1. The Fears of the Middle Class
In the early 1900s the middle class was growing but was worried about lawless cities, a desperate poor, and an untouchable rich

2. Growth of the middle class
Falling prices and increased consumerism led to improved standard of living for most Americans
Urbanization meant greater access to popular entertainment and modern comforts
Industrialization meant the creation of management, clerical, and service industry jobs that were “white collar”
Most of this middle class lived in and around the cities

3. Growth of the Cities
From 1860 to 1900 the percentage of Americans living in the cities rose from 20% to 40%
Drawn by jobs, electricity, luxuries, anonymity
The cities grew so quickly that overcrowding became a major problem

4. Immigration
From 1880 to 1920 about 25 million, about half as many people who lived in the country in 1880
80 percent from Southern and Eastern Europe
Most illiterate, poor, uneducated
Catholic, Jewish, Orthodox

5. Social problems
Crime – 6.8 homicides per 100,000 in 1920 (1.2 in 1900) (is now 5.6 per 100,000 in 2007)
Not enough police, firefighters, garbage and sewage systems
Overcrowding – apartments subdivided
Poverty

6. Most transportation was done by horse-drawn carts generating 20 to 30 pounds of manure a day- by the 1890s replaced by electric trolleys
Most tenements had no plumbing so outhouses and cesspools were used and people threw their garbage into the streets or into alleys
Immigrants began to move near immigrants from the same country – Little Italy, Chinatown, etc. . .

7. Corruption Political machines emerged in the cities
Voters bribed by favors from ward bosses (jobs, money, gifts)
Businesses bribe officials for contracts, favors
Officials (elected or otherwise) get bribes or use information for personal benefit

8. Alcohol
The cities and their immigrant populations became associated with heavy alcohol use
Per capita consumption of alcohol in a year (in gallons)
– 1.72
– 2.6
2007 – 2.31
Alcohol consumption is associated with crime, domestic violence, indolence and vice

9. Women’s rights in the late 1800s
If married a women would lose her right to own property, sign a contract and in some cases (teaching) has to quit their jobs
Women were encouraged to not work outside the home
Domestic violence
A belief in the moral superiority of women helped build support for granting women the right to vote

10. Rights for women
Map of US Suffrage, 1920

11. Trusts and the wealthy
A rash of mergers and buyouts concentrates ownership
Trusts are combinations of companies that dominate an industry
Large companies put smaller companies out of business with newer machines and technology
Some trusts could lower prices with new machinery, but fear of monopolies and low wages persisted
By 1910 – 2 percent of the population earned 20 percent of the nation’s income (double what it had been in 1896)