HIST 106 2nd Edition Lecture 7Outline of Last Lecture I. WorkersII. Culture of workIII. Knights of LaborOutline of Current LectureI. The lure of the cityII. Tenements and unwashed massesIII. Strangers in a strange landIV. Social and cultural changeV. Manners and MoresCurrent Lecture- The lure of the cityo Intro/context At the beginning of the civil war, only 1/6 of American people lived in the city; by 1900, 1/3 of American people lived in the city; by 1920, ½ of American people lived in the city The movement to urban life brought explosive growth and in 1900, the US had 6 of the biggest urban cities including New York, Chicago, and Philadelphiao Skyscrapers and suburbs Context: the proverbial chicken and egg question- Was the age of steel and glass that built the skyscrapers; street cars (transportation) built the suburbs- Does technology change history or does history change technology?o Before and after Before: buildings were small and were not steady; after: steel production allowedfor buildings to be larger and sturdier than before - Building soared higher and higher and the walls were no longer having to hold themselves up and steel frames allowed for windowso Innovators: Root and Sullivan Both were attracted to rebuild Chicago after the fire of 1871 The fire had fed fancy exteriors and Root built the blueprints of modern architecture - Root believed that the office tower reflected modern society (this was a society that leaned more toward business and not really church)- Buildings were usually simplistic and reflected Roots morals Sullivan conceived the idea of the skyscrapers and his skyscrapers changed the urban skyline forever- Form follows function and passed the this idea to his disciple Frank Lloyd Right o Electrified metamorphosis Electrical elevators carried workers upward and street cars carried them outward,which allowed for expansion of cities Cities no longer walking cities but had cable lines to allow for mas transito Shifting demographics As the middle class moved outwards, the immigrants moved into the cities The massive amounts of people in the city and the poor conditions made the inner cities the slums There were middle class rings coming outward from a business and working core- Tenements and unwashed masseso Contexto Population density Hundreds of thousands of people were crammed into tenements Over 1 billion people lived on Manhattan island and there were 334,000 people per square mile Many people lived in dark allies and dark basements o Hell with the lid of In the 1870s and 1880s cities stank of poverty and horse crap due to the amount of horse transit and people crap Cities dumped their waste into mass sources of water and would get their drinking water from the same source Many cities attempted to build purified water sources but could not keep up Factories polluted the air tremendously and Pittsburg at night looked like hell with the lid ofo Hoodlums and other social ills Crime was another huge problem in the cities and slum youth formed street gangs and committed crimes- In San Francisco, the gangs led to the word hoodlums Suicide and alcoholism rates rose tremendously- Many drinking establishes made more than grocery stores, meat markets andgas stations combined- Strangers in a strange lando Demographic makeup Many immigrants moved to America for a fresh start- Italians moved to escape a cholera epidemic- Jews moved to escape the Brahms (Jewish massacre raids) - 15% of the US population were foreign born and most immigrants were job seekerso Like moths to a flame New urban residents were really surprised by what they saw because they had really never seen anything like what was in America before (ex. Diferent fruits, department stores)- Word spread back home and American cities were characterized by foreign-born immigrantso The “New Immigration” By the 1880s, the immigration shifted from northern and western Europe to southern and eastern Europe- The new immigrants were catholic and Jewish and they often spoke diferent languages- Stuck together and held onto their native languages and ritualso American “slurred” speech Racial slurs became a part of American speech (ex. Grease ballsGreeks) Anti-Catholism and –Semitism made life hard for immigrants A program sent inner city kids to the suburbs (fail) and in the 1890s, many organizations went to stop immigration all together- Social and cultural changeo Intro/context Cities, suburbs, and factories took new forms and while many people worked harder and harder, some people had more leisure time For the first time in history, people could read about events in distant lands (other countries)o Demographic continuity—and change over time In 1877, the country had 47million people and in 10 years, the population grew to 63 million 9/10 of the population was white, under 1/10 black and white Anglo-Saxon Protestants dominated America In 1880, nearly 75% of the population lived in communities of less than 2500 people and families had 3 children (life expectancy was 43 years) For blacks and other minorities living in unsanitary conditions, life expectancy was 33 yearso Dietary change There were many courses to every meal and food prices were low Packaged breakfast cereals and fresh produce changed eating habits forevero Medical revolution Pasture discovered that germs caused infections and disease and led to the new subset of microbiology TB, typhoid, and pneumonia were still the leading causes of death Infant mortality declined between 1877 and 1900 o Medical practices There were few hospitals and there wasn’t really the idea of hospital insurance Anesthetics came into play and antiseptic practices helped to keep infection awayfrom patients during surgery Laughing gas made going to the dentist better Environment was connected to behavior (one of the psychological discoveries of the time)- Manners and moreso Contexto The see-saw of policing purity In 1877, children were to be seen, not heard (speak only when spoken to)- Older boys and girls were to be chaperonedo Fashion: from straightjackets to shirtwaists Men wore suits; women wore corsets Styles changed dramatically toward the century's end due to new sporting fads such as golf and tennis Women got into the suit fashion and wore long pants and shirtwaist
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