THE GROWTH OF CITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURE
1865 - 1900
A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS
United States Population in 1850:
23.2 million
In 1900:
76.2 million
Immigration from 1850 to 1900: 16.2 million
From 1900 to 1910: 8.8 million
GROWTH OF IMMIGRATION: REASONS
PUSHES: Negative Factors
1. Poverty (displaced from farms by mechanization)
2. Overcrowding in major cities in Europe
3. Religious persecutions (Jews)
PULLS: Positive Factors… Why Come To The USA?????
1. Political freedom
2. Religious freedom
3. Economic opportunities (cheap land)
4. Jobs
ALSO: better steamships provided cheap transportation
OLD IMMIGRANTS VS. NEW IMMIGRANTS
OLD: (up to 1880’s) Northern & Western Europe
-British Isles, Germany, and Scandinavia
- Most were Protestant and Catholics
- Most could speak a little English
- High level of literacy & skills (blended into rural society)
NEW: (beginning in1890’s) Southern & Eastern Europe
- Italians, Greeks, Croats, Slovaks, Poles, and Russians
- Poor and illiterate peasants
- Unaccustomed to democratic traditions
- Most were Catholics, Orthodox, and Jews
- Unskilled labors
- Most crowed in poor ethnic neighborhoods in large cities
Restricting Immigration…
Up until 1880’s very few restrictions…
In the 1880’s Congress passes new laws
restricting immigration:
1. Chinese Exclusion Act
2. Restrictions on “undesirables”
Convicts or Mentally Ill
3. Prohibited Contract Labor
When immigrants came into USA, went to Ellis Island.
They had to pass rigorous medical and document examinations
They also had to pay an entry tax
Who wanted to restrict immigration???
1. Labor Unions: immigrants hurt wages
bargaining power)
2. Nativist Groups: The American Protection Association,
openly prejudiced against Catholics
3. Social Darwinist: believed new immigrants were socially
inferior to English & German stock
Did they stop the flow of immigration?
NO!!!!
BY 1900: 15% of the USA population were immigrants
However by the 1920’s: Liberty’s Golden Door was shut!
URBANIZATION:
Urbanization & Industrialization grew side by side
Cities Provided
1. A central supply of labor for the factories
2. Principle market for factory made goods
By 1900: 40% of population lived in cities
By 1920: over 50%
Besides immigrants who else was moving into the city??
Young Americans & Blacks seeking new economic opportunities
Changes in the nature of cities: Structure and Size
Streetcar Cities:
- Pre-Civil War people had to be with-in walking distance
- Now with better transportation “streetcars” people could
live outside of city and commute
- The better transportation developed the further people
moved outside the city. (starts segregation of workers)
- Upper & middle class moved to suburbs to escape
pollution, poverty, and crime… Inner-city left to working
class poor and immigrants
Skyscrapers: Not only did cities expand out BUT up…
In 1885, William Le Baron Jenny
builds 1st skyscraper in Chicago
New inventions help with the success of
skyscrapers:
Otis elevator
Central heating
Ethnic Neighborhoods:
As the rich moved out, the poor moved in…
To increase profits landlords divided inner-city housing
into small, windowless rooms…. “Slums” 4,000 people to 1
city block…
Ethnic groups would move in to the inner-city and maintain its:
- Own language
- Own culture
- Own religion: churches & temples
- Own social clubs
- Own schools
- Own newspapers
Even with the overcrowding, unhealthy conditions & crime,
many immigrants still achieved the:
AMERICAN DREAM
Residential Suburbs:
5 factors that promoted suburban growth:
1. Abundant land available at a low cost
2. Inexpensive transportation into the city
3. Low cost construction for homes
4. Ethnic and racial prejudice
5. American fondness for privacy & detached homes
By 1900 every major city had suburbs…
Single family homes surrounded by beautiful lawns
It became the American ideal for comfortable living
THE USA WILL BECOME WORLDS FIRST
SUBURBAN NATION
PRIVATE CITY VS. PUBLIC CITY
At first people did not expect public services
BUT as population grew so did problems…
To maintain healthy & beautiful cities people demanded
city governments to provide:
- Pure water
- Sewage
- Waste disposal
- Street lights
- Police
- Fire
- Zoning Laws
Awaking of Reform…
New Reform Movements Began…
Books on Social Criticism:
Henry George
Progress and Poverty
His book made people look at
problems of laissez-faire economics.
He wanted a single tax on land to
help stop poverty.
He called attention to inequalities
of wealth caused by industrialization
Edward Bellamy
Looking Backward: 2000 - 1887
His book envisioned a future era
of cooperative society that
eliminated poverty, greed, & crime.
Because his book became so
popular American public turned
away from laissez-faire to greater
government regulations.
Settlement Houses
Concerned about the lives of the poor…
Who? Young middle class, idealistic, & well educated
men & woman
How? They would settle in poor neighborhoods to learn
the problems the poor faced
What did they do? They would provide the poor with
social services
Most famous was the Hull House in Chicago (1889)
Hull Houses started by Jane Addams
They provided:
English lessons
Childhood education
Taught trades
Established neighborhood
theaters & music schools
By 1900: over 400 settlement
houses in the United States
The workers of settlement houses were civic minded volunteers who:
1. Created professional social workers
2. Crusaded for child labor laws, housing reforms, and
woman’s rights
SOCIAL GOSPEL
Protestant preachers exposed the social injustices of the poor
They preached applying Christian principles to social problems
Leading the attack for social justice was:
Walter Rauschenbusch
He linked Christianity
with the Progressive
Movement & encouraged
middle-class Americans to
attack urban problems.
RELIGION & SOCIETY
The call of religion to help the with the challenges of
modern urban living…
Roman Catholics: will gain support with new immigrants
with inner-city support
Dwight Moody & the Moody Bible Institute: Chicago
Will train urban evangelist
Salvation Army: Helped provide basic necessities of life for
homeless & poor while preaching the bible
Mary Baker Eddy: taught that good health was the result of
correct thinking about “Father Mother God”.
She starts the Christian Science Church.
Eddy defined Christian Science in these terms:
"...the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and
demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of
universal harmony."[ She saw it as "...the natural
law of harmony which overcomes discord."[
The Trinity in Christian Science is found in the
unity of God, Christ, and divine Science, or: "God
the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of
sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter."
Families & Women in Urban Society
PROBLEMS:
-City life took away extended family & village support
-Divorce rate went up (new laws against cruelty)
-Number of children went down
Rural: children a necessity… the more the better
Urban: children an economic liability… less is cheaper
1890: Elizabeth Cody Stanton & Susan B. Anthony organized:
National American Woman’s Suffrage Association
Helped woman get voting rights and to own
and control property
Elizabeth Cody Stanton
Susan B. Anthony
Temperance and Morality
Many woman were convinced that excessive
drinking of alcohol by male factory workers
was the main cause of poverty…
New Groups Developed:
WCTU (Woman’s Christian Temperance Union… 1874)
Leader: Francis Willard
She called for: complete abstinence from alcohol
Members: 500,000 by 1898
Anti-saloon League
By 1914 persuaded 21 States to close saloons & bars
Carrie Nation (Kansas):
Raided saloons & smashed
barrels of beer with a hatchet
The Society of Suppression of Vice, took it even farther
They became the “watchdog” of American morals.
Created by: Anthony Comstock
He will persuade Congress to pass the “Comstock Law”
The law stopped the mailing or transporting of obscene &
lewd materials (including photographs).
Intellectual and Cultural Movements
The USA changes from a farming economy to an industrial
economy. From a rural society to an urban society.
These changes will affect all areas of life & culture in the USA
Major areas of change: education, the arts, & sports
Changes in Education
Public Schools:
-Taught the 3 R’s
- McGuffey Readers: promoted traditional values
- New laws made it compulsory to go to school
- By 1900: US literacy rises to 90%
- Kindergarten was created: early education
- Tax supported public high schools
High schools 1st for college prep, now focus
was on vocational and citizenship…
Higher Education : Number of colleges increases because…
1. Land Grants
2. Wealthy Philanthropist
3. Woman Colleges
Changes in college curriculum & social activities
- Harvard introduces elective classes
-John Hopkins University specializes in advanced studies
- Other colleges become dominated by social activities,
fraternities, and sports…
Literature and the Arts
Realism and Naturalism
Samuel Clemens: (Mark Twain)
1st great realist author.
His stories revealed greed,
violence & racism in the USA.
Huckleberry Finn
Tom Sawyer
William Dean Howell another realist wrote about the problems
of industrialism and the unequal wealth in the USA
Other artist became known for their Naturalism…
Which described how emotions & experiences shaped the
“Human Experience”
Stephen Crane: “The Red Badge of Courage”
Jack London: “The Call of the Wild”
Theodora Dreiser: “Sister Carrie”
book about a poor girl in Chicago
Jack London
Paintings: Emphasis on Realism
Winslow Homer: The Fog
Thomas Eakins: Taking the Count
James Whistler: Arrangement in Black & Gray (Whistler’s Mother)
Music
Most large cities had either a symphony orchestra or an
Opera House or Both…
In small towns they had outdoor bandstands
John Philip Sousa
Famous for his
marching band &
His marching songs
Biggest change in music was created by Blacks in New Orleans.
JAZZ
Jelly Roll Morton
Others: Buddy Bolton &
Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag
Pop Culture
Newspapers….
Yellow
Journalism
Joseph Pulitzer: New York World
1st to have a million papers in circulation
“Sensationalism”
William Randolph Hearst: New York Journal
Brings sensationalism to new heights
William R. Hearst
Joseph Pulitzer
Amusements: Leisure time activities caused by:
1. Less working hours
2. Improved transportation
3. Billboards & advertising
4. Decline of Puritan & Victorian Values
Most Popular Amusements:
1. Drinking & hanging out at corner saloon
2. Theaters
3. Circus: P. T. Barnum & James Bailey
4. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
5. Vaudeville
6. Parks for picnics
Spectator Sports
1. Professional Boxing: Heavyweights
1st Champion: John L. Sullivan
Only defeat was to James Corbett who took
the Heavyweight Title from John L.
2. Baseball
A. Doubleday
A. Cartwright
3. Basketball: James Naismith
Cincinnati Reds
1891
4. Football
First football game:
Rutgers vs. Princeton 1869
Walter Camp
“Father of American
Football”
Bachelor Sub-culture
Sports were played and watched by men…
Especially single (20 – 30 yr old) who spent most
of their time at saloons, race tracks & pool halls
Amateur Sports:
Getting into shape (even woman)
Tennis
Golf
Polo
Croquet
Biking
Going to Athletic Clubs
(Rich Only)
FASHION IN THE 1890’S