Demographic and Environmental Developments h 191of the twentieth century, Russians, Germans, and Jews also contributed to the immi-
grant population of Latin America. Many of the Jewish immigrants were refugees from
pogroms, or mass persecutions, of Jews in Russia.
Many immigrants became victims of racial and ethnic prejudice in their new environ-
ment. For 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 pre-
vented 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 scientifi c knowledge and theories as well as in new methods of liter-
ary 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 sur-
vival of the fi ttest species. Darwin’s ideas remained controversial because they confl icted
with the biblical account of creation. In 1900, the German physicist Max Planck discovered
that light and energy fl ow 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
- In the late nineteenth century, Chinese and Japa-
nese laborers were sought in
(A) Hawaii
(B) Argentina
(C) Mexico
(D) Western Europe
(E) India
2. Among common migration patterns in the nine-
teenth century was
(A) migration from Latin America to Mediterra-
nean Europe
(B) middle-class migration from countryside to
city
(C) the discontinuation of settler colonies
(D) migration for religious reasons
(E) migration of lower classes from cities to
suburbs
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