Ch. 15 Section 2, The Problems of Urbanization

Ch. 15 Section 2, The Problems of Urbanization

Objectives
To describe the movement of immigrants to cities and the opportunities they found there.
To explain how cities dealt with problems related to housing, transportation, water supply, sanitation, and fire and police protection.
To describe some of the organizations and people who offered help to urban immigrants.

Focus & Motivate
Starting With the Student
How would a newly arrived foreign student adjust to school? What suggestions would help the newcomer to solve some of their initial problems?

More About. . . .
Jacob Riis
Riis worked as a police reporter for the New York Tribune and, later, for the New York Evening Sun. He taught himself the new technique of using flashlight power to take pictures indoors so that he could illustrate his newspaper articles with photographs. His book How the Other Half Lives was published in 1890. An immediate bestseller, it led to the rise of expose journalism.

Objective 1 Instruct
Urban Opportunities
Discussing Key Ideas
· Most new immigrants settle in cities because cities are the cheapest and most convenient places to live.
· New technology makes farming more efficient, resulting in the loss of jobs for some farm workers, who move to cities.
· Cities offer diverse cultural opportunities.

History From Visuals
Ethnic Enclaves in New York City, 1910
Reading the Map
Find each ethnic group that is represented by two colors.

Extension
Review the map and answer:
In what ways was the building of bridges an important improvement?
People and businesses had better access to areas away from the port; it was easier to commute to work and to visit family.

Objective 2 Instruct
Urban Problems
Starting With the Student
What reasons might you want to live in a city? What problems are there with living in a city?

Discussing Key Ideas
As the urban population increases, cities struggle with many problems.
Among the problems faced are overcrowded, unsanitary housing; mass transportation needs; lack of a fresh water supply; and fires and crime.

Historical Spotlight
Streetcar Suburbs
Critical Thinking: Cause and Effect
Consider the diagram on p. 448 and note how better transportation after 1880 improved the lives of the people living in urban and suburban settings.

More About. . . .
Row-House Living
Living in a row house was comfortable. Each room had a brass fixture for gas jets or electric bulbs. The furnace fire glowed all night, so people did not wake up shivering with cold. A gas flame heated the water in the water tank and fueled the stove. And every house had a bathroom with running water and an indoor toilet.

History From Visuals
Fire: The Enemy of the City
Reading the Chart
This graphic makes comparisons. You could make up a chart of your own with the following headings: numbers of deaths, number left homeless, square miles destroyed, estimated property loss, number of buildings destroyed.

Extension
What measures experts might use today to prevent or contain damage from fires and earthquakes?
Now there are earthquake-proof buildings, and use the Richter scale to measure the magnitude of quakes. Experts know how to fire-proof buildings and use asbestos for firefighting gear.

More About. . . .
Transportation
In the 1800s, the streets of most American cities were not paved, making them dusty in summer and muddy in winter. Improvements were slow to be made, and there was controversy over what paving material to use. Asphalt was smooth, long-lasting, and easy to clean but very expensive. By the end of the 1800s, however, engineers had developed a cheaper way to make asphalt, and it became widely used in paving city streets.

More About. . .
The Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was preceded by a succession of small fires that broke out during the first week of October 1871. At that time, the city was particularly susceptible to fires because there had been almost no rain for three months. On the night of October 8, so the story goes, a wagon driver named Daniel “Peg Leg” Sullivan was drinking whiskey in the barn of his neighbor, Mrs. Catherine O’Leary, as he often did. That night, Sullivan apparently took one nip too many and dropped a kerosene lamp into a pile of hay. Mrs. O’Leary’s barn caught fire—and the rest, as they say, is history. The fire was so destructive even Chicago’s marble courthouse, which had just been built for $1million and had been considered fireproof, collapsed in the blaze.

Objective 3 Instruct
Reformers Mobilize
Starting With the Student
If you could start an organization to help some group less fortunate than you, what kind of organization would it be?
How would you go about setting up such an organization?

Clarifying Ideas Chart

Problems Causes Solutions
Housing
Transportation
Water
Sanitation
Fire
Crime

Discussing Key Ideas
Reform-minded church leaders inspire the building of churches in poor neighborhoods and espouse efforts to help the indigent.
Settlement houses are established in slum areas.

Key Player
Jane Addams
Critical Thinking: Drawing Conclusions
After considering Addams, on what basis do you think Addams qualified for the Noble Peace Prize?
Possible Response: She was a peace advocate, an antiwar activist, and a fighter for racial justice.

Close
Rapid population growth revitalized the cities but also brought urban problems.

Answer
They banded for mutual support.

Answer
Both groups had to find jobs. African-American farm workers faced the additional challenge of racial prejudice.

Skill builder Answer
Place: Immigrants often settled with others of similar backgrounds.
Movement: Brooklyn—Russian, Queens—German.

Answer
There are overcrowding problems and unsanitary conditions.
Answer
Lack of fresh water and inadequate sanitations created health hazards.

Answer
Possible answers: Overcrowding; a lack of affordable housing, health issues, fire, crime, and prejudice toward new immigrants.

Answer
Both movements focused on social problems that the urban poor faced, such as isolation and exploitation. The Social Gospel promoted social consciousness and the settlement houses provided actual aid to the poor.

Section 2 Assessment

Terms & Names
Urbanization, p. 446
Row house, p. 448
Dumbbell tenement, p. 448
Social Gospel movement, p. 451
Settlement house, p. 451
Jane Addams, p. 451

Summarizing
Students should choose three problems to develop.
Inadequate housing—dumbbell tenements, row houses;
Inadequate transportation—new streetcar lines, subways;
Unsafe water—public waterworks, chlorination, filtrations;
Poor sanitation—sewer lines, sanitation departments;
Frequent fires—full-time fire departments, replacement of wooden buildings with brick, stone, and concrete ones;
High crime—improved police protection.

Recognizing Effects
Possible Responses:
Overcrowding; competition for jobs.

Evaluating
While some students might criticize the reformers and their efforts as unrealistic, others might defend their accomplishments. Students’ opinions should be supported with adequate reasons.