01:512:104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: American Protective Association, City Beautiful Movement, Immigration Restriction League
13 May 2018
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Chapter 18 - The Age of the City
1)The Urbanization of America
a)The Life of the City
i)Urban pop increased 7x in 50 yrs after Civil War, by 1920 majority of ppl
lived in urban areas. Occurred partly b/c of natural growth, mostly b/c
immigrants and rural ppl flocked b/c offered better paying jobs than rural
areas, cultural experiences available, transportation to cities easier than ever
b)Migrations
i)Late 19th century saw geographic mobility- Americans left declining Eastern
agricultural regions for new farmlands in West and for cities of East
ii)Women moved from farms where mechanization decreased their value;
Southern blacks moved to cities to escape rural poverty, oppression, violence
iii)Largest source of urban growth immigrants: until 1880s mainly educated N
Europeans who were sometimes skilled laborers, businessmen or moved
West to start farms. After 1880s largely S and E Europeans, lacked capital
(like poor Irish immigrants before Civil War) so took mainly unskilled jobs
c)The Ethnic City
i)Not only was amt of immigrants tremendous, but so was diversity of
immigrant population (no single national group dominated)
ii)Most immigrants were rural ppl so formed close-knit ethnic communities to
ease transition-offered native newspapers, food, links to national past
iii)Assimilation of ethnic groups into capitalist economy depended on values of
community, but also prejudices among employers, individual skills and capital
d)Assimilation
i)Most immigrants had desire to become true “Americans” and break with old
national ways. Particular strain w/ women who in America shared more
freedoms- adjust to more fluid life of American city
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ii)Assimilation encouraged by Natives thru public schools and employer
requirement to learn English, religious leaders
e)Exclusion
i)Immigrant arrival provoked many fears + resentments of some native-born
ppl. Reacted out of prejudice, foreign willingness to accept lower wages
ii)Political response to these resentments- American Protective Association
founded by Henry Bowers 1887, Immigration Restriction League sought to
screen/reduce immigrants. 1882 Congress passed Chinese Exclusion Act,
also denied entry to all “undesirables” and placed small tax on immigrants
iii)New laws kept only small amt out. Literacy requirement vetoed by president
Grover Cleveland—anti-immigrant measures failed mainly b/c many natives
welcomed it, provided growing economy w/ cheap and plentiful labor
2)The Urban Landscape
a)The Creation of Public Space
i)By mid-19th century reformers and planners began to call for ordered vision
of city, resulted in creation of public spaces and public services
ii)Urban parks solution to congestion, allowed escape from strain of urban life.
1850s Central Park famously planned by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux
iii)Great public buildings (libraries, museums, theaters), spurred by wealthy
residents who wanted amenities to match material and social aspirations
iv)Urban leaders undertook massive city rebuilding projects- “City Beautiful
Movement” inspired by architect Daniel Burnham- provide order and
symmetry to disorderly life of city (faced opposition from private landowners)
b)Housing the Well-to-Do
i)Availability of cheap labor + materials lowered cost of building in late
19th century. Most wealthy lived in mansions, but later moderately well-to-do
and wealthy both began to build and commute from suburban communities
nearby
c)Housing Workers and the Poor
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i)Most residentsforced to stay in city and rent- demand high and space scarce
led to little bargaining power. Landlords tried to get most ppl in smallest space
ii)“Tenements” came to refer to overcrowded slum dwellings. Poverty and
rough tenement life showcased by reporter Jacob Riis in his 1890 How the
Other Half Lives. Some immigrants also boarded in small family homes
d)Urban Transportation
i)Old, narrow dirty streets insufficient to deal w/ urban growth and need for ppl
to move everyday to difft parts of city- new forms of mass transit needed
ii)Cities experimented w/ elevated railways, cable cars, by 1895 electric trolley
lines, and in 1897 Boston opened first subway in nation
iii)New road, bridge tech also developed (e.g. John Roebling’s Brooklyn
Bridge)
e)The “Skyscraper”
i)Inadequate structural materials and stairs prevented tall buildings until 1870s
iron and steal beam development. After Civil War buildings grew successively
taller, 1890s term “skyscraper” introduced
ii)Steel girder construction allowed city’s w/ limited space to expand upward if
not outward. Architect Louis Sullivan famous skyscraper designer
3)Strains of Urban Life
a)Fire and Disease
i)Fires destroyed large parts of downtown areas w/ buildings made mainly of
wood. “Great fires” led to fireproof buildings, professional fire departments
ii)Diseases from poor neighborhoods w/ inadequate sanitation and sewage
disposal threatened epidemics that could spread thru whole city
b)Environmental Degradation
i)Industrialization and rapid urbanization led to improper disposal of human
and industrial waste that threatened waterways and drinking water, air quality
suffered from burning of stoves and furnaces
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Document Summary
Chapter 18 - the age of the city. 1)the urbanization of america a)the life of the city i)urban pop increased 7x in 50 yrs after civil war, by 1920 majority of ppl lived in urban areas. Southern blacks moved to cities to escape rural poverty, oppression, violence iii)largest source of urban growth immigrants: until 1880s mainly educated n. Europeans who were sometimes skilled laborers, businessmen or moved. Reacted out of prejudice, foreign willingness to accept lower wages ii)political response to these resentments- american protective association founded by henry bowers 1887, immigration restriction league sought to screen/reduce immigrants. 1882 congress passed chinese exclusion act, also denied entry to all undesirables and placed small tax on immigrants iii)new laws kept only small amt out. Grover cleveland anti-immigrant measures failed mainly b/c many natives welcomed it, provided growing economy w/ cheap and plentiful labor.
