Urban Life in the U.S. in the 1800s

An Age of Cities Many people moved from farms to the cities. Many immigrants settled in cities as well. Cities began to become overcrowded. The rapid growth of cities was called urbanization. By 1860 one out of every five Americans lived in a city. Jobs drew people to the city. People worked in steel mills, meatpacking plants, and garment factories.

Life in Changing Cities A building boom changed the face of American cities in the late eighteen hundreds. Cities like New York ran out of space in their downtown areas. Resourceful city planners and architects decided to build up instead of out. Using new technology, the designed tall buildings with many floors called skyscrapers. Newly invented elevators carried people two upper floors. As more people moved into the cities, traffic jams developed. Downtown streets were choked with horse drawn buses, carriages and carts.

Skyscrapers As cities grew, engineers and architects developed new approaches to housing and transportation for a large amount of people With a limited amount of land and space, businesses had to build up, not out. This led to the building of skyscrapers.

Rise of Mass Transit System As cities like New York City, Chicago and San Francisco grew, they moved to improve transportation 1910 – First Trolley Car This led to the development of mass transit to move large amounts of people around cities quickly. 1909 – New York City Subway

Factors Contributing to Urbanization in the Late 19th Century Immigrants also contributed to the growth of cities. Cities were where the jobs could be found. The Americanization Movement was designed to assimilate people of wide-ranging cultures into the dominant culture. Schools & voluntary associations provided programs to teach immigrants skills needed for citizenship In 1840; there were 131 cities in the nation. By 1900; the number had increased to 1700. Farm machines were replacing farm workers. Factories; mills; and other city business needed workers. Cities also attracted people because cities were exciting.

African Americans moved to the cities to improve their lives African Americans moved to the cities to improve their lives. Most African Americans lived in the rural south. When hard times hit or prejudice lead to violence, some African Americans headed to northern cities. By the 1890’s, the south side of Chicago has a thriving African-American community. Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities also had growing African American neighborhoods.

Urban Living Conditions Immigrants often lived in buildings abandoned by middle-class residents and converted into multifamily units. These tenements soon became identified as “slums”. Many families would cram into spaces only meant for a few. Many immigrants tended to settle with others from the same country creating the ethnic neighborhoods and sections that can still be found in many big cities today.

Urban Living Conditions cont. Outside the tenements, raw sewage and garbage littered the streets. Contagious diseases raged in such conditions. Babies were especially susceptible. In NYC, in one district of tenements, six out of ten babies died before their first birthday.

A Dollar A Month To Sleep In Sheds

Urban Problems With the great increase in urban populations, there was an increase in urban problems such as crime, violence, disease and air pollution Native-born Americans often blamed immigrants for the increase in crime.

Problems in the Cities Transportation Cities developed mass transit-transportation systems designed to move large number of people along fixed routes. Cities struggled to repair old transit systems and to build new ones to meet the demand of expanding population. Water Supply Cities faced problems supplying safe drinking water. Residents of many cities had grossly inadequate piped water or none at all. Residents had to collect water in pails from faucets on the streets and heat it for bathing.

Water Supply In the oldest and poorest tenements water had to be obtained from an outside pump, frequently frozen in winter. The privacy was in the back yard. Later buildings generally had a sink and "water closet" in the hall on each floor. Newer and better class tenements had sinks in the kitchen. They were all "cold water". Water for washing dishes and clothes and for taking baths was heated on the stove. It should be pointed out that the water heater did not come into fashion in the US until after 1889. Wealthier people had servants to heat their water

Housing Poor families struggled to survive in crowded slums living in tenements. Tenements were overcrowded, dirty and oftentimes had no windows, heat, or indoor bathrooms. Hine, Lewis W. NYC tenement 1910

Tenement Housing Tenement housing in New York City.

Jacob Riis – Men’s Lodging Room in the West 47th Street Station – c

Problems in the Cities Sanitation Fire Crime -Overcrowded and poorly -As the cities grew; so did the challenge of keeping them clean. -Horse manure piled up on the streets; sewage flowed through open gutters; and Factories spewed foul smoke into the air. Fire -Overcrowded and poorly built tenements and lack of water made fire especially dangerous. -Most city firefighters were volunteers and not always available when they were needed. Crime -As the population of cities increased so did pickpockets and thieves. -NYC organized the first full-time salaried police in 1844. -Most other cities were too small to have much impact on crime.

Sanitation problems in big cities were overwhelming Sanitation problems in big cities were overwhelming. It was not unusual to see a dead horse in the street.

Street cleaning, Fourth Street Reform Garbage collection and street cleaning began regularly. Street cleaning, Fourth Street

Typical tenement fire-escape serving as an extension of the flat: Allen Street

Government intervention As the 20th century (1900s) began, many people began to see that the poor people living in urban areas were in need of help. They began calling on the government to take a more active role in regulating the economy and helping those in need.

How the Other Half Lives Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives Jacob Riis was a journalist whose books gave a vivid account of the life for ethnic groups of New York City living in this tenement slums

Settlement Houses Settlement Houses were places in poor neighborhoods that provided services such as medical care, childcare, libraries, and classes in English The most famous settlement house was Chicago’s Hull House (above), which was started by Jane Addams

Jane Addams Founder of the U.S. Settlement House movement, and one of the first women to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize In 1889 she co-founded Hull House in Chicago the first settlement house in the United States.

Social Gospel Movement- emerged among Protestant Christians to improve the economic, moral, social conditions of the urban working class. Salvation Army

Urban Reforms Reform efforts gave rise to the Salvation Army beginning in 1878. It offered a practical aid and religious counseling to the urban poor. The YMCA tried to help organized Bible studies, prayer meetings, citizenship training and group activities.

Political Machines Since cities were so crowded, the local government couldn’t control everything During late 1800’s, many cities were run by a Political Machine - an organized group, headed by a city boss, that controlled activities in a city. Offered services to voters & businesses in exchange for political or financial support.

The Role of the Political Boss: What else did the bosses do: 1. Controlled access to jobs 2. Built parks, sewer systems, and waterworks. 3. Gave money to hospitals, schools, and orphanages. So that…..people would vote for them!!

The Role of the Political Boss POLITICAL MACHINES The Role of the Political Boss May serve as mayor; he: controls city jobs, business licenses influences courts, municipal agencies arranges building projects, community services • Bosses paid by businesses, get voters’ loyalty, extend influence Election Fraud and Graft • Machines use electoral fraud to win elections • Graft—illegal use of political influence for personal gain • Machines take kickbacks, bribes to allow legal, illegal activities

Immigrants and Bosses The immigrants liked the idea of political machines and bosses. Why? 1. Many of the bosses were immigrants themselves– they spoke their language and battled the same hardships. 2. They helped the immigrants with Naturalization – full American citizenship. 3. Helped them get jobs and houses And in return – VOTES!!!

The Tweed Ring Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed) became the head of Tammany Hall- NYC’s powerful Democratic political machine. Between 1869-1871 Boss Tweed led a group of people (Tweed Ring) in defrauding the city for millions of dollars.

What Did Tweed Do? The NYC Courthouse was being built. The project cost tax payers $13 million, while the actual cost was only $3 million! The difference went to the Tweed Ring. It is estimated that the Tweed Ring stole between $30-$200 million dollars from NYC.

William “Boss” Tweed is an example of a corrupt official. He stolen millions of dollars from New York City. He was finally arrested, tried, and sentenced to jail.