Transcript Section 5: Causes and Effects of Urbanization

Standard 4.5
History of Cities
  First cities in the U.S.
were built as tradecenters
 Next, cities developed
into transportation hubs
 Finally, cities became
known for their
industrial production
(businesses and
factories)
Growth of the Cities

 Populations grew b/c of
immigration and
urbanization
 More farmers were moving
to the cities b/c of the
struggles they had with
paying off their debts
 However, majority of the
American people lived
outside of the urban areas
until 1920
Immigration Trends

 In the late 19 Century, most immigrants were coming
th
from southern and eastern Europe
 The original Americans hated this and tried to apply
literacy tests to all immigrants (this did not take effect
until the 1920’s)
 Immigrants settled in the port centers in which they
entered the country
 They were usually too poor to move from there
 Tended to live in small towns with familiar ethnicities
Immigrants and Politics
 In city politics, immigrants
were able to vote for people
and issues
 Majority of them voted for
people that helped them
when they came over
 People that helped them
find jobs and homes
 Is this considered
corruption?
Movement of African Americans

 In the 1890’s, African
Americans began
migrating due to:
 Poor cotton yields
 Soil exhaustion and the
boll weevil
 Discrimination of the
Jim Crow Laws
 lynchings
Search for Jobs

 African Americans headed to the cities
 Mill towns in the south would not hire them
 They moved further West and North
 Here, they were the last to be hired and first to be fired
 Afr. Amer. lived in segregated neighborhoods
 The movement began to increase again during WWI b/c
of new job opportunities