Life in the Growing cities
Mr. Julian’s 5th Grade Class
Essential Question
How
did people living
in cities in the late
1800’s and early
1900’s change as
population grew?
Places
New York, New York
 Chicago, Illinois
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 St. Louis, Missouri
 Boston, Massachusetts

People
Jane Adams
 Jacob Riis
 “Boss” William M. Tweed
 Elisha Graves Otis
 James Buchanan Eads
 John Roebling

Vocabulary
Urbanization
 Tenement
 Settlement house
 Political machine
 Suspension bridge

Growing Cities
Cities like New York, Chicago,
and Philadelphia grew quickly
because they were located near
good transportation.
 Access to trains and water
contributes to growth of many
other cities as well.
 Railroads helped Atlanta grow
as well.

Immigration and
Urbanization
Industrialization created millions
of new jobs.
 Many of these jobs were filled
by immigrants.
 Not all of the people moving to
the cities were immigrants,
many moved from rural areas.
 This was a time of urbanization,
or the movement of people to
cities.

Immigration and
Urbanization
With new machines making
farm work easer, fewer people
were needed on the farms.
 With so many people moving to
the cities, there was a shortage
of housing.
 New arrivals were crowded into
tenements, or buildings that are
divided into small apartments.

Immigration and
Urbanization
Buildings were built on any open
area.
 “City Beautiful” thinking began
in the 1890’s.
 People began making city parks
and playgrounds for people
living in the city.
 Transportation both solved and
created problems.

Urban Woes
In 1880 a report in the Chicago
Times reported “The river
stinks. The air stinks. People’s
clothing…stinks.”
 Many people had jobs, they
made more money than they
thought possible, but they also
faced many problems.
 Overcrowding was the biggest
problem.

Urban Woes
Other than being crowded, may
tenements were unsafe.
 Some people had no heat,
others had no windows.
 People living close together
made spreading disease easy.
 Milk spoiled in the summer
resulting in many children’s
deaths.

Urban Woes
Cities became dirtier as factories
spilled pollution into the rivers
and the air.
 Traffic increased on the roads.
 There was more garbage
dumped in the streets and
rivers.

Seeking Solutions
Many organizations, like the
YMCA and the YMHA tried to
help with these problems in the
cities.
 In 1889 Jane Addams a
settlement house, or a center
that provides help for those with
little money.

Seeking Solutions
A man named Jacob Riis was
an immigrant from Denmark.
 In 1890, he wrote a book called
How the Other Half Lived
 His book described the awful
conditions people living in cities
faced.

Rise of Political Machines
People looked to the
government to help with the
problems in the cities.
 Political machines, or
organizations to gain political
power.
 Here is how it works:

Members would get people elected
 The elected people in turn would
give favors to the people that
helped them.

Rise of Political Machines
They promised to help and
many did, but most often they
abused their power.
 One such persons was “Boss”
William M. Tweed.
 He was known for cheating
people out of their money.
 Political machines were found all
over the country.

Up, Over, and Under
Cities can expand by either
moving outward or upward.
 In 1852 inventor Elisha Graves
Otis created the first elevator in
New York City.
 The Great Chicago fire destroyed
all of Chicago's downtown.
 So Chicago was the perfect place
to build the first skyscraper in
1885.

Up, Over, and Under
The first skyscraper was 10
stories tall.
 Steel helped created stronger
bridges and the first steel bridge
was built in St. Louis by James
Buchanan Eads.
 The world’s first suspension
bridge was built in Cincinnati,
Ohio.

Up, Over, and Under
A suspension bridge is one that
is suspended from steel cables.
 John Roebling was hired in New
York city to build a suspension
bridge that crossed the East
River.
 The Brooklyn bridge was the
longest bridge in the world
when it opened in 1883.

Timeline
1885 – The first skyscraper
 1889 – Jane Addams opened
Hull House for the poor.
 1900 – New York City’s
population neared 3.5 million
