The urban population of the United States grew from about 10 million in 1870 to over 30 million by  New York City alone grew from 800,000 in 1860 to almost 3.5 million by  In 1840, the U.S. had only 131 cities; by 1900 the number rose to cities.

Most of the immigrants who poured into the U.S. in the late 1800s lacked the money to buy farms and the education to get higher paying jobs. Immigrants remained in the cities, where they worked long hours for little pay. Still, most immigrants felt their standard of living had improved in the United States.

 Farmers began moving to cities because of better paying jobs, electricity, running water, plumbing, and entertainment.

 As millions flooded into the nation’s cities, engineers and architects developed new approaches to housing and transportation. ◦ Demand raised the price of land ◦ Tall sky scrappers appeared throughout the nation  New York built more sky scrappers than anywhere else in the world; New Yorkers had to build UP and not OUT Chicago’s ten story Home Insurance Building, built in 1885, was the first sky scrapper.

In 1890, horsecars – railroad cars pulled by horses, moved about 70% of urban traffic in the U.S. More than 20 cities, beginning with San Francisco in 1873, installed cable cars, which were pulled along tracks by underground cables In 1887, engineer Frank J. Sprague developed the electric trolley car. In highly populated cities such as Chicago, elevated railroads were developed, while Boston and NY built the first subway systems

Cable Car Horse Car Trolley Elevated Railroad Subway

Definite boundaries could be seen between where the wealthy, middle class, and working class people lived.

 Wealthy families lived in the heart of the city where they constructed elaborate homes.  In New York, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s grandson commissioned a $3 million French chateau. Vanderbilt Mansion

 Included doctors, lawyers, engineers, managers, social workers, architects, and teachers.  It was typical for many people in the middle class to move away from the central city.  During this period the middle class salaries were about twice the average factory worker.  In 1905, a college professor earned about $1,100.

Middle Class homes

 In New York City, 3 out of 4 residents squeezed into tenements, dark and crowded multi-family apartments ◦ To supplement the average industrial worker’s annual income of $490, many families sent their young children to work in factories or rented precious space to a boarder.

 a settlement house in the United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. ◦ Located in the Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois, Hull House opened its doors to the recently arrived European immigrants. ◦ its facilities included a night school for adults, kindergarten classes, clubs for older children, a public kitchen, an art gallery, a coffeehouse, a gym, a girls' club, a bathhouse, a book bindery, a music school, a drama group, and a library, as well as labor-related divisions

Hull House, 2010Hull House, 1909 Jane Addams Hull House Jane Addams Hull House 2

The growth of cities resulted in an increase in crime, fire, disease, and pollution. From 1880 to 1900, there was a large increase in the murder rate. Native-born Americans blamed immigrants for the increase in crime. Alcohol contributed to crime in the late 1800s. Contaminated drinking water from improper sewage disposal resulted in epidemics of typhoid fever and cholera.

A new political system was needed to cope with the new urban problems. The political machine, an informal political group designed to gain and keep power, provided essentials to city dwellers in exchange for votes. New city dwellers needed jobs, housing, food, heat, and police protection; these necessities were provided in exchange for votes ( INCREASED VOTING among Immigrants)

Party bosses ran the political machines and controlled the cities finances The party bosses had tight control of the city’s money. Many of the politicians became wealthy due to fraud or graft—getting money through dishonest or questionable means. Accepted bribes from contractors, sold permits to their friends to operate public utilities such as railroads, water works, and power systems.

 The most famous New York Democratic political machine was Tammany Hall. ◦ During the 1860s and 1870s, Tammany Hall’s boss was William M. Tweed. Tweed’s corruption sent him to prison in  Opponents of political machines, such as Thomas Nast, blasted bosses for their corruption. ◦ Defenders, though, thought machines supplied necessary services and helped to assimilate the masses of new city dwellers.