1

The New Metropolis

The New Metropolis

2

Henry George: “Poverty Amid Progress”

• “as savings in production and exchange are made possible by denser settlement”

• [regarding communities with little progress]“while you won’t find wealth in all its effects, neither will you find beggars-”

3

City Organization

• Districts• Ethnic enclaves• Suburbs• Transportation• Planning– Eg: Chicago

4

What social and political institutions helped poor & immigrant newcomers adapt to urban life during the Gilded Age?

Terms: Ethnic ”ghettos”, Immigrant newspapers, Ward Politics, Reform Judaism, Ethnic Catholic Parishes, YMCA

5

Technology Fosters Urban Growth

• Steel• Skyscrapers• Electricity• Tenements

6

• Entertainment– Vaudeville– Nickelodeons– Amusement Parks– Spectator Sports

• Music– Ragtime– Blues– Musical theatre

• Sex & the city

• High Culture– Museums– Opera halls– Public Libraries

Urban Life & Society

7

Carnegie Hall 1891

8

Standard of Living = Leisure

9

Big Picture Question: How did the wealthy and middle classes of Gilded Age differ in their expressions of social status?

Terms: Nob Hill & 5th Avenue, NYC Metropolitan Opera House, McAllister’s Social Register, “white-collar” jobs, “streetcar suburbs”

10

Shame of the Cities…

• Political Machines– Definition..– In practice– Service– beneficiaries– Corruption

• Ex: Tammany Hall, St Louis, Memphis, San Francisco

• Successes– Immigrant services– Voter registration– Parks– Utilities– Facilities

– Chicago v. Berlin

In the absence of government service, private interests…

11

How effectively did urban leaders face crowding, safety & transportation challenges in major American cities during the Gilded Age ?

Mass Transit, Skyscrapers, Electricity, Chicago Fire, San Francisco Earthquake, Streetcars, Urban Environmental Hazards, Dumbbell Tenements, "City Beautiful” Movement, Chicago vs. Berlin

12

Machine Politics

• Problems reveal limits– Crises:

• Galveston-hurricane• Cleveland labor strikes• Chicago fire (1871)• SF Earthquake (1906)

– Economic Depression• (1890s)

– Overpopulation

• Reforming Politicians– Tom Johnson (Cleveland)– Josiah Quincy (Boston)– Hazen Pingree (Detroit)

13

What factors encouraged American cities grow significantly during the Gilded Age?Terms: Sister Carrie, Causes of Urbanization, Pittsburg, Pullman & New York

14

Problems Revealed by Muckrakers

• Lincoln Steffens• Jacob Riis• Ida Tarbell• Julius Chambers• Ray Stannard Baker

• Reforms– Public health– Prostitution– Settlement houses