Section 5: Causes and Effects of Urbanization Standard 4.5

History of Cities First cities in the U.S. were built as trade-centers Next, cities developed into transportation hubs Finally, cities became known for their industrial production (businesses and factories)

Growth of the Cities Populations grew b/c of immigration and urbanization More farmers were moving to the cities b/c of the struggles they had with paying off their debts However, majority of the American people lived outside of the urban areas until 1920

Immigration Trends In the late 19th Century, most immigrants were coming from southern and eastern Europe The original Americans hated this and tried to apply literacy tests to all immigrants (this did not take effect until the 1920’s) Immigrants settled in the port centers in which they entered the country They were usually too poor to move from there Tended to live in small towns with familiar ethnicities

Immigrants and Politics In city politics, immigrants were able to vote for people and issues Majority of them voted for people that helped them when they came over People that helped them find jobs and homes Is this considered corruption?

Movement of African Americans In the 1890’s, African Americans began migrating due to: Poor cotton yields Soil exhaustion and the boll weevil Discrimination of the Jim Crow Laws lynchings

Search for Jobs African Americans headed to the cities Mill towns in the south would not hire them They moved further West and North Here, they were the last to be hired and first to be fired Afr. Amer. lived in segregated neighborhoods The movement began to increase again during WWI b/c of new job opportunities