Throughout the mid 1800s to the late 1800S, millions of immigrants flooded into the United States hoping for a new life. Most of them faced a difficult journey by ship to enter “The Land of Opportunities”. Many of the immigrants moved to the city in search for jobs because machines were replacing farm laborers in the rural parts of the country. Along with the immigrants, thousands of other families moved to the city. This rapid increase of city dwellers led to new inventions and technologies. Skyscrapers, elevators, mass transit or public transportation, and forms of mass culture such as amusement parks, department stores, newspapers, and state and national parks. Along with these new innovations and technology, the swift expansion of city population also brought poor housing and working conditions. City residents were living poor and unhealthy lives. However, thanks to muckrakers such as Jacob Riis, the public were able to see how many city residents were living. His exposure of the terrible conditions people in the city lived in sparked many others to work for change in the city. Before Jacob Riis took picture and …show more content…
After various jobs such as ironworker, farmer, bricklayer, salesman, in 1873, Riis became a police reporter. He worked in an impoverished slum and crime ridden neighborhoods. Previously he has worked as a news reporter for a different newspaper and after receiving the job as a police reporter, he changed his style of writing to a more melodramatic style, becoming one of the earliest reformist journalist of the time. He used the stories of the slum dwellers to write an article for people to visual what life was like to live in a tenement neighborhood. He also took many pictures of the slums so public was able to actually see how poor the housing conditions were in tenement houses. His photographs were often present in newspaper and magazines
The mid-19th century saw an unprecedented wave of immigrants coming into the country. At its peak, Ellis Island, the main processing station for immigrants, handled an astounding 5,000 people every day. Because of the language and culture barriers faced by each group of people, they often settled amongst themselves. Very quickly, country-specific neighborhoods began popping up throughout New York and the surrounding area. This helped to alleviate the stresses with moving to a new country; however, most immigrants came to the United States penniless and lived in low-income housing as their jobs rarely supported themselves let alone their families.
Article 2 Jacob Riis and how he changed the world. Jacob Riis was influential and life changing to the americans rich and poor of the late 19th century. Jacob Riis’s photos of the slums and tenement shocked thousands. His photography completely changed the minds of the rich and strongly motivated the progressive movement. Round Riis never directly created or change any laws but he laid the groundwork and the mindset need to create these changes.
Around the time of these advancements, immigrants from all over Europe and Asia decided to attempt to make lives for themselves in America. This increase in population also led to changes in the cities, making them more urban. Ultimately, many factors including technological advancements, immigration, and the new laissez-faire government led to fairly extreme changes in American cities in the late 1800s. First, technological changes affected cities drastically in the 1800s with the creation of new inventions and
Most immigrants who came to the U.S had high expectations that they would find wealth but once they arrived they realized their expectations weren’t what they expected. Although, they were disappointed in not finding wealth the conditions in which the U.S was in by the late 1800s were still a lot better than the places they all had left behind to come. The majority of the immigration population anticipation was to find profitable jobs and opportunities. When the large numbers of immigration were migrating to the U.S, it was during the “Gilded Age”, which was the prime time for the country’s expansion of industrialization. This rapid expansion of new industries led to the need of workers which motivated people from other countries to come to
After the Civil War, our country was battered and beaten, but it rebuilt itself over time and spread its policies, as well as manufacturing practices, throughout our country. Early in the 20th century, members of our nation started to look at some of these practices and policies and began to question their merit and whether they assisted our population or not. Many people were involved in the progressive movement in America from the presidents to a slew of popular authors and photographers. The one thing that they had in common was that they saw problems with how various industries in our nation performed that they knew needed to be fixed. They did not always agree on everything, such as immigration, but they always had the nation’s best interest at heart.
It was like the citizens over powered transportation, because there were so many of people in the city. Which just goes to show how populated the cities were, not only of immigrants but Americans too. The reason why so many immigrants choose urban areas instead of the rural, village land that they were used to, is because that was where all the jobs were located. Most of the immigrants could not compete with the new technology in agriculture, so they had no other option than to go to the cities. Also, some of the immigrants were not very skilled which made it beneficial to move to the cities.
During the time between the Civil War and the end of World War I industrialization was a big part in the economic, social, and political development of the United States. All three developed the way they did as an effect of industrialization. Economically more money was made from more manufactured goods. Socially living conditions became different. Politically more laws were passed to address problems.
The Industrial Revolution was the chain of events from the mid-1700s to the early 1900s that increased population, product output, and technology. During this period, many inventions that people use to this day, such as the radio, electric lightbulb, and the automobile were invented and put forward for public use. It also changed the way people lived, with urbanization causing more people to move into larger cities to work in factories. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily negative consequences for society because it brought suffering to the working class, it was actually a positive thing for society.
Amid the invention and introductions to the world in the 1800’s especially in the United States, there was a demand for railroads to make traversing the Country easier. They needed a fast way to transport people and goods all around the country, especially between major cities, a great example of this being accomplished is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. On account of the demand of railroads, there was also a demand for people to work on and build the railroads throughout the country. Railroad work opened up an abundant amount of jobs all around the country which was positive for the nation, but for the people working it was a very physically intensive job and low paying.
Throughout this weeks reading on Chapter 4, we focus in on the Progressive Era and the establishment of urban America. The industrial revolution was at its peak and the United States was developing rapidly. Immigration, manufacturing output, and urban development grew faster than any other time in the nation’s history. Not only that, but scientific developments changed lives and revolutionary theories challenged traditional beliefs. As Rury suggests, “ . . .
“In 1820, about 58 towns more than 2500 inhabitants; by 1840, there were 126 such towns, located mostly in the Midwest and Northeast.” The fastest growth occurring in areas were near canals, railroads, and roads because of the easy access of raw and manufactured materials. Toward the later 19th century, the settlers began to move west for cheaper property because the land inhabited near the town built around transportation was getting
Between 1870 and 1900, an estimated 25 million immigrants had made their way to the United States. This era, titled the Gilded Age, played an extremely important role in the shaping of American society. The United States saw great economic growth and social changes; however, as the name suggested, the Gilded Ages hid a profound number of problems. During this period of urbanization, the publicizing of wealth and prosperity hid the high rates of poverty, crime, and corruption. European immigrants who had come to the United States in search of jobs and new opportunities had fallen into poverty as well as poor working and living conditions.
At the close of the 19th century, expeditious advancement of the municipalities was a major factor in linking and dividing the political, social, and economic lives of the American citizens. At this time, cities created the way for people of different ethnicities and backgrounds to band together by living and working together in close quarters. The constant inflow of Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland, and German immigrants generated a population that was diversified and was linked by their countries of origins universal financial quandary, social injustice, and the common goal to achieve the American Dream. Urban areas pulled in an assorted populace made up of many ethnicities from around the world. European immigrants filled America amid the late 19th century, pulled in by unrestrained stories of the great American way of life.
The detrimental Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire is considered to be one of the most tragic disasters in history. On March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out and killed 146 garment workers who were mostly women. These women worked countless hours with low wages and inhumane working conditions in a factory. Even though this event was tragic, the triangle shirtwaist fire helped to shape the new world for the better. The multitude of workers trapped within the inferno to their demise was the final straw for the mistreatment of America’s workers.
City life was not the best. Cities were usually overcrowded, most immigrants lived in tenement housing. But soon urbanization picked up, and it got better, when neighborhoods formed, and people could breathe better with more space. America 's economy was and still is described as capitalism. And with the invention of the light bulb, the assembly line by Henry Ford, and the automobile, Mass production was able to support the rising economy of the U.S.