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Urban America1877-1920
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Ch.19: Urban Life, 1877–1920
New urban environment create many changes
Cities = source of hope, conflict, adjustment
Especially so for “New Immigrants” 51% of Americans urban (1920) City central to US life Source of diversity & pluralism (class,
race, ethnicity) Also new sources of entertainment
(vaudeville)
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Outline of this Lecture
I. Economic & Social Forces That Changed CitiesA)IndustrializationB)TransportationC)Population Growth
II.Urban LifeA)Rich / Poor / Middle ClassesB)“Machine” Politics & Urban LifeC)Betterment / ImprovementD)Women & MinoritiesE)Ethnic / cultural enclaves
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I. Economic and Social Forces that Changed the
Cities
»Industrialization»Transportation»Population Growth
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A. Industrial Development
Cities = centers of industrial growth Concentration of capital, workers, &
consumers Most cities have variety of factories Often specialize in 1 product
(clothing, NYC; steel, Pittsburgh) Shape of city change Earlier cities compact; sprawl start
late 1800s
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B. Transportation Revolution
,
Horse railways,1880s
Subways, elevated trains and electric trolleys,1890s
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Mechanization of Mass Transportation
Mass transit allow middle-class & rich to live away from congestion of urban core
Then commute for work, shopping, etc. Cable cars, 1870s; electric streetcars,
1890s; interurbans, 1900-1920s Largest cities build elevated trains and/or
subways (both expensive) to bypass traffic With sprawl, cities subdivide Growing separation between home & work Between rich & poor
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Interurban Car, Urbana, IL 1909
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Beginnings of Urban Sprawl
Electric interurban railways link nearby cities and accelerate growth of suburbs
Fares too expensive for factory workers Growth unplanned & guided by profit
motive Little attention to parks, traffic, etc. Some businesses (shops) also move to
suburbs Urban core = work zone Urban growth both centrifugal & centripetal
<==City==> / ==>City<==
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C. Population Growth
Foreign Immigration In-Migration from Rural Areas
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Population Shifts
• 1860 1860 1 in 6 Americans lived in cities of 1 in 6 Americans lived in cities of 8,000 or more OR nearly 20 percent lived in 8,000 or more OR nearly 20 percent lived in citiescities
• 1890 1890 3 in 10 lived in cities OR 33.3 3 in 10 lived in cities OR 33.3 percent lived in citiespercent lived in cities
• 1900 1900 40 percent lived in cities40 percent lived in cities• 19201920 50 percent lived in cities50 percent lived in cities
• Urban population increased 700 Urban population increased 700 percent between 1865 and 1905percent between 1865 and 1905
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Population Growth
1870: 10 million Americans in cities 1920: 54 million (550% increase) Some growth from annexing nearby areas Biggest factor = in-migration from
countryside and immigration from abroad Rural populace decline Low crop prices & high debts hurt farmers Move to cities for jobs & to escape
isolation
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Population Growth (cont.)
1000s of rural African Americans migrate to cities in search of new opportunities
Discrimination limit them to service jobs More openings for black women than men Many Hispanics in West migrate to cities Take over unskilled jobs (construction) Even more newcomers were immigrants Some from Canada, Asia, or Latin America
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Foreign Immigration
Most immigrants from Europe 26 million (1870–1920); most go to cities Part of worldwide population movement Causes: population pressure, land
redistribution, & industrialization Religious persecution motivate some New communications & transportation
facilitate global movement of peoples
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Immigration to the United States, 1870-
1900
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The “New” Immigration
Earlier, most European immigrants from northern & western Europe (Map 19.2)
By 1900, shift to southern & eastern Europe
Bring greater diversity in language, religion, ethnicity, & customs to USA
Foreign-born & native-born of foreign parents become majority in many US cities (Figure 19.1)
Many native-born whites (old immigrant heritage) resent “new” immigrants
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Ellis Islandhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z23tbYOHHAI
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In-Migration from Rural Areas
Falling crop prices, economic recessions & depressions (“boom & bust” cycles)
Lure of steady / steadier employment in factories / offices / retail
Greater social opportunities Mechanization of agriculture means
fewer people needed “down on the farm”
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Urban and Rural Population, 1870-1900
(in millions)
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II. Urban Life
A)Rich / Poor / Middle ClassesB)“Machine” Politics & Urban
LifeC)Betterment / ImprovementD)Changes in the Social Fabric
of the FamilyE)Ethnic / Cultural LifeF)Beginnings of Mass Culture
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A. Rich / Poor / Middle Class
Concentration of wealth & power in the cities – financial sectors
Concentration of industrial work in cities Rising managerial class / mid-level
workers Growing consumer culture
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Currier & Ives Print of the Proposed Brooklyn Bridge
(1877)
The Brooklyn Bridge in 1890 (built in 1883)
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N.Y. Tribune Building, 1873-1875
Architect: Richard Morris Hunt
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New York World Building, 1890
Architect: George B. Post
309' high
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Park Row Building, New York, 1899
Architect: R.H. Robertson 391' high
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Architects McKim, Mead and White
Tower 304' high
(Old) Madison Square Garden,
NYC
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St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City
Tower completed in 1888 330' high
5th Ave. near St. Patrick's 1858-1879
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Fifth Avenue in New York City on Easter Sunday in
1900
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Hester Street, New York Cityc. 1902
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Living Conditions in the Inner City
Massive influx of people create immense problems of overcrowding, disease, poverty
Some improvement overtime, but many problems remain
Biggest problem = lack of adequate housing High rents force 2–3 families to occupy one-
family apartments in tenements, esp. NYC Tiny rooms lack windows, water, safe heat Result = disease, vermin, & filth
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New York tenements at the turn of the century
500,000 people per square mile in the Lower East Side. One person per square foot.
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Room in a Tenement Flat, 1910
Jessie Tarbox BealsMuseum of the City of New York
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Jacob Riis (1849-1914)Photographer and author of How the Other
Half Lives (1890)
Children sleepingin Mulberry Street
(1890)
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“Street Arabs” in sleeping quarters
Jacob Riis
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Sabbath Eve in a Coal Cellar
Jacob Riis
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Police Station Lodger
Jacob Riis
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Showing Their Tricks: Hell’s Kitchen Boys, 1888-1889
Jacob Riis
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Bohemian Cigar Makers in a Tenement Sweatshop, 1889
Jacob Riis
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Chicago Slums c. 1900Children playing near a dead
horse
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Bobover Rebbe and his granddaughter,
Borough Park, New York.
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Home of an Italian Rag picker, 1888
Jacob Riis
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B. “Machine” Politics & Urban Life
• Organized group that controlled the activities of a political party in a city.
• Offered services to voters and businesses in exchange for political and financial support.
• Pyramid with local precinct workers at bottom and political boss at top.
• Immigrants fueled the machine as voters. They Received: – Naturalization – Housing – Jobs
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Political Machines (cont.)
NYC’s Tammany Hall mix personal gain with public accomplishments
Profit from control of city contracts & jobs Also profit from illegal actions (gambling) Construct vital public works Bribes & kickbacks inflate costs to
taxpayers Like business leaders, bosses use politics
for self-interest and reflect racial/ethnic bias
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Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall Machine
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Tammany Hall and Machine Politics
1st
Ward3rd
Ward4th
Ward2nd
Ward
City HallMayor
Bd. of Aldermen
TammanyHallBoss
VOTES MONEY
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The Tammany Tiger Loose
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C. Betterment / Improvement
Efforts to improve and to better the lives of city dwellers came on several fronts: Economic Social Spiritual / Moral Governmental
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Diagram of a dumbbell tenement, c. 1879
Illegal by 1901
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Housing Reform;New Home Technology
NY regulate light, ventilation, & safety of new buildings; not affect existing structures
Riis & Veiler advocate model tenements Even reformers reject public housing New systems of heat, light, & plumbing
benefit upper & middle classes first Slowly others gain access to gas,
electricity, water Wealthy create new private spaces in home
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Sanitation, Construction; Urban Poverty
In response to germ theory, cities build better water purification & sewer systems
Street paving, steel-frame construction, elevators, & steam-heat improve urban life
Still, many working families live in poverty Seasonal nature of work; boom/bust cycles Americans debate whether to help poor
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Poverty Relief
Traditional belief: poor = many lazy & immoral / deserving poor
Aid to poor creates dependence Some reformers begin to argue new urban
environment contributes to poverty Advocate government action to address
poverty with safety & health regulations Origins of later Progressive movement In late 1800s, most wealthy reject reform
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The Stirrings of Reform
Social Darwinists see attempts at social reform as useless and harmfulReformers begin to seek changes in U.S. living, working conditions
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Progress and Poverty
Henry George: the rich getting richer, the poor, poorerGeorge’s solution: tax land, wealth’s source
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New Currents in Social Thought
Clarence Darrow rejects Social Darwinism, argues poverty at crime’s rootRichard T. Ely’s “New Economics” urges government intervention in economic affairsLiberal Protestants preach "Social Gospel"
– Purpose: reform industrial society – Means: introduce Christian standards into
economic sphere
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A Crisis in Social Welfare
Depression of 1893 reveals insufficiency of existing private charity New professionalism in social workNew efforts to understand poverty’s sourcesIncreasing calls for government interventionSocial tensions engender sense of crisis
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Crime and Violence
Homicides & other crimes (theft) increase More reporting may explain growth Nativists blame immigrants But native-born also participate in crime Violence against newcomers frequent Race riots against blacks in cities across
USA Atlanta, GA (1906); East St. Louis, IL (1917)
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Law Enforcement
Cities develop professional police, post-1850
Police often exhibit poor training, corruption, & ethnic/racial prejudice
Different groups want different kinds of law enforcement on customer-oriented crimes
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Managing the City
Governments slowly address new problems Many urban governments lack organization Clean water & waste disposal = urgent needs Lack of 2 cause disease (yellow fever,
typhoid) Engineers purify water with filters & chlorine Also improve waste disposal, street cleaning,
lighting, construction, & fire protection
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Civic Reform
Upset by corruption & taxes, middle/upper classes oppose bosses but with little success
Advocate city managers & city commissions to create efficient government by experts
Reformers do not realize urbanities are loyal to boss because boss help with problems
A few reform mayors use government to address poverty (Pingree of Detroit)
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The City Beautiful Movement
Architects try to make cities attractive & efficient with parks, wider streets
Displace poor in process Naiveté/insensitivity of many reformers
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The Settlement Houses
Famous Houses– 1886--Stanton Coit’s Neighborhood Guild, New
York – 1889—Jane Addams' Hull House, Chicago– 1892—Robert A. Woods’ South End House, Boston– 1893—Lillian Wald’s Henry Street Settlement, New
YorkCharacteristics
– Many workers women– Classical, practical education for poor– Study social composition of neighborhood
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Jane Addams, founder of Hull House
(1860-1935)
In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize
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Hull House, Chicago1889
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Lillian Wald (1867-1940), nurse, social worker
Wald introduced
the pioneeringconcept of
public health nursing
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Lillian Wald founded Henry Street Settlement
in New York in 1895
Lillian Wald in her office
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One of Lillian Wald's nurses takes a short cut across tenement roofs to visit a
patient, c. 1908
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II. Urban Life
D. Changes in the Social Fabric of the Family
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Family Life
Family remain primary social unit Help members with urban-industrial
problems Most households consist of nuclear family Family size shrink with declining birth rate Stages of life (youth, parenthood, old age)
become more distinct Number of unmarried people increase Boarding = common practice
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Changes in Family Life
Urbanization, industrialization alter family Family life virtually disappears among poorly-paid working classSuburban commute takes fathers from middle-class homesTensions for women
– Domesticity encouraged– Identity as mere housewife almost
shameful
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Manners and Mores
Victorian morality dictates dress, mannersProtestant religious values strong Reform underpinned by Protestantism
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Changing Views: A Growing Assertiveness
among Women"New women"--self-supporting careersDemand an end to gender discriminationSpeak openly about once-forbidden topics
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1910 telephone exchange in New York City
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Educating the Masses
Few students reach the sixth gradeTeaching unimaginative, learning passiveSegregation, poverty compound problems of Southern education1896—Plessy v. Ferguson allows "separate but equal" schools
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Geographic and Social Mobility
Newcomers cope with challenges by relying on family (pool resources, help with jobs)
Also constant movement within city or to another city in search of better opportunities
Some find success; others keep moving White male occupational mobility exist with
more white-collar jobs & small businesses Few rag-to-riches successes Most rich start with affluence
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Geographic and Social Mobility (cont.)
Moderate advance occur for some white men, esp. native-born
17–20% of manual workers rise to non-manual work within 10 years
Some downward mobility also occur Especially owners of small
businesses Little mobility for women and people
of color
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Geographic and Social Mobility (cont.)
Acquiring property difficult because of high interest loans with short repayment periods
36% of urban Americans own homes (1900) Higher than most Western nations Gap between rich & poor widen Possibility of mobility serve as safety valve Relieve some tensions/frustrations of city
life
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II. Urban Life
D. Ethnic / Cultural Life
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Cultural Retention and Change
Peopling of cities = dynamic process Immigrants initially live in ethnic
enclaves and try to preserve traditional culture
Crowding/movement force contact with others
In large cities, neighborhoods = multi-ethnic “urban borderlands”
White New Immigrants suffer prejudice, but less than blacks, Asians, & Hispanics
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Racial Segregation and Violence
White immigrants leave enclaves over time Not so for people of color; racism = key factor Segregated black “ghettos” develop; few jobs Lots of animosity from surrounding whites Churches central to African American life Asians also suffer segregation, discrimination,
& violence (e.g., Exclusion Act of 1882) Mexicans lose land; whites isolate them into
barrios far from urban core
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Cultural Adaptation
Immigrants try to preserve native language
But children learn English at school & at work
Music reflect cultural interaction Religiously, USA become more diverse w/
more Catholics, Jews, Orthodox Christians, etc.
Some Catholics & Jews accommodate to US culture
Others resist (Conservative/Reform Judaism)
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II. Urban Life
E. Leisure & Rise of Mass Culture
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Leisure and Entertainment
Domestic leisure--card, parlor, yard gamesSentimental ballads, ragtime popularEntertainment outside home
Circus immensely popular Baseball, football, basketball
Street lights, streetcars make evening a time for entertainment and pleasure
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The New Leisureand Mass Culture
Leisure time expand and become big business
Sports: baseball & football for men; women’s basketball; croquet & cycling for both sexes
Popular drama, musical comedy, & vaudeville provide escape, but reinforce bias
Movies, newspapers, & magazines become profitable consumer goods
Create mass culture, but USA still pluralistic