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The Age of the City

The Age of the City. 1870 - 1910. Introduction. Industrialization & commercialization changed Am. society Growing size & influence of cities. Introduction. Society can improve itself Growth & progress could not continue to grow recklessly Federal government must intervene.

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The Age of the City

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  1. The Age of the City 1870 - 1910

  2. Introduction • Industrialization & commercialization changed Am. society • Growing size & influence of cities

  3. Introduction • Society can improve itself • Growth & progress could not continue to grow recklessly • Federal government must intervene

  4. The New Urban Growth • Urban population increased sevenfold after the Civil War • Urban families • High infant mortality rate • Declining fertility rate • High death rate from disease

  5. The Ethnic City • In 1890, majority of urban population was immigrant • Diversity of new immigrant population • Ethnic neighborhoods • Advantages? • Disadvantages?

  6. The Urban Landscape • A place of contrasts • Growth helped w/technology & industrial developments • Misgovernment • Poverty • Filth • Epidemics • Fires • Congestion

  7. The Urban Landscape, cont. • Housing • Most urban residents rented • High population density • Tenements (slum dwelling) • Windowless rooms • Little or no heating or plumbing

  8. The Urban Landscape, cont. • Jacob Riis How the Other Half Lives (1890)

  9. The Urban Landscape, cont. • Transportation challenges • Mass transportation • Elevated railways • Cable cars • Electric trolley • Subways • Brooklyn Bridge • Skyscrapers

  10. Strains of Urban Life • Congestion • Absence of public services • Fire • Chicago & Boston (1871) • San Francisco & earthquake (1906) • Created professional fire departments

  11. Strains of Urban Life, cont. • Disease • Inadequate sanitation facilities • Improper sewage disposal • Water contamination

  12. Strains of Urban Life, cont. • Poverty • Overcrowding • Crime • Violence • Creation of professional police departments • Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie (1900)

  13. The Settlement House Movement • Jane Addams & Hull House (1889) • Staffed by educated, middle class • Immigrant neighborhoods • Social work

  14. The Machine and the Boss • Institutions to help immigrants adjust to Am. urban life • Political “machine” & urban bosses • Win votes for organization • Rewarding followers w/patronage • Graft & corruption • William “Boss” M. Tweed of NYC’s Tammany Hall • Modernized city infrastructures • Provided stability & expanded role of govt. • Some expressed public outrage at corruption

  15. Society and Culture in Urbanizing America • Distinct middle class culture emerged & exerted power in lt. 19th cent. • Rise of consumer culture

  16. The Rise of Mass Consumption • Expansion of markets for goods produced • Incomes rising but at uneven rates • Middle class – clerks, accountants, middle managers, doctors, lawyers

  17. The Rise of Mass Consumption, cont. • Development of affordable products • New merchandising techniques • Ready-made clothing • Food • Tin cans (1880s) • Refrigerated rail cars • Improved diets & better health

  18. The Rise of Mass Consumption, cont. • “Chain stores” • A & P (groceries) • Woolworth’s (dry goods) • Sears & Roebuck (mail-order) • Department stores • Marshall Field in Chicago

  19. The Rise of Mass Consumption, cont. • Rise of mass consumption had dramatic effects on women • Food preparation • Employment • Consumer protection mvmt. • Florence Kelley

  20. Leisure and Sport • Growing interest in leisure time • Rise of organized spectator sports • Baseball & 1903 World Series • Football • Basketball

  21. Leisure and Sport, cont. • Women and golf • Tennis • Bicycling

  22. Leisure and Popular Culture • Ethnic communities & theaters • Musical comedy • Vaudeville (1 of few entertainment media open to black performers)

  23. Leisure and Popular Culture, cont. • Movies • D.W. Griffith & Birthof a Nation (1915)

  24. Leisure and Popular Culture, cont. • Entertainment and public quality • Coney Island in NY • Central Park

  25. Leisure and Popular Culture, cont. • Reading novels & poetry • Dime novels

  26. Mass Communications • Market for news & information • Daily newspapers increased ninefold • Professionalized & big business • Hearst • Pulitzer • “Yellow journalism”

  27. Muckrakers & Social Gospel • Reform minded journalists • Social, economic, & political injustices • Exposing scandal and corruption • Targeted trusts

  28. Muckrakers & Social Gospel • Reform minded journalists • Social, economic, & political injustices • Exposing scandal and corruption • Targeted trusts

  29. The Muckrakers and the Social Gospel, cont. • Ida Tarbell & Standard Oil • Child labor • Railroads • Immigrant ghettoes • Labor unions • Governments

  30. The Literature of Urban America • Mark Twain & Huckleberry Finn & Tom Sawyer • Stephen Crane & Maggie: A Girl of the Streets • Dreiser • Upton Sinclair & The Jungle

  31. Art in the Age of the City • New styles independent of Europe • Winslow Homer & maritime life • James McNeil Whistler & oriental themes • George Bellows (Ashcan School of Art) • Edward Hopper

  32. Cliff Dwellers by George Bellows

  33. Automat by Edward Hopper

  34. Toward Universal Schooling • High demand for education • Rapid expansion & reform for schools & universities • Spread of free public primary & secondary education

  35. Toward Universal Schooling, cont. • Opportunities for Indian tribes • Carlisle Indian Industrial School in PA • Morrill Land Grant Act • Philanthropists • Women • Mount Holyoke, Vassar, Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr

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