History 371H

Devine

Fall 2010

 

Industrialization, Immigration, and the Growth of an Urban Culture

 

  1. Explain how Industrialization, Immigration, and Urbanization are all related. How were each both causes and effects of the other? Put another way, look at each term and ask: Why in order to have one, do you need to have the other two as well?

 

  1. What were some of the factors over the years that could spur immigration to the US and what factors caused immigration to decline?

 

  1. Who came to the cities between 1870 and 1915?  Where were they coming from?

 

  1. Why did immigrants come to the US between 1870 and 1915?  What were the factors that “pushed” them from their own countries?  What were some of the factors that “pulled” them to the US?

 

  1. What did the immigrants find when they got to American cities?  What was most striking?  What positive things did the city offer them? (i.e. How was living in a U.S. city better than living in the Old Country?) What hardships did many have to endure living in a city?

 

  1. Why was basic sanitation such an issue in the late 19th century city? As time went by, how did new technologies make urban living more pleasant?

 

  1. What role did the city boss and his political machine play in the immigrants’ lives?  What did the immigrants get from the boss? What did the boss get from the immigrants? 

 

  1. How might a city boss get rich while he was also helping out the new immigrants?

 

  1. What effects did moving to America have on immigrants?  How did their own self-identity change?  How did their worldview change?  How did they in turn change American culture?

 

  1. The “dumb bell” tenements were supposed to be an improvement on previous designs because they had more windows. What unintended consequence occurred that actually made the new design even less desirable than the old ones? (You may be able to answer this simply by drawing a diagram.)

 

  1. Some historians refer to turn of the 20th century US cities as embodying “poverty in the midst of plenty.” Why is this an apt characterization?

 

  1. How did children serve as a “bridge” between the rich and poor sections of the city? What function did they play in the economic life of the city? How did being in this position affect the outlook on what their future prospects might be?