Urbanization of America

Concepts in Urbanization

Urbanization- process which leads to a higher proportion of the total

population of an area to live in cities and towns
Urban growth- absolute or simple growth in the number of urban dwellers
Urbanism-characteristic way of life of urban dwellers

Rapid growth of cities in the developing world has produced several distinctive
forms and processes
 The Growth of Cities

Three factors responsible for growth of cities

◦ Improved transportation moved goods and people quickly

and easily
◦ Industrialization- produced more goods cheaply by machine
◦ Commercialization- production of goods for a mass market.
People demand goods.
Nation’s Three Largest Cities by 1850

New York, pop. 1,000,000 due to being a seaport and

commercial center
Philadelphia, pop. 565,529 due to industry
Baltimore, pop. 250,000 due to trade with central U.S. and
foreign markets
New cities emerge as a result of transportation routes
Transportation in the United States
The Gilded Age
1865 - 1900
Post-Reconstruction America
Phrase coined by Mark Twain; used to represent
America during this time
Strong and rapid growth of industry, mass production,
mechanization, and the factory system
Consolidation of wealth and creation of an American aristocracy
Political and corporate corruption and laissez-faire/hands off
approach to government involvement
Exploitation of cheap, immigrant labor
The creation of the American city and the expansion and
urbanization of the West
Rapid population growth (natural and migratory)
Increased social, racial, and labor tension
The beginning of social, political, and labor reform movements
This was America during this time period (1870-1900)
◦Political corruption, scandals,
greed, child labor, materialism,
racial discrimination, etc.
The Immigrants
U.S. population from 1790-
1820 doubles through natural
increase
1815, immigration from
Germany, Ireland, Britain and
Scandinavia increases
Immigrants come seeking
land, good pay, economic
opportunity, political and
religious freedom
 The New Life

A Difficult Journey
• Almost all immigrants travel by steamship, most in steerage

Ellis Island
• Ellis Island—chief U.S. immigration station, in New York
Harbor
• Immigrants given physical exam by doctor; seriously ill not
admitted
• Inspector checks documents to see if meets legal
requirements
• 1892–1924, about 17 million immigrants processed at Ellis
Island
 Immigration Restrictions

The Rise of Nativism

• Melting pot—in U.S. people blend by abandoning native culture

- immigrants don’t want to give up cultural identity
• Nativism—overt favoritism toward native-born Americans
• Nativists believe Anglo-Saxons superior to other ethnic groups
• Some object to immigrants’ religion: many are Catholics, Jews
• 1897, Congress passes literacy bill for immigrants; Cleveland
vetoes
- 1917, similar bill passes over Wilson’s veto
 Urban Opportunities

Immigrants Settle in Cities

• Industrialization leads to urbanization, or growth of cities
• Most immigrants settle in cities; get cheap housing, factory
jobs
• Americanization movement—assimilate people into main
culture
• Schools, voluntary groups teach citizenship skills
- English, American history, cooking, etiquette
• Ethnic communities provide social support
 Urban Opportunities

Migration from Country to City

• Farm technology decreases need for laborers; people move
to cities
• Many African Americans in South lose their livelihood
• 1890–1910, move to cities in North, West to escape racial
violence
• Find segregation, discrimination in North too
• Competition for jobs between blacks, white immigrants
causes tension

NEXT
 Urban Problems
Housing
• Working-class families live in houses on outskirts or
boardinghouses
• Later, row houses built for single families
• Immigrants take over row houses, 2–3 families per house
• Tenements—multifamily urban dwellings, are
overcrowded, unsanitary

Transportation
• Mass transit—move large numbers of people along fixed
routes
• By 20th century, transit systems link city to suburbs
 Urban Problems

Water
• 1860s cities have inadequate or no piped water, indoor
plumbing rare
• Filtration introduced 1870s, chlorination in 1908
Sanitation
• Streets: manure, open gutters, factory smoke, poor trash
collection
• Contractors hired to sweep streets, collect garbage, clean
outhouses
- often do not do job properly
• By 1900, cities develop sewer lines, create sanitation
departments
 Urban Problems

Crime
• As population grows, thieves flourish
• Early police forces too small to be effective
Fire
• Fire hazards: limited water, wood houses, candles, kerosene
heaters
• Most firefighters volunteers, not always available
• 1900, most cities have full-time, professional fire
departments
• Fire sprinklers, non-flammable building materials make cities
safer
NEXT
 Reforms
The Settlement House Movement
• Social welfare reformers work to relieve urban poverty
• Social Gospel movement—preaches salvation through service to
poor
• Settlement houses—community centers in slums, help
immigrants
• Run by college-educated women, they:
- provide educational, cultural, social services
- send visiting nurses to the sick
- help with personal, job, financial problems
• Jane Addams founds Hull House with Ellen Gates Starr in 1889

NEXT
Reforms

The Political Machine

• Political machine—organized group that controls city
political party
• Give services to voters, businesses for political, financial
support
• After Civil War, machines gain control of major cities
• Machine organization: precinct captains, ward bosses, city
boss
 Urbanization

Growth of industries concentrated people & power in

cities
Industrialization pushed people off the land
Technological advances: elevators, sewage, piped water,
electricity, subways, electric streetcar (1888),
refrigeration increased urbanization
 Class differences in cities
Unskilled and uneducated
poor and immigrants live in
depleted slums
Skilled workers live above their
stores
Educated middle-class live in
comfortable homes
Wealthy live in mansions in
secluded areas
 City sanitation and living problems
Garbage collection was not a
city service
If you wanted services you paid
for the actual cost of a sewer or
street
Wealthy and poor begin to live
in specific areas of the city
1845 professional police forces
appear to control the poor who
riot because of living conditions
 Ethnic Neighborhoods

Irish immigrants cluster in

ethnic neighborhoods for
support and help
They build Catholic churches
and form social and religious
clubs
Run their own fire and militia
companies, also serve as
policemen
Pictures of Slums, 1890’s
Wealthy live in mansions with
access to private parks
The American Family Changes
The Industrial Revolution
changes the dynamics of the
family
Fathers spend more time
away from home and
mothers now assume more
control of household affairs
Working class mothers seek
employment as well to
supplement the families
income
The American Family Changes
Working class women seek work
whereas middle class wives do
not
The middle class view is
negative towards a wife who
seeks work outside the home
Middle class place women on a
pedestal for their devotion to
home and family
Working class women
contributor to family income
and take care of family
The American Family Changes
Working class women tend to now marry later and have
fewer children
The birth of smaller families led parents to value their
children more and provide them with more attention
and affection
Positives of Urbanization
More Job opportunities
Advances in technology and Public Transportation –
Trolley cars, subways, bridges, elevators
Education-better schools, public libraries
Cultural Attractions-theaters, museums, restaurants
sports (boxing, horseracing, and baseball)
Rise of the Middle Class-Managed the workers and
other Professionals
Blue Collar(laborers)/White Collar(managers)
IMMIGRATION AND
URBANIZATION
 New Immigrants
New Immigrants - Southern and Eastern Europeans during 1870s
until WWI.
◦ Came from Ireland, Germany, Italy, Greece, Poland, Hungary and Russia.
◦ Often unskilled, poor, Catholic or Jewish, and planning to save some money to
take back home.

Old Immigrants- Came before the Irish and German immigrants.

After 1900, New Immigrants made up 70% of all immigrants.

American natives felt threatened by the new immigrants

Immigrants from Europe

Old New New New

Emergence of Cities - 1880
 Science and Urban Life

By the turn of the 20th century, four out of ten Americans

lived in cities.
In response to urbanization, technological advances began
to meet communication, transportation, and space
demands.
Skyscrapers Skyscrapers emerged after elevators and steel
skeletons to bear weight were invented.
Examples include
- Daniel Burnham’s Flatiron Building in NYC
- Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in St. Louis.
The skyscraper, America’s greatest contribution
to architecture, solved the issue of how best to
use limited and expensive space.

Flatiron Building - 1902

Another view of Burnham’s Flatiron Building
 Electric Transit
Changes in transportation
allowed cities to spread
outward.
By the turn of the century,
intricate networks of
electric streetcars – also
called trolley cars – ran
from outlying
neighborhoods to
downtown offices and
stores.
El’s and Subways
A few large cities moved their
streetcars far above street level,
creating elevated or El trains. Other
cities built subways by moving their
rail lines underground
 Bridges and Parks

Steel-cable suspension bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge, also brought cities’
sections closer.
Some urban planners sought to include landscaped areas and parks.

Frederick Law Olmsted was instrumental in drawing up plans for Central park,
NYC.
 City Planning
Daniel Burnham oversaw the
transformation of Chicago’s lakefront from
swampy wasteland to elegant parks strung
along Lake Michigan. Today Chicago’s
lakefront is one of the most beautiful
shorelines in North America.

Chicago's lakefront features parks,

harbors for pleasure boats, and
stunning views of the city's skyline
 Expanding Public Education

Between 1865 and 1895, states passed laws requiring 12 to 16 weeks of

annual education for students ages 8-14
- the curriculum was poor and the teachers were usually not qualified.

However, the number of kindergartens expanded from 200 in 1880 to 3,000

in 1900
High School Enrollment

High schools expanded their curriculum to include

science, civics and social studies.

By 1900, 500,000 teenagers were enrolled in high

schools.
Racial Discrimination
African Americans were usually excluded
from secondary education.

In 1890, less than 1% attended high

school.

By 1910, that figured had reached only

3%.
 Education for Immigrants

Unlike African Americans, immigrants were

encouraged to go to school.
Most immigrants sent their children to
public schools.

In addition, thousands of adult immigrants

attended night schools to learn English.
Expanding Higher Education

In 1900, less than 3% of America’s youth attended college.

Between 1880 and 1920 college enrollments more than
quadrupled.
Professional schools were established for law and medicine
 African American Universities

After the Civil War, thousands of African Americans

pursued higher education, though excluded from
white schools.

◦ Booker T. Washington founded Tuskegee University to

provide technical training.
Women at the 1906
◦ W.E.B. Dubois founded the Niagara Movement to Niagara Movement
provide liberal arts education to blacks. Conference at Harpers
Ferry
 Dawn of a Mass Culture

Many middle class Americans fought off city

congestion and dull industrial work by
enjoying beaches, amusement parks,
bicycling, tennis and spectator sports.
American leisure was developing into a
multi-million dollar industry.
 Amusement Parks

To meet the recreational needs of city

dwellers, many cities began setting
aside land for parks.
Amusement parks were constructed on
the outskirts of cities. These parks had
picnic grounds and a variety of rides

Coney Island was America’s most famous

amusement park in the late 19th century
Growing Consumerism
The turn of the century witnessed the
beginnings of the shopping center,
department and chain stores, and the
birth of modern advertising.

Macy’s Department Store

Chain Stores

In the 1870s, F.W. Woolworth found that

if he offered an item at a low price:
“the consumer would purchase it on the
spur of the moment.”
By 1911, the Woolworth chain had 596
stores and sold $1,000,000 per week.