The Gilded Age

The Rise of Urban America

 The Growth of Cities

In 1860, only 16 cities had populations over 50,000

By 1890:
11 cities had populations over 250,000
Chicago and Philadelphia were over 1,000,000
New York approaching 3,500,000
One in three Americans lived in a city
Emergence of Cities - 1880
Emergence of Cities - 1920
 Patterns of Urban Growth
Traditional – New York
Mixed use neighborhoods – all classes present
Industry
Commercial
Residential
Dictated by limited/expensive intercity transport
Ring and Center – Chicago
Industrial, commercial, residential areas segregated
Industry & commerce on spokes
Residential filled in between the spokes
Residential filled three distinct rings
Inner ring, truly poor
Middle ring, working class
Outer ring, middle class
Rich carved out their own enclaves (Nob Hill in Boston; Highland Park in
Dallas)
 Street Scenes

New York – 1914 Chicago - 1906

 Factors Driving Immigration

Discontent with situation in Europe

Political, economic, social
Encouragement by U.S. interests
Railroads & industry
States & Territories
The “American Dream”
2nd Industrial revolution was strongest draw
Promise of opportunity
Three Distinct Waves of Immigration

Wave 1 (1815-1860)
5,000,000
Britain & Ireland
Wave 2 (1860-1890)
10,000,000
Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland, Holland
Wave 3 (1890-1914)
15,000,000
Italy, Greece, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Rumania, Turkey
Immigrants Arriving in New York -
1906
 Problems of Urban Growth

Overcrowding
Disease
Backlash, social unrest
Class conflict
Pressure on city/government services
 The “Teeming Masses”
1890 population density (New York)
NYC - 60.08/acre
Manhattan - 114.53/acre
10th ward - 522.0/acre
1890 population density (New York)
NYC - 38,451/sq.mile
Manhattan - 73,299/aq. mile
10th ward - 334,080/sq. mile
Number of persons per dwelling
NYC (1880) 16.37
London (1881) 7.9
Boston (1880) 8.26
 Nativism
Anti-immigration sentiments are typically justified with one
or more of the following arguments, claiming that
immigrants:
Language: Isolate themselves in their own communities and refuse
to learn the local language.
Employment: “Steal” jobs from native citizens.
Nationalism: Damage a sense of community and nationality.
Consumption: Increase the consumption of scarce resources.
Welfare: Make heavy use of social welfare systems.
Overpopulation: May sometimes overpopulate countries
Ethnicity: Can swamp a native population and replace its culture
with their own.