1. TOWARD AN URBAN SOCIETY, 1877–1900
Chapter 19

2. The Lure of the City
City becomes a symbol of the new America between 1870–1900
Explosive urban growth
Immigration from outside of country
Immigration from inside of the country
Six cities over 500,000 by 1900
The rise of cities and industry caused sweeping changes in all segments of American life

3. Skyscrapers, Tenements, and Suburbs
Steel permits construction of skyscrapers
Streetcars allow growth of suburbs
Streetcar cities allow more fragmented and stratified city
Tenements house working class in urban cities
Tenement problems (overcrowding, inadequate sanitation, poor ventilation, crime and disease)

4. Strangers in a New Land 1890: 15% of U.S. population was foreign-born
Most immigrants moved for economic reasons and entered through Ellis Island
By 1900, most urban dwellers foreign-born or children of immigrants
Nativist organizations try to limit immigration
Viewed immigrants as a threat

5. Immigrants and the City: Families and Ethnic Identity
Foreign Born-population 1890
Immigrants marry within own ethnic groups
More children born to immigrants than to native-born Americans
Immigrants establish religious, educational institutions, media which preserve cultural traditions
One consequence of urban growth was Political Machine bosses
They stayed in power by becoming organized and helping immigrants
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall in NY

8. Social and Cultural Change 1877–1900
Urbanization, industrialization changing all aspects of American life
1877=47 million 1900=76 million
Pluralistic Society
Manners and Morals
Victorian morality dictates dress, manners, roles, etc…

9. Leisure and Entertainment
Because of invention and innovation brought about more leisure activities
Entertainment inside and outside home
Card playing, music etc…
Circus, Baseball, football, basketball, etc…
Street lights, streetcars make evening a time for entertainment and pleasure

10. Changes in Family Life Urbanization, industrialization alter family
Family life virtually disappears among poorly paid working class
Suburban commute takes fathers from middle-class homes
Domesticity encouraged, women housebound, child-oriented consumers
White middle-class birth rates decline
A new group of women become more assertive toward women rights

11. Educating the Masses Trend is toward universal education
Purpose of public education was to train people for life and work in industrial society
Segregation, poverty compound problems of Southern education
1896 Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal)
Colleges and universities flourish with greater emphasis on professions and research

12. Higher Education: African Americans
African Americans usually confined to all-black institutions like Tuskegee Institute in Alabama
Booker T. Washington v W.E.B. Dubois
Washington=Earn equality/Atlanta Compromise (through self-help)
W.E.B. Du Bois=Demand equality (through education)

13. The Stirrings of Reform
After Civil War Reform movements remained active
Social Darwinists-laws of nature apply to society
Some (Clarence Darrow) rejected Social Darwinism, argued poverty at crime’s root
Liberal Protestants preach "Social Gospel"
Purpose: Reform industrial society
Means: Introduce Christian/Church standards into economic sphere
Reformers begin to seek changes in U.S. living, working conditions
1889: Jane Adams Hull House, Chicago
Susan B Anthony became a key member of the suffrage movement