Toward an Urban Society,1877-1900

Reliance Building,

Chicago—1894

Monadnock Building,

Chicago--1889

Railway Exchange,

Chicago—1904

“Two major forces reshaped American society between 1870 and 1920. One was

industrialization (see Chapter 18); the other was urbanization. . . . By 1920, the city had become the center of American economic, social, and cultural life. . . . Between 1870 and 1900, the city—like

the factory—became a symbol of the new America**

Why Cities Attracted People** 18 A

• Lured by the glitter and excitement of the city

• Friends or relatives already in the city

• Greater opportunities for jobs or higher wages

Percentage of American Population living in cities of 8,000 or more:

1860—16.6%1890—33.3%1920—50 %

City Life• Population Shift

• Skyscrapers as a symbol of the new city life

• Streetcars and new residential patterns**

The streetcar revolutionized the relationship between the worker and the work place. Likewise, it altered the

relationship between the shopper and the merchant. In both casers, things no longer had to be within walking distance.**

Conditions in the City** 18 C

• Dangerous, cramped living quarters

• Foul odors

• Air and water pollution from factory waste products

• Rising crime rate

1. Near threefold rise in homicide rate in 1880s2. Formation of city gangs3. Rising rates of alcoholism and suicide, especially among working class

Electric Elevators

Invented in 1871, the elevator took passengers upward in new skyscrapers

Chicago as a Model -- the Symbol of Urban Growth in 1800s

To the left is a map of Chicago in 1871. Chicago marked the point where railroads and shipping lanes met.

Above is a picture of the Chicago skyline as it is today, along the

shores of Lake Michigan.

Chicago’s Union Station

• attractive to industry 18 A

• industry lured more manufacturing and workers (snowball effect)

• immigrants lived in ethnic neighborhoods 18 B

• city swallowed nearby communities

• as transportation pushed outward, so did the wealthy and middle class

• downtown left to industry and the poor

Chicago was. . .

The growth of urban slums accompanied the rapidly

expanding urbanization process. . . and the working class filled this

particular feature of growing American cities.**

Immigration to America RQ15 & 18 B

Waves of immigration poured into the U.S. in the late-19th century. While this was not new, the origin of these immigrants—Southern and Eastern Europe—was indeed new.

Italian wave in 1887 to escape cholera epidemic—Italians constituted the largest number of new immigrants**

Arrival of Russian Jews

The assassination of Tsar Alexander

II (1818-1881. below) triggered a

wave of persecutions

against Jews in Russia.**

Tsarist persecution in Russia and Russian controlled Poland—Jews were the second

largest number of new immigrants

While immigration to American had long been from Europe, until this

juncture, about 85% had come from the 18 B Northwestern European

countries--the British Isles, Germany, and Scandinavia

Immigration now came mainly from Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary,

Poland, and Russia 18 B

Motives for Coming • to escape poverty

• to escape drought

• to escape disease

• to escape religious persecution

• to escape political persecution

• to find a better life

• to find employment

Immigrant Profile

• Between 1877-1890 there were 6.3 million immigrants into the U.S. 18

• By 1890, about 15% of the population--9 million--were foreign born

• Most were between ages 15-40 • Most settled on the eastern seaboard, especially in

the industrial cities and port towns of the northeast • Most were poor, unskilled, settled in ethnic

communities of their national origin • Most resisted assimilation

Backlash to Immigration** 18 B

• Anti-Catholicism and Anti-Semitism rose

• Many wondered whether these immigrants would become a challenge to traditional American values

Nativism**—belief that the U. S. should be reserved for native-born

Americans• Immigrants competed

with them for jobs (were often willing to work for less and in unacceptable conditions)

• Distrust of unfamiliar customs, religious practices (Roman Catholic, Greek and Russian Orthodox), language

American workers protest to a Congressman about the influx of cheap

immigrant labor from Europe.

A smiling monopolist stands near the flood of immigrants

The Thomas Nast cartoon (right),

“Hands Off” shows Columbia, symbol of America, defending a Chinese immigrant against hostile Irish

antagonists (ironically, the Irish themselves had been a frequent target of Nativist hostility.

Anti-Semitic cartoon appearing in 1889. The image presents a stereotypical view of the Jew as mercenary, cunning, vulgar and intent on ascending the social ladder.

How did immigrants contribute to American

society and industry • Helped build and staff new industries—they

brought new skills valuable to growing industries

• They enriched American culture through bringing new foods, songs, theater, and literature

Israel Zangwell, 1864-1926

Metaphor of the “Melting Pot”** 18 B

Israel’s Zangwell’s (1864-1926) play, The Melting Pot (1908) helped to popularize the notion of a society evolving into a culturally pluralistic people.

Problems Faced by Rapidly Expanding Cities?** 18 C—1

• Overcrowded tenement housing, slums (led to crime, disease, misery)

• No place to dispose of sewage, garbage

• Disease from lack of good, proper hygiene

• Crime

• Corrupt politicians—enriched selves from their positions of power in running the city

City Politics—The Emergence of Powerful City Political Machines

18 C—2

• jobs for the unemployed • food baskets on holidays • loans to pay medical bills • English lessons to immigrants• they were able to retain power in part by taking

advantage of immigrants who lacked experience in democratic forms of government

Political bosses—powerful influential leaders who tied together a network of wards or precinct captains—provided:**

“Honest” John Kelly (1859-1908) of New York

City

Richard Croker (1841-1922, below) and Charles F.

Murphy (1858-1924) ran

Tammany Hall

Michael “Hinky Dink” Kenna

(1857-1946) and “Bathhouse John” Coughlin (above)

of Chicago

James McManes was one of

the Philadelphia bosses

William “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878)

He headed a ring that plundered New York for tens of millions of dollars

“Let us prey.”

Main Goals of Good Government Movement 18 C—2 & D—3

• Make cities cleaner (e.g., tenements)

• Safer

• more efficient—city government reputed to be expensive, inefficient, and corrupt

Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)—public office = public trust, i.e., government officials should serve the people, not themselves

The Regulation of Morality RQ21

Anthony Comstock (1844-1915)

Author of the “Comstock Law”** (1873)--it prohibited the mailing or transporting of “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” articles--and founder of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. The goal of both was the supervision of public morality.

The Rise of Spectator Sports and other Leisure Activities 19 D—1

Cincinnati Red Stockings--the first professional baseball team, 1869

Intercollegiate Football

Rutgers vs. Princeton

Invention of Basketball

Canadian Dr. James Naismith, 1861-1939, is

credited with the invention of basketball

Springfield College (then, the YMCA training school)

in Massachusetts—the birthplace of basketball

BoxingAlthough outlawed in most states, boxing became a popular spectator sport

John L. Sullivan

(1858-1918)

Other Amusements

• Symphonies

• Theaters

• Orchestras

• Vaudeville

• Museums

• Libraries

Education in Urban America 19 A

• Changing view of childhood placed greater emphasis on the need nurture the

• Child rather than hurrying him/her into adulthood

• School attendance becomes compulsory

• Moral Education**

William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873), “School-master to the Nation”

McGuffey’s Readers** • Teaching children

to read

• Instructing children in right and wrong--in ethics, values, and religion**

Segregation in American Education—Plessy v. Ferguson,

1896** • John H. Ferguson (1806-1887), the Orleans Parish

criminal court judge who ruled in the original case• John Marshall Harlan, the only Supreme Court Justice

who ruled in favor of Homer A. Plessy• The Supreme Court (7-1) upholds a Louisiana law

requiring separate• railroad cars for Blacks and whites• The ruling gave impetus to a host of Jim Crow laws that

began • to be introduced in the South

Higher Education 19 A—1

• Endowed Universities (e.g., Rockefeller and Stanford)

• Shift in function of colleges from training for the ministry and the study of the classics, rhetoric, math, Latin and Greek to an emphasis on reality and practicality 19 A—2

• Higher Education for Women 19 A • Higher Education for Blacks

Charles W. Elliot, president of Harvard

Elliot pioneered the new elective system in higher education giving students a more participatory role in the own education.**

The Social Gospel** 18 D

Movement within many churches arguing that before souls could be saved, the lives of the wretchedly

poor must be improved—movement pushed for shorter work day, 6-day work week, and elimination of child

labor.

Settlement Houses 18 D—2

Settlement houses became labs for urban reform—most social workers believed it would require government intervention (anti- laissez-faire philosophy) to correct the problems

Jane Addams (1860-1935) and Hull House in Chicago 18 D—2**

Chicago’s Hull House

Lillian Wald (1867-1940)** 18 D—2

• Social worker who pioneered public health nursing

• Founded Henry Street Settlement in New York in 1893

• Began New York school of nursing in 1902

• Helped establish Federal Children’s Bureau in 1912

Columbia University historian Richard

Hofstadter, 1916-1960

American historian Richard Hofstadter observed that “’The

United States was born in the country and

moved to the city.’ . . . That migration, and the

urban growth that accompanied it,

reshaped American politics and culture.”