The Challenges of Urbanization
THE STORY TO DATE…
Remember all the changes after the
Civil War…
• Reconstruction in the South
• Manifest Destiny (westward expansion)
– Mexican-American War gained land from Mexico
– Native Americans removed from the land following
bloody battles and moved to reservations
• Rapid rise of industrialization caused growth of
cities
– New inventions (light bulb, telephone, Bessemer
process)
– Transcontinental railroad
– Robber barons (Carnegie, Rockefeller)
Immigration
• Large number of immigrants
– Through Ellis Island in New York
– Through Angel Island in San Francisco
• 20 million Europeans between 1870 and 1920
• 200,000 Chinese between 1870 and 1920
• Reasons included
– Poverty in home lands
– Opportunities
– Freedom
Growth of Urban Population
• Inventions and technological advance allowed
cities to grow
– Factories
– Skyscrapers
• Immigration – Most moved to the cities,
expanding population
– From 10 million to 54 million between 1870 and
1920
This is the topic of this section…
The Challenges of Urbanization
BIG IDEA –
The rapid growth of cities forced people to deal
with problems of housing, sanitation,
transportation, jobs, water, and sanitation.
Why did immigrants settle in cities?
• Cities were the cheapest places to live.
• It was closest to where they arrived in the
United States
– Especially in New York (Ellis Island)
• Factories offered many jobs to unskilled
laborers
How many immigrants?
• By 1890, twice as many Irish in New York as in
Dublin, Ireland
• By 1910, immigrant families made up more
than half of population in 18 major American
cities
The Americanization Movement
• Definition: Social movement by government
and citizen groups to teach immigrants skills
needed for citizenship
– English literacy
– History
– Government
– Cooking
– Etiquette
Immigrant response
• Many did not want to abandon their traditions
• Ethnic communities developed
• Enabled them to speak own language and
customs
• But quickly got overcrowded
Migration from Rural areas
• Many moved from rural areas because
– Technology reduced number of laborers needed
– Escape racial violence in the South
– Escape political oppression
– To seek better jobs
Urban Problems
• Housing – lack of available housing led to many
families living in tenements
• Poor people needed to get around = cities
developed mass transit such as subways and
street cars
• Water – Lack of piping in cities led to little or no
running water
• Diseases – Too many people in a small space, lack
of sanitation, medical care
• Sanitation = Garbage on streets, outhouses
• Crime
• Fires
Reform Movements
• Social gospel movement – Preached salvation
through service to the poor
• Settlement houses – Community centers to
provide assistance to the poor
– Run mainly by middle-class, educated women
– Taught courses
– Provided medical care
• Jane Adams – most famous of the social gospel
movement – founded Hull House in Chicago
Jacob Riis
•
•
•
•
An immigrant from Denmark
A police reporter, often worked in slums
Also a photographer
Documented the lives of the poor in
tenements
• Most famous work: “How the Other Half
Lives”