Chapter 18—The Age of the City

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION I: At the turn of the 20th century, who came to American cities, where did they come from, and why did they come? How did some parts of society react to the new arrivals?

I.The Urbanization of America (pp. 502-508)

  1. The Lure of the City
  2. Rapid Urban Growth—What were the features of cities that drew people there?
  3. Migrations
  4. Geographic Mobility—Where were Americans moving away from? Who were some of the groups that came to cities?
  5. African American Communities—Why did blacks come to cities? What opportunities did they find? What was the most important source of immigration to cities? Where did they come from (particularly after 1880)? How did this new wave of immigrants differ from those who had come before?
  6. The EthnicCity—How many people in major cities were from a foreign country?
  7. The DiverseAmericanCity—From what countries did these immigrants arrive? How did they try to maintain connections to their cultures? Where did they live?
  8. Benefits of Ethnic Communities—What comforts of home could immigrants find within their ethnic communities?
  9. Assimilation
  10. Americanization—What was “Americanization”?
  11. Changing Gender Roles—How did gender roles change? How did society itself encourage assimilation?
  12. Exclusion
  13. Nativism—What is “nativism”?
  14. Immigration Restriction League—What were the American Protective Association and the Immigration Restriction League? How did the government assist in keeping some foreigners out?
  15. Advantages of Cheap Labor—What did immigrants provide to society?

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION II: What was city life like for the different portions of urban society?

II.The Urban Landscape (pp. 508-512)

  1. The Creation of Public Space
  2. Housing the Well-To-Do—Where did the “very” well-to-do live?
  3. Growth of Suburbs—Who lived in the suburbs?
  4. Housing Workers and the Poor—Where did most urban residents live?
  5. Tenements—What were tenements and what were conditions like in tenements?
  6. Jacob Riis—What was Jacob Riis’ message in How the Other Half Lives?
  7. Urban Transportation
  8. Transportation Problems—What were some of the transportation problems faced by cities?
  9. Mass Transit—What forms of mass transit developed?
  10. The “Skyscraper”—What innovations made skyscrapers practical?

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION III: What were some negative aspects of living in the city?

III.Strains of Urban Life (pp. 512-515)

  1. Fire and Disease
  2. Development of Professional Fire Departments—What changes in cities did fires sometimes cause?
  3. Environmental Degradation—How did human and animal waste affect cities?
  4. Air Pollution—What types of air pollution occurred in cities?
  5. Public Health Service
  6. Urban Poverty—Why was there poverty in cities?
  7. Salvation Army—What was the goal of the Salvation Army?
  8. Crime and Violence
  9. High Crime Rates—What did rising crime rates lead to in cities?
  10. The Machine and the Boss
  11. Boss Rule—What was a “political machine” and who were the “bosses”? What was the function of the boss, and how would he achieve that function?
  12. Graft and Corruption—What was “honest graft”? How else would bosses enrich themselves? Who was William Tweed? Besides corruption, what else did political machines accomplish?
  13. Reasons for Boss Rule—What made boss rule possible?

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION IV: How did Americans change where they spent their income?

IV.The Rise of Mass Consumption (pp. 515-517)

  1. Patterns of Income and Consumption
  2. Rising Income
  3. New Merchandising Techniques
  4. Chain Stores and Mail-Order Houses
  5. Chain Stores
  6. Department Stores
  7. Impact of the Department Store
  8. Women as Consumers

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION V: What would you do for fun in the city at the turn of the century?

V.Leisure in the Consumer Society (pp. 517-523)

  1. Redefining Leisure
  2. New Conceptions of Leisure
  3. Simon Patten
  4. Public Leisure
  5. Spectator Sports
  6. Major League Baseball
  7. Growth of College Football
  8. Gambling and Sports
  9. Music and Theater
  10. Ethnic Theater
  11. Vaudeville
  12. The Movies
  13. The Birth of a Nation
  14. Working-Class Leisure
  15. Importance of the Saloon
  16. The Fourth of July
  17. Mass Communications
  18. Emergence of Newspaper Chains

BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS FOR SECTION VI: How did literature, art, science, and education develop in American at the turn of the 20th century?

VI.High Culture in the Age of the City (pp. 523-526)

  1. The Literature of Urban America
  2. Social Realism
  3. Art in the Age of the City
  4. Ashcan School
  5. The Impact of Darwinism
  6. “Natural Selection”
  7. “Pragmatism”
  8. Growth of Anthropology
  9. Toward Universal Schooling
  10. Spread of Public Education
  11. “Land-Grant” Institutions
  12. Education for Women
  13. Women’s Colleges