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