Chapter 9 Lesson 2The Urban North

What do you think the Urban North would be like? Describe

some of the positive and negative aspects of an urban area.

GROWTH OF

Building methods Transportation Municipal services

I. Urban GrowthA. City Populations Grow

1. U.S. cities grew quickly during the 1840’s due to immigrants and people moving from the farms.

2. As these cities grew they faced new problems: housing, protecting people, and a new transportation systems.

B. Providing Housing

1. New innovation in urban construction: the “balloon frame.”

a. Introduced in the 1830’s. b. Wood was sawed into thin pieces that were

nailed together to make a light, inexpensive frame.

c. Was easy to make and didn’t require special skills.

d. Mostly used in the west where there was plenty of space.

A balloon frame house

2. Cast-iron columns a. Northeast cities were crowded and

had to grow upward. b. Created cast-iron columns with stone

buildings. c. Later iron was used for frames but

was heavy and limited the height of buildings.

Cast-iron columns

C. Moving City People Around

1. Could no longer walk to their destinations.

2. 1850- horse-drawn vehicles called horse cars.

3. As the cities got more crowded-used less.

4. Transportation was one municipal-or city-run service.

A horse-drawn car

A modern horse-drawn car

D. Protecting People1. Crime rose due to pop. Growth a. No organized law enforcement. b. 1845-NYC set up the 1st modern police

force.2. Also needed fire protection a. Fire spread quickly b. Volunteers were replaced by professional

firemen using steam-powered pumps.3. Health problem a. No sanitation systems with polluted water. b. Metropolitan Board of Health was set up in

NYC in 1866 after a cholera epidemic.

II. People in the CitiesA. Social Classes

1. Higher class a. Wealthy factory owners, and bankers b. Outskirts of the city or the hills.2. Middle class a. shopkeepers, craftspeople, ministers, and

school teachers. b. Scattered throughout the town.3. Poor class a. immigrants, ex-farmers, and unskilled

laborers. b. lived in crowed apartments

B. Changing Social Relationships

1. Social classes didn’t change but their relationships did.

2. Gap between was wider.

3. Factory owners, bankers, and RR owners grew wealthier.

4. The poor workers life got harder-use to work close to home-now had to travel.

a. Constant threat of unemployment.

C. Beginning of Reform1. All of the urban problem

led to reform movements.

2. Dorothea Dix-school teacher

a. Helped create hospitals for mentally ill instead of going to prison.

b. She also greatly improved the prison system.

Why do you think the mentally ill were treated so bad?

Some “modern” techniques

Straight jackets for “their” protection

The people of the middle ages could pay to see those in the asylum and were allowed to poke and tease them.

"If I am cold, they are cold; if I am weary, they are distressed; if I am alone, they are abandoned."

- Dorothea Dix

Don’t forget to smile!!

Reflection

• Name at least three different types of problems the cities faced?