In this lecture, Professor Totten argues American workers suffered from horrible working conditions during the Gilded Age. Unions were used as vehicles to address such issues, but they often were met with violence at the hands of business and government alike. This period also saw the expansion of immigration into the United States, with different ethnic and racial groups than the previous few centuries. Southern and Eastern Europeans, Jews, Catholics, and Asians came in great numbers, which in turn, led to the rise of Nativism. As workers and immigrants crowded into cities, urbanization increased. Without regulations and city planning, urban areas became polluted, crowded, and crime ridden. As a result, reformers attempted to alleviate such problems through the use of settlement houses and public awareness campaigns. But conditions continued to be a problem, leading to the Progressive Era in the early 20th century.

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