The Urban World

Chapter 7 Section 2

Review

• What is Steerage?

• The Workingmen's party were anti who?

• What did the Immigration Restriction League want?

• What was the first land that most New York immigrants stepped on?

The Changing City

• Before the Second Industrial Revolution cities were compact.

• Even in the largest cities most people lived within a 45 min walk from the city center

• By the Late 1800’s the cities landscape was changing due to new technology and immigrants

• To accommodate the growing number of residents architects built skyscrapers

• Previously buildings were limited to around 5 stories

Continued • In 1852 {Elisha Otis developed a mechanized

elevator which allowed easier transport of materials and people}

• This also allowed buildings well above the five story limit

• Architects also built with steel frames which allowed for a more sturdy building

• Walls no longer were the sole support of a building

• Now steel frames carried the burden of the weight of the walls

• Skyscrapers allowed more people to work in a centralized area

THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

{Mass Transit

• Extended the City outward

• This was public transportation, including subways, electric commuter trains, and trolleys}

Continued

• Before mass transit a typical city covered 3 square miles

• {Mass Transit changed urban Life by encouraging the growth of cities and creating suburbs}

• Before people could cross most cities on foot in two hours now people could live outside the city and work in the city

• Suburban life was limited to the wealthy due to the high cost of transportation 15-20 cents

• {Suburbs are residential neighborhoods and towns on the outskirts of cities}

Upper Class Life• During the late 1800’s a new class of wealthy

city dweller emerged known as the “nouveau riche” or newly rich

• Examples are Carnegie, Rockefeller• There had been rich people in the us since

colonial times but the urban upper class was a new breed

• {Conspicuous consumption known as the public spending of great wealth in order to impress others}

• They wanted people to know how wealthy they were (that is what I would do)

Continued

• They built large houses that imitated gothic castles or Italian renaissance palaces

• Many Americans criticized such extravagances but these people did support social causes such as art galleries, libraries, and museums

• {Much of the literature read by the nouveau riche reflected the social standards of the British Victorian culture}

• This was concerned with maintaining the proper level of social behavior, they held up an ideal of domestic life

{Middle-Class Life

• These were usually accountants, clerks, engineers, managers and sales people}

• New industries created huge demand for skilled workers creating a larger middle class

Continued• Women were not permitted in professional

occupations• However the urban rapid growth provided more

opportunity outside the home• Big business created jobs for women as

secretaries, sales clerks, and stenographers• Business owners increasingly hired young,

single women to fill those positions paying them lower wages then men

• Most worked in the home• Running water in the home freed up time for the

domestic wife

What did the wife no longer have to do with running water available?

She did not have to

• Pump water

• Haul water

• Heat water

• Ready made clothes also freed up time spent sewing

• This allowed women to attend public events in the city

How the poor lived• {For the poor, city life was made worse by low

pay, housing shortages and high rent}• The ever-growing population of laborers eager to

work kept wages low • Housing conditions were worse due to housing

shortages and the rising cost of rent • They lived in Tenements or poorly built

apartment buildings • They had to live within walking distance of work• Outside garbage and raw sewage laid in the

street

Tenements

Poor Continued

• The streets were usually unpaved• Under these conditions disease and illness ran

rampant• “ the stink was enough to knock you down”• For African Americans conditions were worse• Most could only get low paying jobs • They often paid higher rent for worse housing

and were harassed by the police• Many preferred life in the North to life in the

South, where they could sleep in peace at night

Reform• To confront the problem of urban poverty, some

reformers established and lived in Settlement houses

• {Settlement Houses are community service centers that offer education, skills, training, and cultural events to the poor}

• {Jane Addams helped found settlement houses and helped with women's suffrage}

• She wanted to improve living conditions in the neighborhoods

{Social Gospel Movement• The primary goal was to apply Christian

principles to social problems}• The belief was that the church had a moral duty

to confront social injustice• Many churches tried to act according to the

social gospel movement providing classes, counseling, job training, libraries, and other social services

• Some offered free public kindergarten and a gymnasium and offered classes in domestic and industrial skills

Review

• The Workingmen's party were anti who?• What did the Immigration Restriction

League want?• What did Elisha Otis develop?• This was public transportation, including

subways, electric commuter trains, and trolleys

• Much of the literature read by the nouveau riche reflected the social standards of the _______ ________ ________

The End