What do you know About Tenement Houses About

What do you know? ? ? • About Tenement Houses? ? ? • About conditions in the cities? ? ? • About the lives of immigrants? ? ?

21 -2: An Age of Cities

Urban Populations Grow • Urbanization- the movement of people from farms to cities • By 1860 only 1 in 5 Americans lived in a city • By 1890 1 in 3 did • Jobs drew people into the city • Steel mills, meatpacking plants, garment factories, sales clerks, etc.

Urban Populations Grow cont… • Cities flooded with immigrants, farmers from the plains, and African Americans • Chicago, Detroit, NY, Philadelphia grew in African American neighborhoods

Stop and Think • What is urbanization? • Who was moving into the cities during the late 1800 s and early 1900 s?

City Settlement-Lower Class • The poorest people lived in the cities’ center in small apartments called tenements. • Many had no windows, heat, bathrooms • Whole families would fit into one room! • Sickness and disease spread rapidly throughout the overcrowded cities

City Settlement- Middle Class • Doctors, lawyers, business managers, skilled workers, office workers • The conditions in this housing section was much improved from the slums of the poor

City Settlement- The Rich • Lived on the outskirts of the city in mansions • 5 th Ave in NY city • The wealthy lived like European royalty

Stop and Think • Describe the “city settlement patterns” of people living the city. • What are tenement houses?

City Problems • Cities were filthy • Garbage lay in the streets, plumbing was scarce, crowded, polluted, sickness • Crime ran high as law enforcement was still developing

Urban Reforms • Building Codes- standards for construction and safety • Fire escapes, plumbing, etc. • Trash removal, street cleaners • Zoning Laws- disallowed companies from building factories in the center of the city • Police forces and fire stations • Underground sewer systems and clean water

Religious Organizations Lend a Hand • Catholic Church helped many Polish, Irish, and Italian immigrants • Many Protestant ministers urged middle and upper class citizens to lend a hand as well • The Salvation Army offered food and shelter to the poor • The Young Men’s Hebrew Association helped many Jewish immigrants

Settlement Houses • Settlement houses- community centers that offered services to the poor • Jane Adams from Chicago- led this movement • She started the Chicago Hull House in 1889 • These houses helped them “acculturate” and learn American culture and language and gave them a place to stay

Wrap Up • 1. What is urbanization? What impact did this have on city life? • 2. Describe what the lower class housing was like in cities during the late 1800 s. • 3. What were some of the city problems that existed during the late 1800 s? • 4. What were some of the things that were created to help people/immigrants when they moved into the cities? Give two examples.