growth of cities and american culture
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Growth of Cities and American Culture. Excerpt from C. Richmond’s “Industrialization” PPT – posted to her website. “New” Immigrants. Italian Immigrant. Eastern and Southern Europe Italians, Slavs, Greeks, Poles and Russians Pull Factors Political and religious freedom - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Excerpt from C. Richmond’s “Industrialization” PPT – posted to her website
GROWTH OF CITIES AND AMERICAN CULTURE
“New” ImmigrantsEastern and
Southern Europe Italians, Slavs, Greeks,
Poles and RussiansPull Factors
Political and religious freedom
Economic opportunities
Push Factors Joblessness, religious
persecution
Italian Immigrant
Russian Jewish Family
UrbanizationUrbanization and
Industrialization developed simultaneously
Cities provided a labor force and a market place of goods
City population – immigrants and ex-farmers
Chicago
Manhattan
Changes in the City
Ethnic neighborhoods Chinatown, Little Italy
Maintain language, culture and religion
Skyscrapers – expansion upward Replaced the church
spirals as dominant feature of skylines
Streetcars-exodus of higher income workers Effect – segregation by
income
Private vs. Public CityAt first residents of cities did not expect
public services as a result cities did not deal with build up waste, pollution, disease, and crime
Advocates pushed for services: water purification, sewage systems, street lighting, police departments, and waste disposal
Factors Promoting Suburban GrowthAbundant land at low costInexpensive transportationLow cost construction homesEthnic and racial prejudiceAmerican fondness for privacy and
detached individual houses
Boss and Machine PoliticsPolitical parties in major
cities came under control of organized groups of politicians, known as political machines
Each machine had a “boss”- top politician who gave orders to the rank and file and doled out government jobs to supporters
Political Machines could be greedy as well generous – stole millions from the taxpayers Boss Tweed portrayed as a
vulture
Settlement Houses
Concerned about the lives of the poor well education men and women opened settlement houses
They were also political activists who fought for child labor laws and housing reforms
Most famous – Hull House opened by Jane Addams
Jane Addams
Hull House
Social GospelImportance of applying Christian
principles to social principlesindividuals could not live sin free unless
the social and economic situations that had driven them into sin in the first place was removed
Encouraged middle-class Protestants to attack urban problems
RealismRealist Author- Mark
Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- revealed greed, violence and racial prejudice
James McNeill Whistler – “Whistler’s Mother” influenced the development of modern art
Architecture and MusicFrederick Law
Olmsted specialized in landscape architecture – designed Central Park and the grounds of the U.S. capitol
Jazz – Jelly Roll Morton introduced Jazz to the American public – combined African rhythms with western instruments
AmusementsCircus, Theaters, Wild
West ShowFactors promoting the
growth of leisure time activities Reduction in hours
worked Improved transportation Advertising Decline of Victorian
values that discouraged” wasting” time on play
Spectator SportsBaseball, football,
basketball, and boxing
Played and attended by men
John Sullivan, heavy weight boxer, most famous athlete of the era – drew large crowds from all social classes to cheer and wager