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Max Ames
AP US History
Ms. Rizzo
February 22, 2010
Urbanization Pros
The post-Civil War age of urbanization in the United States created a plethora of
improvements and good results that more than outweighed the negative aspects of it. The country
witnessed a boom in population, the development of the sky scraper, a better public education,
and renewed movement of social reform.
The population of the country soared during the age of urbanization. In 1860, there was
not one city in the United States that had up to one million inhabitants but by 1890, New York,
Chicago, and Philadelphia had much more the one million people. New York even became the
second largest city in the world with a population 3.5 million inhabitants. A huge source for the
population boom came from the European wave of “New Immigrants.” This group was very
different to the previous groups of immigrants. Before them, most of the immigrants came from
the British isles and western European countries such as Germany. The new group drew its
immigrants from eastern European nations such as Italy, Greece, and Poland. To accommodate
the rising population, cities, instead of expanding area-wise, began to go upwards. Such a thing
was made possible by the sky scraper. The sky scraper was first designed by the Chicago
architect Louis Sullivan. Sky scrapers were only practical because of the electric elevators that
cut out the need to climb flights upon flights of stairs.
As the population increased, so did the need for public school. The number of high
schools grew tremendously by the 1880s and 1890s. People began to accept the philosophy that a
free government could not function successfully if the people were uneducated and ignorant.
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Teacher training schools expanded after the Civil War ass well. Private Catholic schools
increased in number as new Catholic immigrants poured into the country. Colleges became
increasingly necessary for success. The cause for education was aided greatly by the Morrill Act
of 1862 which provided a grant of public lands to the states for support of education, many of
which turned into state universities. Without urbanization and the population boom, education
would not have had as great a rise as it did.
The cities began to face new problems with the immigrant and working class that only
served to awaken a new social movement. Jane Addams was a college educated reformer against
war and poverty. Her efforts would eventually lead to her winning the Nobel Peace Prize in
1931. In 1889, she established the Hull House as a settlement house to aid immigrants and
offered such help as English instruction, counseling, child-care services, and cultural activities.
More settlement houses were created and they served as centers for activism and social reform.
In 1893, the Hull House successfully lobbied for an Illinois anti-sweatshop law to protect women
workers and prohibit children from working.
Urbanization provided a successful rebound from the Civil War that the nation needed.
The population boom, expanding sky scraper-strewn cities, growing education, and social
reforms were all beneficial products of urbanization that changed the very face of the nation.
Though there were negative aspects of it, the good outweighed the bad.
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Urbanization Cons
The post-Civil War era of urbanization had horrible effects on the nation as a whole. The
good that came out of urbanization was not worth the bad that accompanied it. The United States
faced new problems that it had never seen before. Urbanization led to pollution and waste
production, expanding slums, and a disturbance in rural America.
Inhabitants of the country side produced very little household waste. They used and
renewed whatever resources they had at their disposal. Once urbanization began to pick up steam
and new businesses such as Sears began to package things in throwaway bottles, boxes, bags,
and cans, getting rid of such waste became difficult. Pollution began to become a real problem in
cities and sanitary facilities could not keep up with the booming population. The cities were
plunged into permanent stench due to impure water, uncollected garbage, unwashed bodies, and
animal droppings.
Slums, due to urbanization, grew increasingly crowded. They became filthier and more
rat-infested. Residents of slums were herded into “dumbbell” tenements. They were sunless with
very little to no ventilation. Each barrack-like floor was inhabited by several families who all
shared a toilet. “Flophouses” appeared where the starving and unemployed could sleep. Much of
the time, hard working people were able to make it out of the slums.
Urbanizations served to remove and replace many jobs, especially agricultural ones.
Farmers were drawn from their fields to go work in factories. Rural America was declining was
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the rise of urban America. Local general stores were replaced by huge chain department stores
such as Macy’s.
The age of urbanization served as a dramatized view of class separation where the
wealthy lived in suburban mansions and the poor were stuck in dirty slums, some struggling just
to survive. Urbanization created the new problem of mass waste production, the expansion of
slums, and the decline of rural America. There may have been some good to come out of
urbanization, but the image of any beneficial aspect was tarnished by the bad that came out of it.