example, after anti-Chinese riots broke out in some communities in the western United States, the U.S.
Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prevented most Chinese immigration.
Changes in the Educational and Artistic Environment
As the inhabitants of Western industrial cities gradually acquired more leisure time, there was a
growing interest in scientific knowledge and theories as well as in new methods of literary and
artistic expression. In early-nineteenth-century literature and the arts, a new manner of expression
called romanticism explained human experiences and nature through the use of emotion rather than
reason. In 1859, Charles Darwin proposed his theory of natural selection , which stated that living
species had evolved into their current forms by the survival of the fittest species. Darwin’s ideas
remained controversial because they conflicted with the biblical account of creation. In 1900, the
German physicist Max Planck discovered that light and energy flow in small units that he named
“quanta,” establishing the discipline of quantum physics . In 1916, Albert Einstein, also a German
physicist, formulated his theory of relativity , which argued that time and space are relative to one
another. Social scientists used experimental data to explain human behavior; Sigmund Freud of
Vienna explained new theories of the workings of the human mind and developed the technique of
psychoanalysis.
Rapid Review
Improvements in medical practices and sanitation as well as widespread consumption of the potato
increased populations in various world regions. The crowded populations of industrial cities
presented new problems in housing developments. Although medical knowledge improved
throughout the years from 1750 to 1914, pollution in industrial urban areas presented new health
issues. Colonization brought new contacts between East and West, including the spread of epidemic
disease. At the same time, European immigrants to the Western Hemisphere contributed customs that
enriched the cultural landscape of the Americas. Increased leisure time created popular interest in
science and the arts.
Review Questions
1 . In the late nineteenth century, Chinese and Japanese laborers were sought in
(A) Hawaii
(B) Argentina
(C) Mexico
(D) Western Europe
2 . Among common migration patterns in the nineteenth century was
(A) migration from Latin America to Mediterranean Europe
(B) middle-class migration from countryside to city
(C) the discontinuation of settler colonies
(D) migration for religious reasons