Post on 20-Jan-2016
TOWARD AN URBAN SOCIETY, 1877–1900
Chapter 19
The Lure of the City
• City becomes a symbol of the new America between 1870–1900
• Explosive urban growth– Immigration from outside of country– Immigration from inside of the country– Six cities over 500,000 by 1900
• The rise of cities and industry caused sweeping changes in all segments of American life
Skyscrapers, Tenements, and Suburbs
• Steel permits construction of skyscrapers
• Streetcars allow growth of suburbs– Streetcar cities allow more
fragmented and stratified city
• Tenements house working class in urban cities – Tenement problems
(overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, poor ventilation, crime and disease)
Strangers in a New Land• 1890: 15% of U.S.
population was foreign-born
• Most immigrants moved for economic reasons and entered through Ellis Island
• By 1900, most urban dwellers foreign-born or children of immigrants– Nativist organizations try to
limit immigration– Viewed immigrants as a
threat
Immigrants and the City:Families and Ethnic Identity
• Immigrants marry within own ethnic groups
• More children born to immigrants than to native-born Americans
• Immigrants establish religious, educational institutions, media which preserve cultural traditions
• One consequence of urban growth was Political Machine bosses– They stayed in power by
becoming organized and helping immigrants
– Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall in NY
Foreign Born-population 1890
Social and Cultural Change 1877–1900
• Urbanization, industrialization changing all aspects of American life– 1877=47 million 1900=76
million
• Pluralistic Society • Manners and Morals– Victorian morality
dictates dress, manners, roles, etc…
Leisure and Entertainment
• Because of invention and innovation brought about more leisure activities
• Entertainment inside and outside home– Card playing, music etc…– Circus, Baseball, football, basketball, etc…
• Street lights, streetcars make evening a time for entertainment and pleasure
Changes in Family Life
• Urbanization, industrialization alter family – Family life virtually disappears among poorly paid
working class
• Suburban commute takes fathers from middle-class homes– Domesticity encouraged, women housebound,
child-oriented consumers– White middle-class birth rates decline
• A new group of women become more assertive toward women rights
Educating the Masses
• Trend is toward universal education• Purpose of public education was to train people for
life and work in industrial society• Segregation, poverty compound problems of
Southern education– 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal)
• Colleges and universities flourish with greater emphasis on professions and research
Higher Education:African Americans
• African Americans usually confined to all-black institutions like Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
• Booker T. Washington v W.E.B. Dubois– Washington=Earn equality/Atlanta Compromise
(through self-help)– W.E.B. Du Bois=Demand equality (through
education)
The Stirrings of Reform• After Civil War Reform movements remained active
– Social Darwinists-laws of nature apply to society – Some (Clarence Darrow) rejected Social Darwinism, argued poverty at
crime’s root
• Liberal Protestants preach "Social Gospel" – Purpose: Reform industrial society – Means: Introduce Christian/Church standards into economic sphere
• Reformers begin to seek changes in U.S. living, working conditions– 1889: Jane Adams Hull House, Chicago– Susan B Anthony became a key member of the suffrage movement