Unit 8 Lesson 1: Urbanization Flashcards
What happned to American citites in the late 19th century
In the late nineteenth century, American cities exploded in population.
What is urbanization
on. Urbanization refers to the process by which cities develop, including increased population, business, and structures.
Why did Urbanization in the United States occur rapidly in the second half of the 1800s?
The new technologies of the time led to a great leap in industrialization, requiring large numbers of workers.
How did electric lights affect unbranization and the workforce
New electric lights and powerful machinery allowed factories to run 24 hours a day, 6 days a week (most were closed on Sunday). Workers were forced into demanding 12-hour shifts, requiring them to live close to the factories.
A majority of the newcomers to the cities were from one of two groups of people:
African Americans and southern and eastern European immigrants.
What are push factors
Push factors are conditions that drive people away from their homelands.
What are examples of push facotrs for Europeans
For southern and eastern European immigrants, those factors were poor living conditions, lack of land for farming, forced military service and political or religious persecution. I
What were push factors for people in south america
In southern states, violent forms of racism, from death threats to waves of lynchings, were push factors for millions of African Americans.
\What is a pull factor
Pull factors are conditions that attract people to move to a new area.
What are examples of some pull factors
These include new job opportunities and political and religious freedom. European immigrants and African Americans alike arrived in northern and eastern cities looking for work and better lives.
Where did every citzen in a large city live
Every citizen in a large city, no matter their race or ethnicity, lived in a ward, or district.
What did each ward have
Each ward had a representative who spoke on behalf of its citizens at city hall
What are reprentatives supposed to do
When a problem arose, citizens could ask their representatives to ask city hall to provide a solution. At least, that was what was supposed to happen. Often, however, the wheels of bureaucracy moved too slowly.
What did amny repersetnatives have in mind
Many representatives turned to working within local political machines to find quick, beneficial solutions.
How did “boss” system work
In this system, the “boss” of a political machine would get government officials to fix a problem by promising that their ward would vote for that official in future elections. The bosses profited from these arrangements.
What were “bosses” way of working described as
This process worked, but was not exactly democratic, and cities lost a lot of money to bribery and corruption.
What form of entertainment was rising
amusement park
What was Coney Island
Coney Island, one of the nation’s first amusement parks, opened in New York City in 1895. There were wild rides, animal attractions, and large stage productions.
What were vaudeville
Large stage variety shows known as vaudeville included singing, dancing, and comedy acts with live animals and magic.
What was the impact of baseball
. Another form of entertainment for the working class was professional baseball. These games provided an affordable way to spend leisure time. They also provided a way for the people of a city to bond as they cheered for the home team.
What was the response to abuses of labor for both children and adults?
After the publication of books such as How the Other Half Lives, new child labor laws and workers’ compensation laws were eventually passed.
If city life was so difficult, why did people continue to live in crowded city neighborhoods?
Even though city life was difficult, it was still better than rural life or life in people’s homelands. Cities had higher paying jobs and the promise of a better life for their children. In addition, the ability to move about more freely with less discrimination was a great draw to northern and eastern cities for African American migrants.
How did the middle calss fomr a new community
The middle class largely responded to the challenges of the city by physically escaping it. A new type of community, the suburbs, developed in outlying areas connected to urban centers.
What was it like for middle class people
If your job in the city paid well enough, you could afford to take a train or trolley from your job to a house in the suburbs. As a member of the middle class, the farther you lived from the city, the more social status you had achieved.
