America Moves to the City

1865-1900

The Urban Frontier1900: NYC had 3.5 million people, 2nd

largest city in worldSkyscraper allowed more people to live

in a small area Elevator made skyscraper usable

Americans were beginning to commuteMass-transit lines including subways and

electric trolley lines

New Ways of Living

Department stores attracted middle-class shoppersSupplied working-class jobs for women

Waste disposal a new issue as goods came in throw-away containers

Negatives: Criminal elements, insufficient sanitation

facilities, slums, “dumbbell” tenements

The New Immigration

1880s: Immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe Italians, Croats, Greeks, PolesLargely illiterate and poor Preferred industrial jobs

1900: composed 66% of total inflow Lived in “Little Italys” and Little Polands

Southern Europe Uprooted

Reasons for EmigratingEconomic troublesOvercrowding & povertyCrop failuresPersecution

US painted as land of opportunity US companies advertised for low-wage workers

in Europe Large number expected to work short-term in

US, then return home to families

Reactions to the New Immigration

Local officials promised jobs for votes Rauschenbush & Gladden

Preached the “social gospel”, insisting that churches tackle burning social issues

Jane Addams Established Hull House in Chicago, a settlement

house – 1889 Located in poor neighborhood, offered education,

counseling, and cultural activities

Advancement for Women

Established settlement houses in major cities

Lobbied for prohibition of child labor Over a million joined the workforce in

1890s Native women worked in white-collar jobs as

secretaries, store clerks, social workersImmigrant women worked in industry

Narrowing the Welcome Mat

New immigration created worry that old Anglo-Saxon stock would be outbred and outvoted Immigrants worked for lower wages

American Protective Association (APA—1887) Urged voting against Catholic candidates

1882—Congress banned immigration of paupers, criminals, convicts Expanded to include insane, polygamists,

prostitutes, alcoholics, anarchists

Churches Confront the Urban Challenge

Many worried about focus on materialism Immigration led to growth in Catholics and

Jews 150 denominations, 2 new faiths

Salvation Army—1879, opened soup kitchensChristian Science—1879, relief from disease

through prayer

Darwin Disrupts the Churches

On the Origin of Species (1859)—stated that humans had evolved from lower life forms

Cast serious doubts on literal interpretation of Bible

Created rifts in churches and colleges

The Lust for Learning

Public education gained popularity post-war By 1900—around 6000 high schools Teacher-training schools expanded Cities generally provided better facilities

Chautauqua Movement—1874 Series of nationwide public lecturesCourses for home studyFocused on adult education

Booker T. Washington and Education for Black People

Tuskegee Institute (1881): taught black students useful trades Avoided issue of social equality, but turned to

segregation for economic independence –separate black communities

George Washington Carver—became agricultural chemist by discovering uses for peanuts

W.E.B. Du Bois—disagreed with Washingtondemanded complete equality for blacksHelped found NAACP

Hallowed Halls of Ivy Morrill Act – 1862

Gave states land to sell to raise money for education

Many colleges & universities were established Started accepting minorities & women

Private Philanthropy

Many industrial millionaires donated money to educational facilities 1878-1898—gave away $150 million Cornell (1865), University of Chicago(1892)

Increase in professional and technical schools Johns Hopkins (1876)

Americans no longer had to go to Europe for quality higher education

The March of the Mind

“elective” system gaining popularity over classical education

Medical schools resulted in improved public health

The Appeal of the Press

Public libraries established Carnegie donated $60 million for libraries across

the country Newspapers turned to feature articles and

sensationalism Simply written, human-interest stories

Pulitzer leader in techniques of sensationalism, colored comics

Hearst built up newspaper chains starting with The San Francisco Examiner in 1887

Yellow Journalism

Yellow journalism referred to sensationalistic stories in Pulitzer’s papers

Flair for scandal and rumor

Apostles of Reform

New York Nation created by Edwin Godkin (1865) Crusaded for civil service reform, honesty in

government, moderate tariff

Henry George’s Progress and Poverty linked the growth of progress with the growth of poverty

Postwar Writing

Horatio Alger Wrote juvenile fiction with virtue, honesty, industry

being rewarded with success

Walt Whitman Poetry volume Leaves of Grass “Oh, Captain! My Captain!” on Lincoln’s

assassination

Emily Dickinson Reclusive poet known only after her death

Literary Landmarks

Romantic sentimentality gave way to rugged realism reflecting materialism of industrialized society Kate Chopin, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Henry

James, Jack London African-American Writers

Paul Laurence Dunbar and Charles W. Chestnutt used black dialect and folklore to capture richness of southern black culture

Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie offended moral standards and pulled from circulation

The New Morality

Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly shocked society with free love and feminist leanings

Anthony Comstock confiscated “obscene” material from individuals and businesses

“New morality” reflected higher divorce rates, spreading use of birth control, frank discussions on taboo topics

Families and Women in the City

Urban environments difficult on familiesCities emotionally isolating

Dictated changes in work habits and family sizeMost family members worked Larger families meant more mouths to feed

Women growing more independent in cities

Women’s Suffrage

Carrie Chapman Catt Linked ballot to traditional roles as wives and

mothers in the city Wyoming Territory first to grant unrestricted

suffrage to women in 1869By 1890 most states allowed women to control/own

property after marriage Black women excluded from ranks of women

suffragists Ida B. Wells worked on antilynching crusade and

helped launch black women’s club movement

Prohibition of Alcohol and Social Progress

Liquor consumption increased post-warWomen’s Christian Temperance Union

(1874)Anti-Saloon League (1893)

Success with state-wide prohibition

ASPCA (1866)American Red Cross (1881) Clara Barton

Artistic Triumphs

Winslow Homer (1836-1910)Rugged realism in seascapes

Augustus Saint-Guadens (1848-1907)Robert Gould Shaw memorial in Boston

Popular music NYC’s Metropolitan Opera House 1883Spirituals led to new strains of music in

blues, jazz, and ragtime

The Business of Amusement

Variety of diversions including lodges, vaudeville & minstrel shows, theatre, circus

Baseball and football gained in popularity with creation of professional leagues

Basketball created by James Naismith in 1891 as a indoor winter sport

Overflow crowd at Baltimore watching Orioles versus Boston Beaneaters, 1897An overflow crowd watches the Baltimore Orioles play the Boston Beaneaters. Nestled in among the row houses, urban stadiums like this one drew huge crowds. (Library of Congress)

Overflow crowd at Baltimore watching Orioles versus Boston Beaneaters, 189

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