Changes in America’s economy and society.

 It is in hot weather, when life indoors is well- nigh unbearable with cooking, sleeping, and working, all crowded into the small rooms together, that the tenement expands, reckless of all restraint. Then a strange and picturesque life moves upon the flat roofs. In the day and early evening mothers air their babies there, the boys fly their kites from the house-tops, undismayed by police regulations... ◦ Jacob Riis. In The Slums. (1890)

 Tenements and inner city slums begin as massive numbers of immigrants and farmers pushed into the cities  % of US population lived in cities  % lived in cities

 Urbanization- The growth of cities  Factories open in center of cities near railroad tracks.  New York, Chicago, St. Louis populations explode in the crush of new citizens and workers.  Suburbs- communities on the outer reaches of the main city.

 Luxuries- Plays, concerts, indoor plumbing, electricity, and fine restaurants all were located in cities.  Easy to get lost in (especially when hiding from friends and family).  Hardships on the frontier and on the farms.

 Between : more than 25 million people immigrated to the US.  Most were from Italy, Greece, Poland, and Russia. ◦ Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Jewish faiths.  Ellis Island- opened in 1892 and more than 20 million immigrants would pass through its doors until  Most if not all immigrants settled in cities where large numbers of other immigrants lived.

 Drug use, illegal activities, and violence all rise heavily with the increases in populations.  Cities were completely unprepared for influx of citizens. Too few firefighters, police, waste management systems, and too little housing were all major issues.  Most apartments were divided among several families.  African Americans and African immigrants were segregated to a small section of the city and faced horrible conditions.

 Politicians held the contracts to all public works projects and made those that wanted them to pay.  Companies added bribes into the contracts and paid the politicians for their assistance in getting the contract.  Many politicians had what was called a political machine, which went out into the city and bought votes for them through charity, intimidation, and work. ◦ These parts of the machine were also politicians and in return for their work were handsomely rewarded with their own kickbacks

 the wealthiest 2% accounted for almost 20% of the total income of the US.  Mergers and buyouts led to trusts (a combination of companies dominating an industry) which reduced the amount of competition in the cities.  However, as the wealthy became richer through these practices, materials and products became cheaper for the poor.

 Falling prices were due to the modernization of the practices of companies. Machines and other technology were making the production of goods cheaper than ever.  Poor wages and high costs of all goods made it very hard for many workers to live well.  Divide between the rich upper class and the poor working class was filled by the middle class. ◦ Clerks, managers, college professors, small-business owners, clergy members, lawyers, and other professionals fell into this class.  Middle class felt threatened by both the upper and low class and felt that the values of America were being stripped away, began a movement to return to the economic opportunity, religious morality, political honesty, and social stability called the Progressive movement.