Transcript Ch 10, Sec 2: Urbanization

Ch 10, Sec 2: Urbanization
Population Growth of Cities
• Immigration caused cities to grow from 18601900
– New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston
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2,500 in 1860
10 million in 1870
30 million in 1900
131 cities grew to 1,700 cities in U.S.
What the U.S. Offered Immigrants
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Possibility of land
New jobs
Freedom/Safety from war
Better standard of living
Social mobility
Freedom of religion
Problems For New Immigrants
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Lack of money
Language barrier
Where to live?
How to get a job
Who to trust
How to get the American dream
Most don’t know anyone outside of family
Americans on the Move
• Post-Civil War-Americans
moved from farms to cities
• Wanted better jobs
• Wanted more money
• Cities offered running water, indoor plumbing,
and entertainment options
• Fight for jobs/housing with immigrants
Skyscrapers
• Lack of land and rising populations made for
huge problems for city developers
• Used steel and plate glass to make skyscrapers
for taller buildings
• Buildings went from 4-5 stories to 10+
• Electric elevators used by 1880s in buildings
Mass
Transit
• 1850s-1870s: Horse Cars moved most people
• 1870s-1890s: Cable Cars on tracks ran in big
cities
• 1880s-1890s: Electric trolley cars were
created
• 1890s-1920s: Elevated Trains (Chicago) and
Subways (NY/Boston) were built
Where to Live?
• High Society:
– Built large mansions/castles in the middle of cities
– Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Vanderbilt
– Millionaires
• Middle Class:
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Moved away from the center of cities
Took trains/trolleys from the outskirts of town to work
Doctors, lawyers, teachers, social workers, engineers
Earned b/t $1,000-3,000 a year
Working Class: Where to Live?
• Immigrants went to ethnic areas of cities
• Lack of education/money forced many into
tenement houses
– Small/large buildings with multi-family
apartments
• Factory workers
• Made $400-500 a year
• http://www.tenement.org/Virtual_Tour/index
_virtual.html
Problems With City Life
• Crime/violence increased
– Murder jumped 400%
• Disease spread fast
– Garbage thrown into the streets
– Drinking water was not safe
– Rats/animals carried disease
• Fires spread fast
• Pollution from factories
Politics
• Governments did not really run cities
• Political machines-groups with common
interests ran the cities
– Provided jobs, housing, protection in return for
votes
– Ran by party bosses like NYC William Tweed in
Tammany Hall
Corrupt Party
Bosses
• Bribed politicians for info
• Took bribes from
businessmen
• Grafted people-got money
through dishonest ways
– Bought land where the city
wanted to expand and then
raised the prices of the land
to sell back to the city
Exit Pass
• On your bell ringer sheet for Monday, answer
the following question.
– Were political bosses harmful or helpful to cities?
Why?