The Migration to the Cities

The Frontier In 1890 Frederick Jackson Turner stated his “Frontier thesis” which claimed there was no longer a frontier in the United States The first skyscraper appeared in Chicago in 1885, allowing buildings to expand up as well as out By 1890 Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia all had over 1 million inhabitants Rail systems allowed people to move to the city every day to work and return home later Distinct areas developed based on race and ethnicity as well as business

Millions of people migrated to the cities – with sidewalks, shops, and electricity and left the ‘backward’ rural areas Mail-order companies like Sears provided people all over the country with products Cities also created problems – such as trash and crime Many thought the slums were the biggest problems – over-crowded, unclean, rat-infested, and smelly Yet the slums remained as magnets to the new immigrants who found their way to the city Wealthy people left the city to live in the suburbs, usually on the western side of the city

Immigrants To many Europeans the United States was the land of opportunity and promise Between 1870 and 1900, millions of immigrants arrived – mostly European and mostly poor Before the 1880s the immigrants primarily came from northern Europe – they were Protestant and fair-skinned, often British or Irish After the 1880s the immigrants came more from southern and eastern Europe – they were Catholic and dark-skinned

Immigrants tended to stay together in communities of people with a similar ethnic background The immigrants came to America to start a new life but few had anything to offer – except their work Industrialists welcomed the immigrants as a source of low-paying labor and few cared if the immigrants were over-worked or under-paid Without political help they often worked in sweatshops and factories until they complained or were hurt on the job – then they were fired

Some did bring skills –Russian Jews fleeing persecution soon established control of the tailoring trade in New York Others never intended to stay. They planned on making some money and then returning home, but many never returned home They tried to maintain their cultural identity by creating Churches, synagogues, and restaurants The children of immigrants usually wanted to separate themselves from the Old World and learn the customs of the New World Political bosses, like Boss Tweed so learned the value of the immigrants

Resentment Grows Nativism had existed for most of the century but after 1880 it resurfaced with new vigor Despite criticism Jane Addams opened Hull House in Chicago to help immigrants learn the language and get an education Nativists had some problems with northern European but lots of problems with southern Europeans Immigrants were often used as strikebreakers so the Unions quickly turned against them

Education After 1870 most states made compulsory at least a grade-school education But people wanted more education and people demanded High Schools Schools that trained teachers – Normal Schools increased dramatically after the Civil War Kindergartens became popular for small children, especially from families with money Yet the South was noticeably slower at education reform than the North

Education for Blacks In 1881 Booker T. Washington became the head of the Tuskegee school in Alabama The school was for blacks and focused on teaching them a trade so they could make a living Washington accepted the practice of segregation and racism, but believed through education and opportunity the black man would gain equality W.E.B. Du Bois the first black man to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard called Washington “Uncle Tom” for keeping the black in manual labor Du Bois wanted equality and helped create the NAACP in 1910

Colleges and universities appeared all over the country after the war Women’s colleges gained the most ground The 1862 Morrill Act had provided grants of public lands for education In 1887 the Hatch Act provided federal funds for agricultural colleges Money also came from philanthropists like Stanford, Cornell, and Vanderbilt Johns Hopkins opened the first high-level graduate school in 1876 – fashioned after European colleges

Morality The movement to the cities and the stresses of life created a enormous problems for the family The number of divorces in the late eighteenth century reached almost epic proportions The birthrate continued to fall and the size of families continued to drop Women grew more independent Charlotte Perkins Gilman called on women to be more productive members of society. She also advocated day-cares and nurseries so women could work

In 1890 the National American Woman Suffrage Association was founded A new leader in the suffrage movement was Carrie Chapman Catt Catt said women knew more about the family so they had a responsibility to vote, especially in the cities In many states women could vote in local elections but not the Presidential Elections In 1869 Wyoming granted unrestricted voting rights to women The NAWS did not include black women – who later created their own association in 1896 – the National Association of Colored Women

Alcohol consumption was often blamed as a cause of social problems Consumption had risen during the Civil War and was popular with the immigrants In 1869 the National Prohibition party claimed some votes in the presidential election, but had no real success In 1874 the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was formed In 1893 the Anti-Saloon League tried to organize prohibition and had some significant success in Maine In 1919 the Eighteenth Amendment authorized national prohibition