During the last fifty years of the 19th century, after the Civil War, American cities experienced an unprecedented amount of change. Americans were ill-equipped; however they were very interested in urbanization. Through the invention of new technology, such as railroads and steam ocean liners, people were able to travel to cities more easily and the city populations grew dramatically. Cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago underwent changes which transformed them into the metropolises they are today. During this period there was a mass migration to the cities. People from rural areas and from other countries viewed the city as a new frontier, and a place for them to begin a new life. City life offered conveniences, entertainments and cultural experiences that the basic country lifestyle lacked. Cities also had a mysterious and adventurous connotation which enticed the country folk. The vast lands of the cities also gave people private social space to live their lives freely. The high population of the cities during this time was due to the presence and relative acceptance of immigrants, African Americans, and young women. These different migrant groups moved to the cities in search of jobs and opportunities. They also came to escape prejudices, violence and discrimination. Politics and economics during this time caused even more changes in urban areas because cities were known for their diverse political expression and economic advancements. However, within time it became obvious that a drastic separation between the classes of society existed. In the nineteenth century cities grew to historic sizes and brought about new businesses and reform. The cities were symbols of new opportunity and growth for people in America.
The expansion of the urban population helped spur important new technological and industrial developments. Before the nineteenth century cities were usually built without central planning. Individuals that owned land and buildings within the city controlled the make up of the city. However by the mid-nineteenth century, reformers, architects and other important figures began to reshape cities in to a more orderly society. The need for some architectural order was high due to the mass migration of people and lack of space available. Daniel Burnham was influential in starting this movement because of his "Great White City" in the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. His exposition inspired construction in real cities in the Beaux Arts style. He proposed order and symmetry in his design that could be applied to life in chaotic cities. One of the most important changes to the society was the building of large public parks. The parks were a way to deal with the problem of congestion that existed in the city. Parks offered citizens an escape from the strains of city life by connecting people to the natural world and allowing them to almost forget about the busy, urban society in which they lived. New York’s Central Park, created by Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, was one of the most popular and admired public spaces in the world. Also, during this period of growth, libraries, art galleries, natural history museums, theaters, and concert and opera halls were being built all throughout cites. The invention of skyscrapers into the city also helped to build society upwards. Skyscrapers were important because some cities could not build outwards, and cities needed lots of space to house and employ the millions of people they inhabited. One example of this was Manhattan, New York. Manhattan was New York’s central business district, but it was built on an island and therefore expansion was difficult. Builders effectively used cast iron, steel beams and steel girder construction in order to build skyscrapers. Another necessary invention was the elevator. It also allowed for the upwards expansion of cities. In some cities, such as Boston, they expanded in different ways when neither outwards nor upwards expansion was available. There was a large area of marsh land in Boston that was filled in to create more housing in a neighborhood called "Back Bay". As cities became more prosperous it was necessary to reform not only the building system, but means of public transportation as well. In cities around the country people experimented with elevated railways, cable cars, electric trolley lines and subways. Also, roads and bridges were being built in the cities. While new technology and invention helped attract more people to the city, it was not always beneficial to society. This growth created competition for jobs, corruption, poverty and congestion, which often led to problems.
The most profound change that the cities experienced was the growth in population. During the end of the 19th century, the population of New York City grew from 1 million to 3 million and the population of Chicago grew from 100,000 to over a million. This extraordinary growth was caused by a huge increase in immigration. Some of the migration was from rural areas in America, where farmers were facing serious problems. Another reason for immigration was that many moved to cities in search of a better life. Also, farms had become mainly areas for men. Farm women were no longer needed and hence moved to the city. Not all of the city migrants were farmers, though; there was also a migration of African Americans from the South. Many of the Black population were tired of the debt, poverty, and oppression that they faced in the South due to their inability to obtain a well paying job; a result of the ever-present racism that was still alive in the South. In the cities, African Americas worked as cooks, janitors and housekeepers. Although the jobs were not much better than in the South, the ideas of freedom, prosperity and opportunity that the cities embodied attracted them. The other migration of immigrants came from around the world. People came from Canada, Mexico, China and most of all, Europe. These immigrants usually came with everything they owned, which wasn't much, and started a new life. Many had come from small towns where they had lived their entire lives and now found themselves in huge foreign cities. In America, many immigrants felt pressure to assimilate; to become true Americans. The immigrants adopted different clothes, food and lifestyles. The biggest change was learning to speak English. However, the new immigrants did manage to keep some of the traditions from their home country. Different ethnic ghettos and areas such as little Italy and Chinatown sprung up all over cities. In these areas, immigrants were able to recreate and celebrate traditions from their homelands, while still incorporating American lifestyle and culture. Most immigrants lived in tenements near the business district of cities. The tenements were usually over crowded, had bad sanitation, poor lighting, and were fire hazards. Landlords didn't care enough to invest in fixing tenements, because due to the overpopulation in the cities, the landlords knew there would always be people that wanted to rent from them. In 1890 Jacob Riis exposed this side of city life in his book How the Other Half Lives. He photographed the lives of immigrants living in the tenements. His book came as a shock to many upper class Americans who were naive about the lives of immigrants. The huge influx of immigrants in the last half of the 19th century changed American cities forever. This growth in population helped to create the modern cities of today.
As the immigrants flowed into America, resentment towards them increased. People acted out against the immigrants because of fears and prejudices that they had towards them. Immigrants offered cheap labor and required few benefits, as they were just getting on their own two feet in America and would do anything to gain even a little money. Nativists believed that immigrants were the source of all disorder and corruption of the urban world. Foreign immigrant laborers were forced to accepted low paying jobs and were also used as scabs to take over the jobs of strikers. The immigrants changed the working society in many ways. One of the most important changes during this time period was the formation of political machines. The political machines were vehicles for making money. Politicians enriched themselves and their allies through forms of unity and corruption. The machines were created because immigrants needed help in adjusting to American urban life. Also, many of the political bosses were former immigrants who had risen through the social ranks. City politics were controlled by these political machines. They endorsed their favorite candidates and many times used illegal means to get them into office. One of the largest political machines during this time period was Tammany Hall, which was run by Boss Tweed. Tweed was an Irish immigrant who had become very successful in New York. During the Gilded Age he was one of the most powerful men in the city. The middle class viewed the machines with hatred. They said that the machines were slowing down growth and progress. However, unlike the federal government that was very "Laissez- Faire", the political machines actually did help modernize cities and infrastructure. They expanded the role of government and created stability in a political and social climate that would have otherwise not had a central powerhouse. The upper class involved in many of these machines invested in the creation of libraries, museums, parks and concert halls in cities. Also, within upper class society there was an increase in consumerism. During the late 19th century many new department stores developed such as Marshall Fields and Macy's. Shopping was mostly a women's activity and gave women in cities more freedom. It provided them with jobs that society felt was right for them. There were also mail-order catalogs like Sears and Robuck and Montgomery Ward that let farmers experience the benefits of consumerism too. The economical and political urbanization of cities was greatly affected by the influence of the different classes of society and their effect on the political makeup of the cities.
The last half of the 19th century can be categorized in American cities as a time of change. Cities were symbols of progress and opportunity for many people. The population doubled in some cities due to migration from Europe and from rural areas in America. Economic changes, technological innovations, and politics also had an enormous impact on the growth of cities. The changes during this period developed cities into what they are today. These localized changes eventually led to transformations in the whole country during the time leading up to WWI, known as the Progressive Era.
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