every 2 babies born. -
Love Canal
Due to environmental concerns, families that were most at risk were evacuated from Love Canal.
