CHAPTER 25AMERICA MOVES TO THE CITY

1865-1900

The Urban Frontier-UrbanizationBy 1900, the US population was 80 million (doubled the 1870 census). The population of cities tripled. The cityward drift was also occurring throughout the western world. • 1860- no US city had 1 million inhabitants• 1890- NY, Chicago, Philadelphia= beyond 1

million• 1900- NY had 3.5 million (2nd largest city)

Effects of Urbanization 1.Skyscrapers- city growth moved out & up; less

costly to build up.• 1885- Home Insurance Building (Chicago) 1st

skyscraper (10 stories)• Electric elevator-made skyscraper’s possible• Leading designer of skyscrapers- Louis Sullivan

(Chicago) “form follows function”

2. Mass Transit- American commuters emerge.• Horse Drawn Trolley cars-• Electric Trolley cars• “Street car Suburbs” are born= “bedroom

communities”

3. Demise of the “walking city • City limits boundaries once limited by walking distance

now expand to immense proportions= impersonal megalopolis.

• Large city divided into residential, business, & industry• Neighborhoods= segregated by race, ethnicity, & social

class

What drew people from farms to cities?1.Industrial Jobs 2. Allure of city Life: Electricity, indoor plumbing, telephone service (50,000 in 1880 to 1 million by 1900)• Brooklyn Bridge (1883)3. Department Stores- Macy’s (NY) & Marshall Fields (Chicago)= lures urban middle class shoppers= provides jobs for urban working class (women).• Sister Carrie (1900)- by Theodore DreiserLife in the City- How did city life differ from rural life?• City dwellers produced more household waste=

urban age problem • Cultural shift away from thrift to consumerism• High Crime, poor sanitary conditions (typhoid,

cholera) • Crowded Slums- immigrants & laborers lived in

cramped tenement apartments (“Dumbbell Tenements”- 1879)• “Flophouses”- cheap rooms for the unemployed

& starved• Upward mobility was possible in cities

Immigration – “Old Immigrants” 1850- 1870’s Immigration- 2 million immigrants came to America• mostly from the British Isles & western Europe

(Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia)• fair skinned-Anglo-Saxon & Teutonic• mostly Protestant (except for the Irish Catholics & some

German Catholics)• fairly highly literate• used to some form of democracy from the old country

The “New Immigrants” (1880’s—1910)—30 million total to the USIn the 1880’s- more than 5 million poured into the US (1882- 778,992)• mostly from Southern & Eastern Europe (Italians,

Croats, Slovaks, Greeks, & Poles)• most worshipped in orthodox churches or synagogues • had little experience with democracy• illiterate & impoverished• most looked for jobs in cities—not move to farms in the

US • Moved into ethnic neighborhoods once in the US (Little

Italy)

Factors that influenced Immigration• Overpopulation in Europe (nearly doubled from

1800 to 1900)

• US food imports & European industrialization= unemployed peasants

• “American Fever” – US depicted as a land of opportunity (immigrants, US businesses)

• Persecutions in Europe- 1880’s Russians persecuted their Jewish populations (mainly in Poland)= Jewish immigrants came to the US

• Jewish immigrants brought urban skills (tailoring/shop keeping)• New Immigrants-- mostly single men who

planned to work in the US & return home – “birds of passage”

A New Birth of Reform & ImmigrantsNative born Americans were suspicious & hostile to the new immigrants. The US government did nothing to help with assimilation.• Political machines in cities stepped into the void= offer

services for votes• Religious people became alarmed at the plight of

immigrants*The Social Gospel MovementSocial Gospel: churches must tackle the social issues of the day.1. Walter Rauschenbusch- pastor of a German Baptist

Church (1886); wanted to apply the lessons of Christianity in the slums.

2. Washington Gladdin- pastor of a Congregational Church (Ohio 1882).

• Sermon on the Mount- a model• Predicted that socialism was the logical outcome=

“Christian socialists”3. *Jane Addams- one of the 1st generation of college educated women; founded *Hull House ( a settlement house) –Chicago 1889• Settlement Houses- offered English classes, counseling

to help immigrants assimilate, childcare for working mothers.

• Centers of women's activism & reform 4. *Lillian Wald- Henry Street Settlement House (NY-1893)

5. Florence Kelly- one of the women who worked at Hull House; led anti-sweatshop law for ILL. (1893).

• Socialist, spokesperson for welfare

*** Addams, Wald, & Kelly blazed a trail for women & some men= new profession of Social work.

Other offshoots of the Social Gospel Movement

The Salvation Army- founded in England; came to the US in 1879.

appeared in urban centers- appealed to down & outers free soup

YMCA- religious affiliated organization; came to the US before the Civil War.

Combines physical & other types of education with religious instruction

Y’s appeared in major US cities at the end of 19th century

New Opportunities for Women

more than 1 million women entered the workforce in the decade of 1890’s

employment for wives & mothers was still taboo

black women had few opportunities-except domestic work

Economic & social independence for some women

Nativism Emerges Again“New Immigrants” faced the same hostility as “Old

Immigrants”• Native-born Americans viewed eastern & southern

Europeans as exotic (culturally & religiously)• worried that original Anglo-Saxon stock would get

“watered down” & out voted • blamed immigrants for degradation of the cities• immigrants drove down wages• worried about ideologies: socialism, anarchism,

communism

Groups that organized to oppose immigration1. American Protective Association (APA)- (1887)- at its

height had 1 million members; urged voting against Roman Catholic candidates.

2. Organized Labor- opposed immigration.• Immigrants used as scabs, hard to unionize

Older immigrants, trying to keep their own humble arrival in America“in the shadows” sought to close the bridge that had carried them andtheir ancestors across the Atlantic.

The Government Responds to Nativist Demands

1. 1882- Immigration Law- banned paupers (poor), criminals, convicts

2. 1885- Law that prohibited importation of foreign workers under contract (usually for substandard wages).

• Later laws banned: prostitutes, alcoholics, anarchists, people carrying diseases

• 1917- a literacy test (previously vetoed by 3 presidents)

3. **Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)- banned Chinese immigration for 10 years & prevented Chinese in US from being citizens.

** 1886- the Statue of Liberty (gift from the French) placed in NY harbor:

“ Give me your tired, your poor Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore”. Emma Lazarus

American Churches Respond to the Urban ChallengeThe size & changing character of the urban population posed challenges for the churches.• Protestant churches adversely affected: traditional doctrines &

pastoral approaches seemed outdated= loss of membership• Many old line churches –slow to address social & economic

problems• Churches dominated by “old immigrants” & the wealthy • Catholics & Jewish faiths grew from the NEW IMMIGRATION

New Liberal Ideas will dominate US Protestants 1875-1925• adapted religious ideas to modern culture & called for reforms• rejected literalism & questioned “original sin”• active in the Social Gospel Movement & friendly to urban

revivalists (Dwight L. Moody).• wanted to mediate between labor & business, science & faith,

religious & secular• focused on earthly salvation & personal growth= attracted

followers

• 1900- Roman Catholic= largest denomination (9 million)

• 1890- 150 religious denominations

1. Church of Christ Scientists (Christian Science)- founded in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy; true practice of Christianity heals sickness.

2. The Salvation Army (1879)- came to America from England.

Charles Darwin & Christianity1859- On the Origin of the Species- by Charles Darwin; proposed

evolution-but, he was not the first.• “natural selection”- survival of the fittest.• rejected creation & other dogmas of special creations• Louis Agassiz- Harvard zoologist- held to special creations

(“intelligent design’)• **By 1875 most scientists held to organic evolution

Clergy Responds to Darwin 1. most believers & scientists rejected Darwin outright at first• After 1875- the church split into two camps:a) Conservatives- minority stood firmly in Biblical scripture &

condemned Darwin’s theory= fundamentalism of the 20th centuryb) Accommodationists- feared hostility towards evolution might

alienate educated believers • Reconciled Darwinism with Christianity

Effects of Darwinism on Religion: • loosened religious faith– promoted skepticism• relegated religious matters to personal belief, private conduct

African –Americans• the South lagged behind in public education & blacks were most

severely affected (also segregation & voter discrimination existed)• 44% illiterate in 1900

1. Booker T. Washington- Southerner & ex-slave; promoter of black education.

• founded the Tuskegee Institute (Alabama)• Stressed the need for “trade” education• Education would lead to economic viability & blacks would gradually

gain equality= civil rights• Accepted segregation- in exchange for economic & educational

opportunities • supported by many whites- some blacks called him “Uncle Tom”• Quote p. 574

2. *W.E.B. Dubois- (Mass) 1st African-American PHD from Harvard; demanded that the “Talented Tenth” of the black population be given full & immediate rights.• wrote The Souls of Black Folk (1903)- collection of essays in

which he criticized Booker T. Washington’s over cautious civil rights approach.

• founded the *Niagara Falls Movement which leads to NAACP (1910)

• died in exile at age 95 in Africa in 1963.

Education- Rise in Compulsory Education• 1870’s more states make grade school education compulsory • 1880’s-1890’s- High Schools spread= 1900 (6,000 existed)• free textbooks• illiteracy rate drops– education is" birthright of every American” ** Chautauqua Movement- (1874)adult literacy, home courses,

public lectures.

Higher Education Opportunities Grew• By 1880, 1 of 3 college graduates was a woman. • women & blacks attended college (Vassar, Howard University)1. **Government Action- Morrill Act 1862- the government gave

land grants to states to support education== most were used to build state colleges (land grant colleges).

• Hatch Act- led to technical & agricultural college concentration • Hatch Act & Morrill Act= 100 new colleges 2. Private donations--1878- 1898 rich philanthropists donated $150

million to universities (University of Chicago- opened 1892; J.D. Rockefeller)

• Rockefeller died at 97 after giving $550 million!- Gospel of Wealth!!

Transformation of Education

Rise in compulsory (mandated) education High schools- free textbooks (seen as a ‘birthright of

all Americans” Illiteracy rates dropped from 21% to 10% (1870-

1900)

Higher Education

Focus away from knowledge & morality to “objective truth”

Harvard changed motto- “For Christ & Church” to “Truth”

Offered “practical courses”/ vocational Cafeteria style course offerings- student choice Fields of concentration More medical schools (John’s Hopkins- 1st fine grad

school)

Rise of the Public Press• Linotype (1885) invented- led to increased newspaper printing• Investment in machinery & printing plant= fear of offending advertisers &

subscribers= news features & noncontroversial stories• Penny Press- cheap papers that carried stories about sex, scandal,

murder, corruption= massive readership.• Two men capture the newspaper business:a)Joseph Pulitzer- owner of the NY World; used sensationalistic stories to

sale papers== *“Yellow Journalism” – sensationalism to sell newspapers! b)William Randolph Hearst- became a competitor of Pulitzer; owned the NY

Journal; also used yellow journalism.• Both “stooped, snooped, & scooped to conquer” Pulitzer Hearst

ReformersAmericans also read magazines:• Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, & the Nation• the Nation- advocated for reforms; printed stories by professors,

preachers & publicists

Reform WritersWriters emerged who called for change!1. Henry George: wrote Progress and Poverty; called for a 100% tax on

wealth from profits of land ownership (single tax).2.Edward Bellamy (Mass.) 1888 published Looking Backward; a trip to the

year 2000 in the US envisions a socialistic utopia.• both books were best sellers.

Post war WritingAmericans read “dime novels” about the mythic west & “paperbacks”1. General Lewis Wallace: 1880 wrote Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ; the

Uncle Tom’s Cabin for anti-Darwinists.2. Horatio Alger: wrote “rags to riches” novels; sold 100 million copies.

Realist Writers1. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens): wrote Tom Sawyer (1876) & The

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884).2. Stephen Crane: wrote Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893) & Red Badge

of Courage (1895)3.Jack London: wrote Call of the Wild 4.Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie (1900)

The New Morality- It’s “sex o’clock in America”Victoria Woodhull: proclaimed her belief in “free love” in 1871; she & her sister published a magazine which accused Rev. Henry Ward Beecher of having affairs .Anthony Comstock- Post-master General--defender of morality; confiscated “obscene pictures”, pills, powders etc. using the “Comstock Law” after 1873. • drove 15 people to suicide** a battle was waging in late 19th century US over sexual attitudes & women’s place.Economic freedom= sexual freedom= increased divorce rates, birth control, & open discussions about sex.

Families & Women in Cities• late 19th century dates the beginning of the “divorce revolution”

(crowded cities, separated from family)• families in cities =less children (liability)• Marriages were delayed• Women grew more independent in cities

Woman Suffrage1890- National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)- organized by militant women demanding the vote.• FOUNDERS: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, & Susan B. Anthony.• Excluded black women

1900- a new group of women will take up the suffrage cause:• *Carrie Chapman Catt- de-emphasized the argument that women

deserved the right to vote because they were equal to men.• stressed giving the right to vote so women can be homemakers &

wives in public world= especially in cities. Women get the right to vote in various states:a)Wyoming -1st to grant unrestricted female suffrage (1869)• Most states by 1890 permitted wives to own land or control property

after marriage.

*Ida B. Wells: muckraking journalist wrote about lynching; inspired an anti-lynching campaign– also National Association of Colored Women (1896)

Prohibition of Alcohol• Liquor consumption had increased during the Civil War-

“demon rum”• immigrant groups hostile to restraints- working class charged 1. National Prohibition Party (1869)- gained a 2. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU- 1874)- led by more militant women; white ribbon was it’s symbol. • Frances Willard- leader • Carrie Nation: deranged- used a hatchet against saloon bottles

& bars- brought disrepute to temperance.3. Anti-Saloon League (1893)- • new states adopted “dry” laws** 1919- 18th Amendment- prohibited the sale, making, distribution, & drinking of alcohol.

American Red Cross (1881)- Clara BartonSociety for Prevention of Cruelty American to Animals (1866)

Art, Music, EntertainmentAmericans were gaining more leisure time due to the 8 hour workday

standard= more time for amusement.A. Art 1. James Whistler (1834-1903)- portrait painter; most famous –his

mother; did much of his work abroad.2. Mary Cassatt – painted women & children while in exile in Paris

(French Impressionist). 3. Thomas Eakins (1844-1916)- realist painter.4. Winslow Homer (1836-1910)- used rugged realism- mostly ocean

scenes.B. Music5. US was assembling high quality symphonies (Boston & Chicago)• Metropolitan Opera House of NY (1883)2. Jazz, Blues, Ragtime- influenced by black spirituals & “ragged” music3. Phonograph- by 1900, 150,000 homes had one; invented by Edison.

Thomas EakinsJames Whistler

C. Vaudeville- variety show with music, acrobats, comedy etc.(1880’s-1890’s)• Minstrel Shows- popular in the South; black singers & dancers.

D. The Circus (P.T. Barnum & Bailey Circus) (1881)/Wild West shows E. Sports – Baseball (professional league play -1870’s), Basketball (1891) invented by James Naismith (YMCA instructor) in Mass.Football- mostly popular at college level Boxing – “Gentleman Jim Corbett” beat John L. Sullivan for world championship- 1882.

Early American Football Team