What do you know???• About Tenement Houses???• About conditions in the cities???• About the lives of immigrants???

21-2: An Age of Cities

Urban Populations Grow• Urbanization- 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 immigrants, farmers from the

plains, and African Americans• Chicago, Detroit, NY, Philadelphia grew in African

American neighborhoods

Stop and Think • What is urbanization?• Who was moving into the cities during the late

1800s and early 1900s?

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

small apartments called tenements.• Many had no windows, heat, bathrooms• Whole families would fit into one room!

• Sickness and disease spread rapidly throughout the overcrowded cities

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

• The wealthy lived like European royalty

Stop and Think • Describe the “city settlement patterns” of people

living the city.• What are tenement houses?

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

• Crime ran high as law enforcement was still developing

Urban Reforms• Building Codes-

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 Salvation Army offered food and shelter to the poor

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

Settlement Houses• 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 and gave them a place to stay

Wrap Up• 1. What is urbanization? What impact did

this have on city life?• 2. Describe what the lower class housing

was like in cities during the late 1800s.• 3. What were some of the city problems

that existed during the late 1800s?• 4. What were some of the things that were

created to help people/immigrants when they moved into the cities? Give two examples.