Transcript Chapter 20, Section 2 - Union Endicott High School

Chapter 21, Section 2:
An Age of Cities
Main Idea: Vast numbers of
people migrated to cities,
changing urban landscapes and
creating new problems.
A. City Populations
Boom


In 1860, less than 20% of
Americans lived in a city. By
1890, 33%. By 1920, over 50%.
Causes of City Growth
(Urbanization)
Industrialization = factory jobs
to attract workers
Immigration
Lack of available land (settling
of West completed) & farming
became less popular (too
difficult)
* African Americans moved to
northern cities in large numbers
to escape segregation/Jim Crow
in the South.
B. City Life
 Most cities were set up with poor crowded into the center,
middle-class surrounding them, and the rich farthest out:
Poor: lived in crowded slums called tenements, with
no windows, heat or indoor bathrooms. Disease spread
rapidly due to crowded conditions.
Middle-class: doctors, lawyers, office workers, etc.
Neat houses on nice streets, belonged to clubs &
organizations.
Rich: lived in mansions on estates, traveled to Europe,
threw lavish parties, bought art, attended opera, etc.
C. Cleaning Up the Cities
 Overcrowding led to other problems such as fires,
garbage, pollution, crime, etc.
 Reformers pushed for improvements:
Building codes (fire escapes, plumbing, etc.)
Garbage collection, street cleaning, etc.
Zoning laws (keep factories out of neighborhoods)
Professional fire companies & police forces
Street lights, public transportation, water & sewage
systems
•New buildings were required to have fire escapes and plumbing.
Typical tenement fire-escape serving as an extension of the flat
• Garbage collection and street cleaning began regularly.
Street cleaning, Fourth Street
• Separate residential and industrial zones were developed.
D. Help for the Poor
 Catholic Church – Mother
Cabrini
 Salvation Army – food & shelter
for poor
 YMCA/YWCA – activities for
young people to briefly escape
slum life
 Settlement Houses – community
center that offers services to
poor (Hull House in Chicago by
Jane Addams was most famous)
• YMCA, YWCA
Basketball was invented in 1891 at a YMCA
The YWCA offered physical & educational programs
during lunch breaks to female factory workers.
Hull-House Nursery, ca. 1890s