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Published byCassandra Farmer Modified over 9 years ago
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GROWTH OF THE CITIES
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We remember that… (cont.) Federal troops withdrew from the South following Reconstruction. Legalized discrimination, intolerance, and violence toward African-Americans was common in The South In 1890, the U.S. Census bureau proclaimed that the frontier was essentially closed. This diminished land “giveaways”, such as the 1862 Homestead Act.
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Growth of the Cities: Late 19th Century Vocabulary Urban area- A densely-settled areas (many people per square mile) Rural area:sparsely populated areas (few people per square mile) Urbanization- becoming densely populated and acquiring the common traits of densely settled areas Immigration - Moving to a new country for the purpose of living there Emigration - Leaving one country to move to another
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Growth of the Cities: Late 19th Century Vocabulary, cont. Migration - Movement of people from one place to another. Can be intercontinental, interstate, or interregional (such as rural to urban) Refugee - a person who is living outside their country of origin due to fear of persecution due to race, religion, group membership, political opinion. Push Factor - Reason for emigrating Pull factor - Reason for immigrating
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Growth of the Cities: Late 19th Century Causes of the Growth 1. Farmers migrate to cities - Between 1880 and 1920, 11 million Americans left farms and went to the cities*. Why? New farm technology meant less human labor 1893 financial crisis results in thousands of farms being lost due to mortgage foreclosures Off-spring of farmers cannot all “inherit the farm”. Many go to cities * Although many left their farms during this period, the actual number of farms continued to increase for quite some time. Keep in mind that population was growing rapidly.
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Causes of the Growth, cont. 2. Migration of African-Americans from South to the cities After reconstruction, legal discrimination and violence toward African- Americans escalates in southern states. a. Jim Crow Laws - legalized discrimination 1. literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather taxes prohibit most African- Americans from voting 2. enforced segregation of public facilities 3. Black Codes - behavioral rules
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Causes of the Growth, cont. Migration of African-Americans from South to the cities, cont. b. Poor treatment, mob violence, and lynching (severe punishment of an accused person, without benefit of a trial) reach all time highs in the 1890’s. Thousands of African-Americans leave the South and head for employment in northern cities This migration stream intensifies after the turn of the century and becomes known as the Great Migration.
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Causes of the Growth, cont. 3. Immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans to American industrial cities This “Great Wave” of immigration was different from earlier immigration streams -Italians, Poles, Austrian, Czechs, Hungarian, Slovaks, Russian, Greeks, and others -most of the new immigrants did not speak English -many of the new immigrants were uneducated peasants -many were Catholic, Orthodox, or Jewish
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Causes of the Growth, cont. Immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans to American industrial cities, cont. Most left poverty, famine, and/or political unrest. They sought economic opportunities, some fled religious persecution From 1890-1914 approximately 15 million immigrated to U.S. Most settled in cities 70% came through New York City
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URBANIZATION OF AMERICA Shift from primarily rural to primarily urban By 1890, 90% of manufacturing occurred in urban areas and 1/3 of Americans lived in them. Most populous: 1. New York City. 1.5 million 2. Philadelphia, 1 million+ 3. Chicago. 1 million +
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