Urbanization and the American Dream

 Great Chicago Fire  Began on Oct. 8 and lasted until Oct. 10  Rumors  Started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow  Spread  Wood buildings  Drought  Winds  Poor city management

 Aftermath  4 sq. miles of city destroyed  About 300 killed  $220 million in damages  90,000 of cities 300,000 inhabitants homeless

 Columbia Exposition  1893 Chicago hosts the Worlds Fair  400 Anniversary of what?  America on display  Greatness  Power  Grace  Beauty  Opportunity

 Greatness?  The greatness of America  Best of the world combined into one nation  Criticism  Reporter “Behind the Stucco and plywood the world will never city the true Windy City of Chicago.”

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 The America Wanted  Growing middle class  Managers  Professionalization  Doctors  Lawyers  Teachers  Life  Large homes  Machines to make life easier

 Leisure  Time off spent experiencing the good life  Sports  Baseball  Rise of golf  Tennis  Education  Kids in school  Rise of college education

 Education  Middle-class opportunities  Increased importance on education  College  Philanthropy opened more schools  Increased participation by women  Men trained for middle and upper class positions  Women towards home making

 African-Americans  Extremely difficult  Jim Crow in the south  Racism in the north  Booker T. Washington  Opened the Tuskegee Institute  Focused on training blacks in agriculture work  Atlanta Compromise  Progress through work not law suits and agitation

 The Other Half  Jacob Riis  Immigrant  Hired a police photographer  Muckraker  Those who expose the wrongs  “How the Other Half Lives”  Exposes how the rest of America lives

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  Jobs  Rise of industry  Decline of the farm  Immigration  Coming to America for a better life  Breaking the city into sections  Know the culture and language Why so many in the Cities

  Housing  Tenant Housing  Small  Crowded  Safety  Falling apart  Little regulation  Not enough  Sanitation  Dumping feces into streets  Water  Not enough and poor piping  Crime Problems

 Corruption  Political Machines  Run by the “Boss”  Provided services to those in need in return for votes  Immigrants  Easy to dupe  New  No understanding of democratic gov’t  In need  Boss provided and in return expected votes

 Social Services  Conditions and needs brought about social reforms  Upper class women played the largest role  Motherly/social duty  Jane Addams  Hull House in Chicago  Settlement house  Provided services like educations, classes, and assistance to newly arriving immigrants