1. Industry and Immigration (1865-1914)
Lesson 5 A Nation of Cities

2. Industry and Immigration (1865-1914) Lesson 5 A Nation of Cities
Learning Objectives
Analyze urban growth in the late 1800s.
Explain how technology improved city life.
Evaluate the problems caused by rapid urban growth and ways that city dwellers tried to solve them.

3. Industry and Immigration (1865-1914) Lesson 5 A Nation of Cities
Key Terms
urbanization
rural-to-urban migrants
skyscrapers
Elisha Otis
mass transit
suburbs
Frederick Law Olmsted
tenements
cholera

4. Americans Migrate to Cities
As one historian has noted, America was born on the farm and moved to the city. In 1860, most Americans lived in rural areas, with only 16 percent living in towns or cities with a population of 8,000 or more. By 1900, that percentage had doubled, and nearly 15 million Americans lived in cities with populations of more than 50,000. Migration to urban areas during this time changed the demographics, or statistical characteristics, of the population of the United States. This period was the beginning of an upsurge in urbanization that both reflected and fueled massive changes in the way Americans lived.

5. Americans Migrate to Cities
City Life Beckons to Immigrants and Migrants
Cities Attract Immigrants
Farmers Migrate to Urban Areas

6. Americans Migrate to Cities
Urbanization increased both the number and population of cities in the United States in the late nineteenth century.Analyze Maps What trends do you see in the population growth of cities in the east? In the west?

7. Americans Migrate to Cities
Despite the tedious nature of the work, factories in cities often offered workers more money and opportunities than they had in rural settings.

8. Americans Migrate to Cities
The percentage of the population living in urban areas increased relative to those living in rural areas over several decades.Analyze Graphs What factors account for the demographic shift from rural to urban areas over these decades?

9. Technology Improves City Life
As cities swelled in size, politicians and workers struggled to keep up with the demands of growth to provide water, sewers, schools, and safety. American innovators stepped up to the task by developing new technologies to improve living conditions. The middle and upper classes benefited most from the innovations, but every city dweller was affected. Electric trolleys and subways, building codes, and other innovations increased the pace of urbanization and economic development in cities across the country.

10. Technology Improves City Life
Engineers Build Skyward with Steel
Electricity Powers New Industries and Economic Development
City Planners Lay Out Cities

11. Technology Improves City Life
The Home Insurance Building in Chicago was the first building in which a steel frame supported the outside walls, making a taller, stronger building.

12. Technology Improves City Life
Mass transit powered by electricity quickly developed in many urban areas. Analyze Graphs What effect did innovations in mass transit have on urbanization?

13. Urban Living Creates Social Issues
Urbanization led to many social issues caused by overcrowding and poverty. In 1890, New York’s Lower East Side had a population of more than 700 people per acre. As immigrants and rural migrants arrived, they crowded into neighborhoods that already seemed to be overflowing.

14. Urban Living Creates Social Issues
Housing Conditions Worsen
Public Health Concerns
Safety in Cities

15. Urban Living Creates Social Issues
Most immigrants and rural migrants could only afford to live in poorer urban neighborhoods. Infer Why would life in an urban setting be both a blessing and a curse for new arrivals?

16. Quiz: Americans Migrate to Cities
How did technological advances in agricultural production push many farmers to migrate to cities?
A. Increasing supplies of food caused prices to drop.
B. Farmers went into debt to pay for new technology.
C. There weren't enough workers to harvest larger crops.
D. New technology demanded workers with appropriate skills.

17. Quiz: Technology Improves City Life
Why were skyscrapers important to cities?
A. They provided a recognizable skyline.
B. They made cities seem more modern.
C. They efficiently used small amounts of land.
D. Their use of steel benefited the steel industry.

18. Quiz: Urban Living Creates Social Issues
What was the key to preventing outbreaks of cholera in cities?
A. less crowded living conditions
B. clean water supplies
C. access to health care
D. development of antibiotics