CHANGING

AMERICAN

SOCIETY1865-1914

Thematic History of the Late 19th Century

INDUSTRIALISMProducing goods by machines rather than by

hand

IMMIGRATIONPeople moving into a country from another

country

URBANIZATIONThe growth of cities

URBANIZATIONThe growth of cities

Rural and Urban Population in the United States1860-1920

80% 20%74%1870 26%

72%1880 28%65%1890 35%

60%1900 40%54%1910 46%

49%1920 51%

1860

VILLAGE

BOROUGH

TOWN

CITYMETROPOL

ISMEGALOPO

LIS

Cities are organized communities based

on size of population and area of land

Cities grow in specific patterns

Circle Model of City Growth

IIIII

IV

I

V

“The Loop”Factory ZoneWorkers’ HomesResidential AreaCommuter Zone

What Led to Urbanization?A. Increase in Population – immigration & migration;

increasing birth rate & decreasing death rate

New York813,669

Philadelphia565,529

Baltimore212,418Boston177,840

New Orleans168, 675

Cincinnati161,044

New York1,206,299

Philadelphia847,170Chicago503,185Boston382,185St. Louis350,518

Baltimore332,313

New York3,437,202Chicago

1,698,575Philadelphia1,293,697St. Louis575, 238Boston560,892

Baltimore508,957

The Largest Cities in the United States1860 1880 1900

B. Geographic LocationCities which grew the fastest were…

…those along the coast…those associated with specific industries,

and…those along transportation routes.

C. Expansion of industry – manufacturers built factories in cities where workers could be found

D. Improvements in Transportation

E. Improvements in Architecture

MASS TRANSIT was possible with the invention and introduction of new ways of moving large numbers of people from place to place.In the mid-1860s, most people traveled by foot, on horseback, or with

wagons.

Pioneers with hand cart

Horse drawn carriage

Stagecoach

Cities, however, created problems for the earlier ways of transportation--horses were frightened by

city sights and sounds and there were too many people.

Answers were found through inventive creativity, with a little help from industry and technology.

The omnibus was a long, horse-drawn vehicle; some had two decks making it possible to carry more

people.

By using a street car on rails, traffic was kept where

it belonged and moved faster.

With the introduction of electricity, trolleys changed urban transportation even

further.

The use of the cable car began in San Francisco in 1873. The

cables were laid in “tunnels”; the cars moved along the track as they were pulled by the cables.

Still looking for better ways to use scarce space, New Yorkers

looked “up” with the introduction of the elevated railway--called

“els”...

…while Bostonians looked “down” with the

introduction of the first underground railroad--the

subway.

The Bessemer process of steel

production allowed for the use of steel

frameworks to support buildings.

James Bogardus introduced cast iron

to construction, allowing for taller

buildings.

The invention of the elevator--with a safety catch--by Elisha Otis

encouraged architects to build even taller

buildings.

The first skyscraper, in 1895, was 10

stories high. Soon, however, they

stood as sentinels across an urban

landscape.

What problems did Urbanization bring?A. Sanitation/Pollution

1. Smoke and steam created air pollution

2. Run-off from factories entered water systems

3. Sewage systems frequently emptied into rivers without being processed

4. Rapid spread of disease

B. Housing

1. For the rich, having a home was not a problem, but where the house was located was a “problem”

2. For the middle class, there were generally two options:

a. Apartment house: a single building with multiple housing units

http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/washw/images/D/D19.jpg

http://www.brynmawr.edu/cities/courses/05-306/proj2/ab2/2501%20Ellsworth%20St%20Phila%

b. Row houses: a group of houses built along a street, each separate, but sharing exterior walls

3. For the poor, there were only bad options

a. Boarding house: single house where residents have a private room, but share the main living areas (kitchen, bathroom, etc.)

b. Tenement house: former houses or apartments that had been vacated and/or fallen into disrepair (slums)

http://www.geh.org/ar/strip19/m198501640045.jpg

“Be a little careful, please! The hall is dark and you might stumble….Here where the hall turns and dives into utter darkness is…a flight of stairs.

You can feel your way if you cannot see it. Close? Yes! What would you have? All the fresh air that enters these stairs comes from the hall-door

that is forever slamming….The sinks are in the hallway, that all the tenants may have access--and all be poisoned by their summer

stenches….Here is a door. Listen! That short, hacking cough, that tiny, helpless wail--what do they mean?…The child is dying of measles. With half a chance it might have lived; but it had none. That dark bedroom

killed it.Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives (1890)

What contemporaries said about living conditions...

“Between the buildings that loomed like mountains, we struggled with our bundles….Up Broadway, under the bridge, and through

the swarming streets of the ghetto [a segregated neighborhood]. I looked about the narrow streets of squeezed-in stores and

houses, ragged clothes, dirty bedding oozing out of the windows, ashcans and garbage cans cluttering the sidewalk. A vague

sadness pressed down on my heart--the first doubt of America.”Anzia Yezierska Hungry Hearts

“During the same winter three boys from a Hull House club were injured at one machine in a neighboring factory for lack of a guard which would have cost but a few dollars. When the injury of one of these boys resulted in his death, we felt quite sure that the owners of the

factory would share our horror and remorse, and that they would do everything possible to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy. To our surprise they did nothing whatever, and I made my first acquaintance then with those pathetic documents signed by the parents of working children, that they will make no claim for damages resulting from ‘carelessness’.”

Jane Addams, Twenty Years at Hull House

…and working conditions.

“I felt a strangling in my throat as I neared the sweatshop prison; all my nerves screwed together into iron hardness to endure the day’s torture. For an instant I hesitated as I faced the grated window of the old dilapidated building--dirt and decay cried out from

every crumbling brick. In the maw of the shop, raging around me the roar and the clatter, the clatter and the

roar, the merciless grind of the pounding machines. Half maddened [crazy], half deadened, I struggled to think, to feel, to remember--what I am--who am I--why was I

here? I struggled in vain--bewildered and lost in a whirlpool of noise.”

Anzia Yezierska, Hungry Hearts

“I was only a little over thirteen and a greenhorn [beginner], so I received nine dollars a month and room and board, which I thought was doing well. Mother made nine dollars a

week. Mother caught a bad cold and coughed and coughed. She tried to keep on working, but

it was no use. She had not the strength. At last she died and I was left alone.”Sadie Frowne

C. Fire: wooden buildings built in close proximity; only volunteer fire fighters

D. Ethnic neighborhoods created divisions within the cities

E. Law and Order1. High crime rates2. Small police forces3. Rise of gangs

F. Political Machine: organization of government leaders who ran a city if it were their own private organization

Most communities, regardless of size had some form of law enforcement. The size of the police force did not grow at the same rate as the cities grew. This resulted in gangs, high crime rates, and police corruption.Crime has become synonymous with urbanization--the more people there are, the higher the crime rates. Consider these current crime rates for selected large cities (incidents per 100,000 people):

New York 21.3

814.5 1204.6 1300.7

Chicago 23.8 1440.9

1563.6 1427.9

Pittsburgh 17.4 355.7 3409.7

1449.3

Anchorage 8.7 602.8 897.2 863..7

Philadelphia 436.2 903.9

162025.9

Murder Assault Burglary Car Theft

1. Provided services in exchange for votes

2. Accepted money as campaign contributions in exchange for political favors – bribery, rigged elections

What benefits did Urbanization bring? A. For Businesses

1. Department store – sell larger quantity of goods at lower price (Macy’s in New York City)

2. Chain store – one business that owns a number of stores and sells the same merchandise (F.W. Woolworth’s)

B. More Leisure Time1. Work in the city was different than work in rural

areas: shorter hours and higher incomes

2. Public libraries

3. Theaters – vaudeville (plays, comedians)

4. Public parks

5. Sports – baseball, basketball, cycling

C. Education

1. Beginning of kindergarten

2. Larger schools with greater variety of courses

3. Closer supervision of curriculum and conduct

4. New skills (factories, offices, etc.) required new training

D. The Popular Press1. A more educated population

2. Advertising made publishing less expensive

3. Better postal service with cheaper rates

E. Settlement Houses: community centers that offered services to slum residents (child care, athletics, medicine)