21-2: An Age of Cities

Urban Populations Grow• - the movement of

people from farms to cities• By 1860 only 1 in 5 Americans lived in a city• By 1890 1 in 3 did

• Jobs drew people into the city• Steel mills, meatpacking plants, garment factories, sales

clerks, etc.

Urban Populations Grow cont…• Cities flooded with ,

and farmers from the plains who were coming back to the cities

• African Americans moved to northern cities• Chicago, Detroit, NY, Philadelphia grew in AA

neighborhoods

City Settlement-Lower Class• The poorest people lived in the cities’ center in

small apartments called .

• Many had no windows, heat, bathrooms• Whole families would fit into one room!

• Sickness and disease spread rapidly throughout the overcrowded cities

City Settlement-

• Moving outward from the center, lived the middle class• Doctors, lawyers, business managers, skilled workers,

office workers

• The conditions in this housing section was much improved from the slums of the poor

City Settlement- • Lived on the outskirts of the city in mansions• 5th Ave in NY city

• The wealthy lived like European royalty

Solving City Problems• Cities were filthy• Garbage lay in the streets, plumbing was scarce, crowded,

, sickness

• Crime ran high as law enforcement was still developing

Urban Reforms•

standards for construction and safety• Fire escapes, plumbing, etc.

• Trash removal, street cleaners

• Zoning Laws- disallowed companies from building factories in the center of the city

• Police forces and fire stations

• Underground sewer systems and clean water

Religious Organizations Lend a Hand

• Catholic Church helped many Polish, Irish, and Italian immigrants

• Many Protestant ministers urged middle and upper class citizens to lend a hand as well

• The offered food and shelter to the poor

• The Young Men’s Hebrew Association helped many Jewish immigrants

Settlement Houses• community

centers that offered services to the poor• Jane Adams from Chicago- led this movement• She started the Chicago Hull House in 1889

• These houses helped them “acculturate” and learn American culture and language

• Also gave them a place to stay