The Great City

Chapter 18

The Urbanization of America

Migration from the Countryside to Urban Centers dominated American life

This was the case all over the world as it became more industrialized

The Lure of the City

Urban population increased by 7 times from 1863-1913

1920—most American’s lived in urban areas What is an urban

area?—2,500 people or more

1860 1890

New York City

1 million people

3 million people

Chicago100,000 people

1 million people

Urban Families

Experienced High infant mortality rates Declining fertility High death rate from disease Harsh living conditions

SO?????

Why did people live in cities?

Causes of Urban Growth

Immigration—people from other countries coming to the U.S. and urban centers

National Migration—Americans moving to urban centers Opportunities for African Americans Opportunities for Woman More readily available work Excitement of living in a city

National Migrations

Geographic Mobility—people had the ability to move quickly, safely and cheaply

Rural Farm life was limited for woman so they moved to cities How was rural life limited for women?

Southern Blacks moved to cities… Because of bigotry and racist segregation and violence in

the south There were jobs up north—Although factory jobs were rare

(most African Americans worked as servants in cities: cooks, janitors, general labor, etc.)

Immigrants

1860-1920—28 Million immigrants came to the U.S.

Most from Europe (West Coast had Asian and Mexican Immigrants) 1880—Italians, Greeks, Russian Jews, and Slavs

Early Immigrants were educated and had modest wealth That changed…why?

The Ethnic City

1890—87% of Chicago were foreign born, 80% of New York, 84% of Milwaukee and Detroit

New York had more Irish than Dublin and more Germans than Hamburg

Cities were extremely racially and culturally diverse

This was both strength and weakness of cities

Assimilation

Assimilation—the act of becoming a part of something

Most immigrants were young 15-45

Wanted to be “True Americans”—Americanization Encouraged by native born Americans Supported by churches and public education

Changing Gender Roles America allowed immigrant woman more freedom Arranged marriages were not popular in the U.S. It was acceptable for women work outside the home More acceptable for women to be on their own.

Exclusion

The counter attack to assimilation/Americanization

Nativism—native born American prejudice against foreigners

Immigrants were blamed for the “ills of society” Why? Was this prejudice blind or was it based on who

was coming to the U.S.?

Laws tried to curb immigration but failed

Immigration fueled economic growth as a read and cheap source of labor

American Protective Association

Founded by Henry Bowers in 1887

Stood against Catholic Immigrants

Had over 500,000 members

Immigration Restriction League

Another national organization that stood for strict restriction on immigration

Believed immigrants should be “screened” through literacy tests separating the “desirables” from the “undesirables”

The Urban Landscape

Cities stood in contrast: the poor were VERY poor, the rich were VERY rich

Small middle class

Cities struggled with how to keep the poor and wealthy separated

The Creation of Public Spaces

1850’s—cities started to be “planned”

Urban Parks Antidote to urban

crowding and congestion

Fredrick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux—architects of New York’s Central Park

Believed in “Natural Spaces”

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Public Buildings

City Planners, architects, wealthy people, and government officials started advocating public buildings Libraries, museums, galleries, concert halls,

theaters, hospitals, etc. Wealthy citizens became philanthropic patrons

who donated money for public buildings This came with the immortality of having one’s

name and recognition assigned to a building: Carnegie Hall

Housing the Rich

Housing was an issue in Cities—the rich wanted to be away from the poor, the poor couldn’t afford to life far from where they worked, etc.

Growth of Suburbs—modeled after “countryside” Why? How do the suburbs look like the

countryside?

The rich owned houses and buildings, the poor had to rent

Housing the Poor

The Poor could not afford to own so they rented

High demand for scarce space gave a lot of power to landowners

Manhattan Population Density in 1894 143 people per acre of land average (304 sq ft

per person) 700 people per acre in the slums (64 sq ft per

person)

Tenements

Multi-family dwellings—usually apartment buildings

Located in the slums

At first tenements were a great improvement for poor people instead of literal shacks

Many were windowless rooms Little to no plumbing Privies (toilets) in the basement

Jacob Riis Author and photographer who documents tenement living Wrote “How the Other Half Lives” Sensationalized writing that exploited the plight of the poor.

Tenement Apartment

Tenement Apartment

Riis’s Most Famous Photo

City Block

Urban Transportation

Paved streets opened congestion and allow for quicker, safer travel within cities

Paved Roads Most were paved with

wooden blocks—where we get the term “block” from, meaning a section of a city

Later brick, stone and asphalt

Urban Transportation

Street Cars Horse drawn cars

that ran on tracks were the first public forms of mass transportation

Boston, New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia

Urban Transportation

New York City

1887

First Elevated Railway

Steam powered

Urban Transportation

1887

Boston

First American Subway (not the disgusting sandwich shop…shame on you for eating that…YUCK!)

Urban Transportation

1880’s

New York

Brooklyn Bridge

Opened the Island of Manhattan to the other burrows of New York

Engineering Marvel

The Skyscraper

Cast iron, steel beams, and elevators allowed for taller buildings (over 5 floors)

1890’s skyscrapers started to be built (10 or more floors)

Why is this important for cities?

Strains of Urban Life

Urban Life was hard and dangerous due to Crime Fire Disease Poverty pollution

Human Waste Problems

Early Efforts at urban sewage disposal frequently Used open ditches

to remove waste Helped the spread

of disease Polluted the cities

fresh water supply Failed to provide

clean conditions

The Urban Political Machines

Urban Political Machines helped newly arrived immigrants adjust to American life

In return these “Bosses” (elected officials) could count on support from voting immigrants

Political bosses were the primary source of welfare for the urban poor.

Goals of the Political Machines1. Make money for

political bosses (officials)

2. Provide services to immigrants

3. Create city jobs for machine supporters

4. Find jobs for the unemployed

The Rise of Mass Consumption

Mass Consumption—the production and sale of inexpensive everyday items that came about at the end of the 1800’s Growth of middle class gave rise to mass

consumption Middle class people could afford to buy lots of

things in quantity The most popular mass consumption items were

the making and marketing of ready-made clothes

Middle class women were most effected by mass consumption—why?

Patterns of Income and Consumption

Society changed, as did the market place, with the growth of the middle class and their growing income

This lead to The emergence of Department Stores The making of large amounts of affordable

products The creation of marketing and advertisement The rise of chain stores

Department Stores

Giant “have everything” destination stores

Offered a wide range of diverse products—bras and guns

Created a shopping atmosphere of excitement

Made shopping an activity and glamorous

Large quantities of goods lowered prices

Popular Culture in the late 1800’s

Popular forms of entertainment Vaudeville Musical comedy Movies—silent movies Professional baseball Theatre

Movies became the first truly universal mass-entertainment medium which reached all over the country and all levels of society Why?

Yellow Journalism

A popular style of journalism that was popular in the early 1900’s that used a sensational, lurid style of reporting.

Art in the early 1900’s

Authors like Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser wrote very popular novels about the mistreatment of the poor in urban industrial society.

Artists began painting realistic scenes of ordinary life

Education in the Early 1900’s

Industrialization created a need for specialized skills and scientific knowledge, the educational system answered these needs through Growth of women’s colleges Rise in free public education An increase in the number of colleges and

universities Growth of universities in western states

Women in the early 1900’s

Graduates of Women’s colleges formed the first “intellectual” women’s group who… Worked together for reform (divorce laws,

suffrage, etc.) Frequently married much later in life Were career based instead of family based Became faculty in women’s colleges Started by philanthropic institutions