1. Click the mouse button to display the information. Americans Migrate to the Cities The urban population of the United States grew from about 10 million in 1870 to over 30 million by 1900.  Immigrants remained in the cities, where they worked long hours for little pay.  Still, most immigrants felt their standard of living had improved in the United States.  Farmers began moving to cities because of better paying jobs, electricity, running water, plumbing, and entertainment.

2. What did the cities have to offer Americans that rural America did not? Cities had electricity, running water, and modern plumbing. People were able to go to museums, attend theater performances, and visit libraries as well. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Americans Migrate to the Cities (cont.)

3. The New Urban Environment Click the mouse button to display the information. Housing and transportation needs changed due to the increase in the amount of people living in cities.  As the price of land increased, building owners began to build up.  Skyscrapers, tall steel frame buildings, were constructed for this reason.  Chicagoan Louis Sullivan contributed to the design of skyscrapers.

4. In the late 1800s, various kinds of mass transit developed to move large numbers of people around cities quickly.  Beginning with the horsecar, and later to the more sophisticated electric trolley cars and elevated railroads, engineers created ways to move the ever-expanding population around the city. The New Urban Environment (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

5. What made it necessary to build skyscrapers? The increasing need for land drove the price of land up. Buildings were built upward instead of outward to use less land in an effort to keep costs down. Click the mouse button to display the answer. The New Urban Environment (cont.)

6. Wealthy families lived in the heart of the city where they constructed elaborate homes.  The middle class, which included doctors, lawyers, engineers, and teachers, tended to live away from the city.  The majority of urban dwellers were part of the working class who lived in city tenements, or dark and crowded multi-family apartments. Separation by Class Click the mouse button to display the information. Definite boundaries could be seen between where the wealthy, middle class, and working class people lived. 

7. What were some differences between the social classes? The social classes differed in their level of income and the area in which they lived. The wealthy lived in the heart of the city in elaborate homes. The middle class lived away from the central city and used commuter lines to get to work. The working class lived in cities in tenements. Separation by Class (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the answer.

8. Urban Problems Click the mouse button to display the information. The growth of cities resulted in an increase in crime, fire, disease, and pollution.  From 1880 to 1900, there was a large increase in the murder rate.  Native-born Americans blamed immigrants for the increase in crime.  Alcohol contributed to crime in the late 1800s.  Contaminated drinking water from improper sewage disposal resulted in epidemics of typhoid fever and cholera.

9. Click the mouse button to display the answer. Urban Problems (cont.) Were native-born Americans correct in blaming immigrants for the increase in crime and violence? Why or why not? The crime rate for immigrants was not significantly higher than that of native-born Americans.

10. The political machine, an informal political group designed to gain and keep power, provided essentials to city dwellers in exchange for votes.  Party bosses ran the political machines.  George Plunket, an Irish immigrant, was one of New York City’s most powerful party bosses.  The party bosses had tight control of the city’s money. Urban Politics Click the mouse button to display the information. A new political system was needed to cope with the new urban problems. 

11. Many of the politicians became wealthy due to fraud or graft–getting money through dishonest or questionable means.  The most famous New York Democratic political machine was Tammany Hall.  During the 1860s and 1870s, Tammany Hall’s boss was William M. Tweed.  He was arrested for corruption and sent to prison in 1874. Urban Politics (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

12. Thomas and James Pendergast were party bosses in Kansas City, Missouri.  They led state and city politics from the 1890s to the 1930s.  Although corrupt, political machines did supply important services and help assimilate the ever-expanding population of city dwellers. Urban Politics (cont.) Click the mouse button to display the information.

13. Click the mouse button to display the answer. What were some of the problems caused by political machines? The bosses that ran the political machines grew rich by accepting bribes, selling permits to friends, and dealing in other corrupt ways to benefit themselves. Urban Politics (cont.)