1. The Growth of Cities and American Culture (1865-1900)
(Chapter 18)

2. A Nation of Immigrants
Population increase from 2.3 million in 185076.2 million in 1900; 16.2 million of this = immigrants
Push Factors= A) poverty of displaced farmers driven from jobs by the mechanization of farm work B) overcrowding/unemployment b/c European population boom C) religious persecution (i.e. Jews in Russia)
Pull Factors= economic opportunities, US reputation for political and religious freedom, abundance of industrial jobs in cities & large steamships inexpensive one way passage in ships’ “steerage” allowed millions of poor Europeans to emigrate

3. “Old” Immigrants & “New” Immigrants
Throughout 1800s; mainly northern and western Europe: The British Isles, Germany, Scandinavia
Mainly Protestants, w/minority Irish and German Catholics
High level of literacy
Blended easily into rural Amer. society
1890s- post WWI; mainly southern and eastern Europeans (Italians, Greeks, Slovaks, Croats, Poles, Russians)
illiterate; poor peasants who fled autocratic countries
Unaccustomed to democratic practices
Largely Roman catholic, Greek Orthodox &Jewish
Crowded cities and poor ethnic neighborhoods in NY, Chicago & other major US cities
Around 25%= “birds of passage”

4. Restricting Immigration
By 1886, Congress passes new laws restricting immigration.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; ban on all immigrants from China.
Restrictions on “undesirable” persons (criminals, mentally ill)
1885- law prohibited contract labor in order to protect American workers
immigration center in 1892 in Ellis Island= new arrivals had to pass more rigorous medical & documental examination, pay entry before entering

5. Supporters of Restriction
Restriction supported by
(A) labor unions
(B) nativist society called the American Protective Association- openly prejudice against Catholics
(C) Social Darwinists-believed immigrants inferior to English and German natives
* H/w despite restrictions, nearly 15% of US pop. was immigrants at turn of the century, until the 1920’s Quota Acts which almost closed Statue of Liberty.

6. Urbanization
Cities provided central supply of labor for factories, principal market for goods
shift of population from rural to urban. By 1900, 40% of Amer. lived in towns or cities, by 1920 more Amer. lived in urban communities than rural areas
In late 19th century millions decided to seek new economic opportunities in the city, both immigrants and native born; people left farms seeking industrial and commercial jobs
Between , nearly 1 million southern blacks settle in northern and western cities

7. Changes in the Nature of Cities
Horse drawn cars and cable cars replaced by electric trolleys, elevated railroads, subways transporting people farther from the city’s commercial center. Building of Brooklyn Bridge, allows longer commutes btwn residential neighborhoods and the center city
Mass transportation allowed for segregation based on income. Upper and middle classes move to suburbs to escape poverty and crime of the city
skyscrapers emerge becoming a dominant feature in American urban skylines
Taller and taller buildings constructed; in 1885, William Lebaron Jenny built the Home Insurance Company building in Chicago-1st true skyscraper.
Innovations such as Otis elevator and the central steam-heating system w/radiators in each room allows for skyscrapers to emerge for offices of industry and commerce.

8. Ethnic neighborhoods vs. Residential Suburbia
Affluent citizens left residences near business districts, while poor moved in them
Landlords create tenement apartments which could cram about 4,000 in one city block; overcrowding led to filth, disease.
In crowded tenements different immigrants could maintain their own language, culture, church or temple and social club.
Upper and middle class Amer. decided to move out the city. Factors prompting movement= (1)abundant land w/low cost (2) inexpensive transportation by rail (3)low cost construction methods (4) ethnic and racial prejudice (5)desire for grass, privacy, individual houses
Late 1850s Frederick Law Olmsted designed a suburban community
By 1900, suburbia became American ideal living
Private City vs. Public
Amer did not expect a lot of public services from municipal gov’ts so wate, pollution, disease crime and other hazards became norm. Slowly advocates for healthier and a more better cities allow citizens and gov’t officials need for sewer systems, water disposal, police department and zoning laws to regualte urban development

9. Boss and Machine Politics
political parties which came under control of tightly organized groups of politicians, (known as political machines)
Each machine had its top politician who gave orders and gave out gov’t jobs for loyal supporters
Tammany Hall (NYC) started as social club, later power centers to coordinate needs of business, immigrants & underprivileged; in exchange for votes
Party bosses knew how to manage social, ethnic and economic groups in the city. Political machines brought modern services to the city, like a rugged form of welfare.
Political Machine sometimes helpful, sometimes corrupt like Boss Tweed in the 1860s pocketed almost 65 percent of public funds from NYC

10. Awakening of Reform New social consciousness in 1880s and 1890s
Literature of Social criticism=
Henry George, Progress and Poverty- criticized laissez-faire economics, proposed placing a single tax on land to solve poverty and shed light on the inequalities in wealth caused by industrialization.
Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward- book which envisioned a future era in which cooperative society had eliminated poverty, greed and crime; helped shift the public opinion to support greater gov’t regulation.
Settlement houses emerge, most famous being Hull House in Chicago (1889) Jane Addams; by 1910, over 400 settlement houses in America’s largest cities. Settlement workers set precedent for future social workers, they were also activists for child-labor laws, housing reform and women’s rights.
Frances Perkins and Harry Hopkins will have leadership roles in FDR’s reform program, the New Deal in the 1930s

11. Religion and Society
Social Gospel movement- In 1880s and 1890s Protestant clergymen apply Christian principles to social problems, led by Walter Rauschenbusch who worked in NYC’s Hell’s Kitchen& urged organized religions to take up the cause of social justice.
Dwight Moody and his Moody Bible Institute help urban evangelists adapt traditional Christianity to city life
Salvation Army-(1879) imported from England in 1879, provided the basic necessities of life for the homeless and the poor, while preaching the Christian gospel.
Mary Baker Eddy- taught good health was the result of correct thinking about “Father Mother God”, founder of the Church of Christ Scientist- popularly known as Christian Science

12. Families and Women in Urban Society
Urban life meant isolation from extended family for the most part, divorce rates increase to one in 12 marriages by 1900.
Reduction in family size w/shift from rural to urban living; children now seen more as an economic liability than a need for labor like on farms
National average for birthrate and family size continued to drop
Women’s cause for suffrage launched at Seneca falls in 1848 carried by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. They helped found the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. Wyoming was the 1st state to grant full suffrage to women in By 1900, some states allowed women to vote in local elections, & most women allowed to control and own property after marriage already

13. Temperance and Morality
Concern from urban reformers, especially women
Women’s Christian temperance union (WCTU) formed in 1874, under leadership of Frances E. Willard of Illinois had 500,000 members by 1898,
Antisaloon League founded in 1893 became powerful political force and by 1916 persuaded 21 states to close down all saloons and bars.
Carry A. Nation raids saloons and creates a sensation
Moralists, thought cities to be breeding grounds for vice, obscenity, prostitution. Anthony Comstock of NY formed Society of Vice and persuaded Congress in 1873 to pass “Comstock Law”, which prohibited the mailing of obscene and lewd material/photos

14. Intellectual and Cultural Movements
Changes in education, arts, sports
Public Schools= children now sent to kindergarten, elementary schools after 1865 began to teach the 3 R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic) with the increase in enrolled children in public schools, the literacy rate rose to 90% of the population in 1900
Very significant was the tax-supported public high schools.
Higher Education= increase in US colleges in late 1800s, largely result of (1)land grant colleges established under Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 (2) universities founded by wealthy philanthropists (3) founding of new colleges for women (i.e.Smith, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke)
By 1900, 71% of colleges admitted women who were 1/3 of attending students
Changes in curriculm, introduction of electives allowing the US to produce its first generation of scholars who could compete w/Europeans.
Changes in curriculum. For ex. : John Hopkins University= 1st Institution to specialize in advanced graduate studies

15. Social Sciences and the professions
New social sciences emerge including behavioral psychology, sociology, anthropology and political science.
Study of human behavior
Oliver Wendell teaches law should evolve with legal precedents
Clarence Darrow argued that criminal behavior could be linked with environmental factors
W.E.B. Du Bois was first African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard, advocated his “talented tenth” plan
New trends in education and professions of 1900 would have significant impact on progressive legislation and liberal reforms of next century

16. Literature
Realism and naturalism thrive; showing human nature and reflecting human experience
Bret Harte
Mark Twain
William Dean Howells
Stephen Crane
Jack London
Theodore Dreiser

17. Painting Winslow Homer Thomas Eakins James McNeil Whistle Mary Cassatt
As the 19th century drew to a close, a group of social realists known as the “Ashcan School” painted scenes of everyday life in poor urban neighborhoods. Upsetting to artists were nonrepresentational paintings exhibted in the Armory Show in NYC in Art of this kind would be rejected until the 1950s.

18. Architecture Louis Sullivan Frank Lloyd Wright Daniel H. Burnham
Frederick Law Olmsted

19. Music
With growth of cities came increases in demand for musical performances and entertainment. By 1900 most large cities had either a symphony orchestra, an opera house, or both.
Great innovators of the era= Jelly Roll Morton, Buddy Bolden, Scott Joplin
Jazz introduced to American public
Jazz, ragtime, blues gained popularity in the early 20th century as New Orleans performers headed north into urban areas like Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago

20. Popular Culture
Mass Circulation of newspapers exposing scandals and sensationalism to new heights
Amusements increase and leisure time increase
Spectator Sports and Amateur sports gain acceptance