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Chapter 16: The Transformation of American Society

Chapter 16: The Transformation of American Society. (1865-1910). Section 2: The Urban World. Pages: 498-504. The Urban World. The Changing City (498-499) By the late 1800s new technological innovations and a flood of immigrants began to transform the urban landscape.

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Chapter 16: The Transformation of American Society

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  1. Chapter 16: The Transformation of American Society (1865-1910) Section 2: The Urban World Pages: 498-504

  2. The Urban World • The Changing City (498-499) • By the late 1800s new technological innovations and a flood of immigrants began to transform the urban landscape. • Between 1865 and 1900 the percentage of Americans living in cities doubled

  3. The Urban World • The Changing City (498-499) • In order for urban centers to accommodate the growing number of residents, architects needed to build skyscrapers, or large, multistory buildings • In 1852 Elisha Otis developed a mechanized elevator; this allowed architects to build buildings taller • Steel was a major factor in being able to construct these skyscrappers

  4. The Urban World • The Changing City (498-499) • While skyscrapers extended cities upward, the development of mass transit extended the U.S. outward • Electric commuter trains • Subways • Trolley cars • Frank J. Sprague, an electrical engineer who worked with Thomas Edison, designed one of the first mass transit systems. He came up with the electric trolley or street car

  5. The Urban World • The Changing City (498-499) • With the development of mass transit, workers no longer had to live within walking distance of jobs or markets • They expansion of transportation to areas beyond the urban center led to the growth of suburbs – residents of neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city • The low cost charged by some transit companies allowed middle-class office workers and some skilled laborers to leave the city for jobs

  6. The Urban World • Upper-Class Life: (500-501) • As cities evolved, the social habits of city-dwellers were also changing. • Wealthy-class city-dwellers became known as nouveau riche, a French term meaning “newly rich.” • Individuals like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt, made their money in new industries, such as steel, mining, or railroads

  7. The Urban World • Upper-Class Life: (500-501) • Conspicuous Consumption: Many of the nouveau riche spent their great wealth freely so that everyone would know how to successful they were • They built large houses • They thought nothing of spending thousands of dollars to have one night’s amusement • Many Americans criticized such extravagances of the nouveau riche • Were against the wealth they were spending.

  8. The Urban World • Upper-Class Life: (500-501) • Imitating British Victorian Culture: (500-501) • Many American members of the new upper-class imitated the strict standards of social behavior and etiquette of British Victorian culture • There were magazines that instructed the upper-class Americans on how to behave properly while visiting social peers and dining

  9. The Urban World • Middle-Class Life: (501-502) • During the late 1800s the growth of new industries brought about an increase in the number of middle-class city-dwellers • The rise of modern corporations had swelled the ranks of the middle class with accountants, clerks, engineers, managers and salespeople

  10. The Urban World • Middle-Class Life: (501-502) • Professionalization: (501) • The new industries and a growing urban population created a huge demand for educated workers with a mastery of specialized fields; these fields included education, engineering, law and medicine • During the 1870s and 1880s professional schools and organizations were formed to set standards, issue licenses, and review practices within specialized occupations • The creation of these schools and professional organizations brought more respect to the above professions of the middle-class

  11. The Urban World • Middle-Class Life: (501-502) • Middle-Class Women: (501-502) • Few women were permitted into professional occupations • Nevertheless, rapid urban growth did provide greater opportunities for women to work outside the home • Salesclerks • Secretaries • Stenographers • BUT WERE PAID LOWER SALARIES THAN MEN

  12. The Urban World • How the Poor Lived: (502) • Most city-dwellers lived worlds away for the comfort of the middle class or the luxury of the wealthy • New York City served as a magnet for hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Some 43,000 tenements – poorly built apartment buildings – housed more than 1.6 million poor New Yorkers in 1900 – nearly half the population of New York City • These rundown tenements were usually clustered in poor neighborhoods. • The dark, airless tenements sometimes housed as many as 12 families per floor • Garbage littered the streets and alleys • The slums usually adjoined industrial areas where factories belched pollution • African Americans faced the greatest difficulties • Because of widespread discrimination African Americans could only get low-paying jobs

  13. The Urban World • A Drive for Reform: (503-504) • To confront the problem of urban poverty, some reformers established and lived in settlement houses – community service centers – in poor neighborhoods. • Settlement Houses offered neighborhood residents educational opportunities, skills training, and cultural events • Jane Addams was at the forefront of the American settlement-house movement. She established the Hull House, located in a run-down mansion in one of Chicago’s immigrant neighborhoods • Jane Addams wanted to provide educational and cultural opportunities to the poor and to improve living conditions in the neighborhoods • She also hoped that Hull House would provide fulfilling careers for settlement-house volunteers, who were mostly young women

  14. The Urban World • A Drive for Reform: (503-504) • In 1890 African American teacher, Janie Porter Barrett founded one of the first African American settlement houses – the Locust Street Social Settlement – in Hampton, Virginia

  15. The Urban World • A Drive for Reform: (503-504) • The Social Gospel Movement: (504) • Protestant ministers joined the battle against poverty; They developed the idea of the Social Gospel – which called for people to apply Christian principles to address social problems. • Washington Gladden, an early leader of the Social Gospel movement, led crusades to improve conditions for industrial workers • Caroline Bartlett organized the People’s Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. • Bartlett opened the doors of her church seven days a week. She established a free public kindergarten and a gymnasium and offered classes in domestic and industrial skills. She also set up meal programs

  16. THE END

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