Post on 23-Feb-2016
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Chapter 15 – Section 2 & 3Urbanization & The Gilded Age
Americans Migrate to the CitiesUrban population – those living in a town of 2,500 or more
From 1870 to 1900 the urban population increased from 10 million to 30 million
U.S. went from 131 cities in 1840 to 1,700 in 1900
Most city dwellers, including immigrants, had no money to buy either farms or higher education
Rural Americans found cities highly preferable to the country
The New Urban Environment
Higher population density required new methods of city planning
Skyscrapers – important because the value of land made it prohibitively expensive, but there was no restriction on building up rather than out
Louis Sullivan – known as the “father of skyscrapers”; pioneered a modernist look in American cities
The New Urban Environment
Mass transit – horses and buggies are not meeting the needs of cities anymore
Cable cars and electric trolleys became common in large cities
Even well-designed public transportation led to traffic problems, so cities either built elevated rail lines or subways
Separation by ClassWealthy elites do not want to live near the poor
For rich families, the goal was for one’s estate to imitate a favored style of European architecture – emulating the nobility of Europe
Working class, in contrast, usually lived in crowded tenements (multi-family apartments)
Average annual income for an industrial worker was $445
Separation by Class
Rise of the Middle Class
Middle class annual income was about twice that of the working classes
Middle class included professionals like doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers, social workers, architects, and teachers
Urban Problems
• Crime• Violence• Disease• Poverty• Fire• Pollution
Murder rate rose substantially during this era
Americans generally blamed immigrants for the increase in violence
Urban Problems
Cheap alcohol contributed to both violent crime and poverty
Drinking was prevalent, and not limited to adults
City had no effective way to transport clean water to its citizens, while also moving sewage out of the city• horse manure• smoke• ash and dust
Urban PoliticsMajor cities were controlled by political machines
political machine – informal political group designed to gain and keep power
Machines were led by party bosses, the men who dispensed the patronage
Parties helped immigrants get jobs, housing, food, heat, police protection
In return, the machine gets votes
Urban Politics
Political machines were also moneymakers
Because the party bosses dispensed so much patronage, they always had “friends” willing to help them out
Public contracts were the most lucrative form of corruption – remember the Credit Mobilier scandal
Tammany Hall
The grandest and most famous of the political machines
Led by William M. “Boss” Tweed
So, in one way there was a kind of government that provided basic services and social security, but it happened at the party level rather than the national level
Sec 3 The Gilded Age
Mark Twain and Charles Warner co-wrote the novel, The Gilded Age in 1873
The term “gilded” refers to something that is gold on the outside while the inside is made of something cheaper
Horatio Alger, a minister from Mass., left the clergy, moved to New York, and wrote over 100 novels about rags-to-riches stories
One series was called “Luck & Pluck”
Focus on work ethic, personal ambition, self-made success stories.
Social Darwinism
Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher, first proposed the idea of Social Darwinism
Why are some people rich and others poor?
Who is supposed to do something about the problems of the poor?
What causes poverty? Spencer taught that the theory of
natural selection and evolution applied to human society
He believed that human society evolved through competition
The Gospel of Wealth
Carnegie’s ideas became known as his Gospel of Wealth
This philosophy pushed philanthropy
Realism
Realism was a new movement in art and literature that portrayed people in realistic situations
Period Literature
Mark Twain wrote the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884
Twain is thought to have written the first true American novel
Realism also influences literature, not just the art world
Pop Culture
Pop culture changed as people began to have more time and money
The saloon became a community and political center for men
Popular Culture
Coney Island in New York was an amusement park that became popular
People now had leisure time (more money, better standard of living,
Labor movement (unions) making gains for workers (weekend, overtime pay, 8 hour day)
Watching sports became a national pastime
Baseball & basketball
Popular Culture Continued
Ragtime was a music that became very popular during the time period.
Vaudeville shows toured the country