1. Life in the Big City

2. Life in 1900 Life expectancy Family size
1900:
46.3 yrs for men
48.3 yrs for women
Family size
5.7 kids for laborers
5.2 children for skilled workers
Top 12% of nation controlled 86% of wealth in 1900; lowest 44% controlled 1.5%

3. Urbanization
Major cities developing during this time are Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore
From 1860 to 1910 city population increases dramatically.
By 1920, majority of Americans move from rural to urban areas.
One of the major factors for this growth was eastern European immigrants.

4. Immigration 1860-1890: Large amount of Irish and German immigrants.
1890: NYC has as many Germans as Hamburg, 2x as many Irish as Dublin.
Some came for religious freedom others for a better way of life.
After 1890: Immigrants flow in from Italy, Poland, Greece

5. Immigration (Con’t)
4 out of 5 New Yorkers were born abroad or were children of immigrants
Discrimination by native-born Americans
Some stopped speaking native language for fear of being prosecuted

6. Family Life Everyone in the family contributed in one way or another:
Women did laundry and took care of boarders
Children went to work as young as 10 years old
Most children stopped their education to help support the family.

7. Housing in Urban Cities

8. NYC Slums

10. Water Becomes a Problem
Skyrocketing population; not enough clean drinking water
Poor (or no) indoor plumbing
Disease (cholera, smallpox, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, whooping cough, measles, scarlet fever)
20% infant mortality rate in Chicago in 1900
Filtration and chlorination introduced in late 19th and early 20th century

11. Crime Runs Wild Pickpockets and thieves, murder Ethnic street gangs
NYC: first police department, 1853
Widespread corruption and cooperation between criminals and police

12. Final Questions
Whose responsibility is it to deal with these problems?
How does reform and positive change usually happen in America?