Bright Lights, Bigger City!!!
 CE
6.1.1 Analyze the factors that enabled the
United States to become a major industrial
power including technological advances.
 CE 6.1.3 Analyze the changing urban and rural
landscape by examining the development of
cities divided by race, ethnicity, and class.
 CE 6.3.1 Describe at least three significant
problems or issues created by America’s
industrial and urban transformation between
1895 and 1930.
 Advances
in science and technology helped
solve urban problems, including overcrowding.
CITY LIFE AND THE ADVANCE OF
TECHNOLOGY
 1870, only 25 U.S. cities had pop of 50,000 or
more
 1890, 58 cities had pop of 50,000 or more…by
1900, 4 out of 10 Americans lived in cities—Why
do we have this trend?
 Growing population increases the need for
communication, transportation and more
space…
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Skyscrapers able to be
created due to two
factors: the invention of
elevators and the creation
of steel skeletons to carry
the weight of the
building
Louis Sullivan (creates
Wainwright building in
St. Louis) and Daniel
Burnham (creates
Flatiron Building in NY)
Helped make better use
of space that was limited
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Old form of transportation
before electricity: horsedrawn street cars and
underground cable systems
Electric transit = networks
of trolley cars (electric
powered) and “el” (elevated
above city levels) and
“subway” (below cities)
trains utilized – helps cities
to expand outwards—Other
benefits?
Steel cable suspension
bridges (i.e. Brooklyn
Bridge) brings cities
together
 Cities
want to design
recreational centers
(parks)—Fredrick
Law Olsmsted
creates Central Park
with boating, tennis,
a zoo, and bicycle
paths—Why is this
important?
 Olmstead also
designs parks for St.
Louis, Washington
D.C., and Boston
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
 By 1890 U.S. literacy rate was 90%--publishers created
books, magazines, and newspapers to keep up with
demand
 American mills mass produce wood pulp paper it was
cheap to make, can print on both sides, affordable, and
durable for high-speed presses
 Orville and Wilbur Wright (bicycle manufacturers)
experiment with the creation of a flying craft
 Built a glider with a four cylinder combustion engine,
chose a propeller, and designed a biplane with a
wingspanfly this plane on 12/17/1903 and lasts for
about 12 seconds ONE SWEET FLIGHT!!!
 By 1920, U.S. gov’t influenced by the potential of flight
creates airmail
 Before
1880’s, only professionals take photos
equip. was too heavy and could not take photos
of moving objects
 George Eastman replaces the heavy glass plates
and need for a portable dark room—develops
flexible film to be developed at the studio
 Creates Kodak camera for $25 and a 100-picture
roll of film to be developed at his company—
when returned, one received the photos and a
refill
 Amateur photos and photojournalism take off
(before news pics were drawings!)
 Reforms
in ed led to a rise in literacy and
promotion of public education.
EXPANDING PUBLIC EDUCATION
 Many states had public ed. during Civil War, but
not everyone went and most only went and left
within four years—few attended high school
 Between 1865 to 1895 states pass laws that
requires 12 – 16 weeks of school a year for kids
ages 8 – 14
 Curriculum emphasizes reading, writing, and
arithmetic—had strict rules and physical
punishment IT’S AS SIMPLE AS ABC
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Kindergarten was added
(borrowed from German
immigrants)—due to
employment of mothers
Still very unequal at this time,
most black kids don’t get the
opportunities, especially in the
South
New industry created need for
workers to have more skills for
a particular job—due to this,
high school and vocational ed
take off
Curriculum, now, begins to
include science, civics, social
studies, drafting, mechanics,
and office work (1900’s)
1890 only 1% of African Americans attend high
school; 1910 only 3% attend; while the rest attended
prvt. schools
 Immigrants are encouraged to go to school to be
“Americanized”—send kids to school because it is
free
 Some resentments include loss of Native languages
and Catholics not wanting kids to read Protestant
version of the Bible (set up prvt. schools)
 Adult immigrants could attend night school to learn
English and to qualify for American citizenship
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EXPANDING HIGHER
EDUCATION
 High school increased,
but college didn’t at first
 Between 1890 to 1920,
enrollment quadrupled,
new requirements and
admissions policies
added due to this factor
 Research universities
emerge (adding physical
science, psychology, and
sociology); professional
law and medicine schools
are created
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Despite discrimination, African
Americans attend schools such
as Fisk, Atlanta, and Howard
Universities
Booker T. Washington
(believes racism will end once
African Americans understand
the economy and acquire the
right skills) – he heads the
Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute to train
teachers and people to excel in
agricultural, domestic, and
mechanical work
B.T.W. took a gradual
approach to equal rights, pull
yourself up with hard work
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W.E.B. Du Bois – did not
agree (Harvard grad), he
creates the Niagara
Movement: values liberal
arts education to create
well-educated leaders
He discusses the
“talented tenth:” top ten
percent to integrate
people into mainstream
society
W.E.B. wanted nothing
less than full equality for
all, eventually got mad
and left the U.S.
 Blacks
fought against voting restrictions
and Jim Crow laws.
AFRICAN AMERICANS FIGHT LEGAL
DISCRIMINATION
 After Reconstruction, Southern states
adopted laws to weaken black rights/power
 Limit vote to people who can read by
administering a literacy test, African
Americans got harder questions or given a
test in a foreign language
 Poll tax created: had to pay taxes before
you could vote; many could not afford
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For whites that cannot pay the
poll tax or pass the literacy test,
the “grandfather clause” is
created: allowed to vote if
father or grandfather voted
before January 1st, 1867
Southern states passed
segregation laws, known as Jim
Crow Laws: to separate public
places such as schools, parks,
hospitals, and transportation
Plessy v. Ferguson reached S.C.
in 1896 – court issued doctrine
of “separate but equal” is legal
and did not violate the 14th
Amendment
Jim Crow Images and Cartoons
TURN OF THE CENTURY RACE
RELATIONS
 Racial etiquette est. = blacks
were not allowed to shake hands
with whites, had to give up the
sidewalk rights, and must remove
hats as a sign of respect for
whites (Hitler use with Jews)
 Blacks who violated etiquette
were in danger of violence and
lynchings—between 1882-1892
more than 1,400 were shot,
burned, or hanged without trial
 Discrimination existed in the
North too when many moved for
pursuit of jobs—forced into
segregated neighborhoods, last
ones hired and first ones fired—
creates race riots
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DISCRIMINATION IN THE WEST
 Native Americans live in territories claimed by U.S.;
Asian immigrants flock to West Coast for wealth
created by jobs; Hispanics inhabit the southwest—
racial tensions make life difficult
 Hispanics hired to build railroads in Southwest—
used to hot climate but had to work for less money
and work was difficult
 Some become trapped by debt peonage: slavery
until debt is paid…but you can’t pay it—Allowed
until 1911 (Supreme Court said violated 13th
Amendment)
 Job competition with the Chinese developed—
pushed into segregated neighborhoods and schools