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Timeline:
EVENTS
Wave of Immigration
Hollerith Machine
Chicago World's Fair
Turner Frontier Essay
Growth of Cities
The Melting Pot
World War I
Sheppard-Towner Act
Immigration Laws
Stock Market Crash
Great Depression
1936 Election
World War II
Executive Order 8802
1948 Election
Civil
Rights Act
Deregulation
"Goldilocks" Economy
Census 2000
Growth of Cities
1900 - The decades before and after 1900 were a period of enormous transformation in the physical locations of Americans. Demographers typically distinguish two modes of living: urban and rural. In plainer language, people live in the city or they live in the country. Throughout the nineteenth century, the United States had been mostly a nation of farmers, who lived in the country. Indeed, immigrants came to America seeking land that they could farm.
But throughout the nineteenth century, the population living in cities rose faster than the rural population. As the 1800s wore on, more and more Americans moved from the farm to the city, abandoning farming to build new industries in the cities. John D. Rockefeller grew up on a farm in rural New York but moved to the city to become the richest man in America from the new industry of petroleum. Henry Ford had also grown up on a farm, but moved to the city to create the modern automobile industry. Ford didn�t actually like cities: he designed his �Model T� to be useful to farmers. Ford advertised his revolutionary machine as �stronger than a horse and easier to take care of.�
In 1880, when a new wave of immigrants began to arrive in the United States, they moved to American cities, not to the countryside as immigrants had for 250 years. Immigrants took jobs in the new industries in the new cities: Polish farmers became steelworkers in Pittsburgh; Serbian farmers became meatpackers in Chicago; Russian Jewish farmers became tailors in New York City�s garment district; Slovaks assembled cars in Detroit; Italian farmers found jobs in Baltimore factories.
The cities grew at a fabulous pace, some of them doubling in size every decade. By the 1920 census, the urban and rural populations were equal in size, but the rural share would continue to drop for the rest of the twentieth century. Cities became the location of most of American life: politically, culturally, financially, and economically, the action moved from the bucolic countryside to the crowded, filthy city streets.
Related Links:
Program Segment 2
Book References:
Urban, Rural Suburban
Large Cities
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From Ohio History Central
This is a view of the backlots along the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. Years later, a floodwall was built on the banks of the Scioto to contain its flooding.
A number of important forces were at work in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. American industries underwent tremendous growth during this era, leading to the rise of big business. In addition, millions of immigrants came to the United States during this era, seeking a better life for themselves and their families. One important result of industrialization and immigration was the growth of cities, a process known as urbanization. Commonly, factories were located near urban areas. These businesses attracted immigrants and people moving from rural areas who were looking for employment. Cities grew at a rapid rate as a result.
Unfortunately, urbanization was not always a positive thing. City services had a difficult time keeping up with the tremendous population growth. Cities in the late 1800s and early 1900s often lacked central planning. There were few sewer systems or clean water. Many roads were not yet paved. There were few building codes in place to protect the people living in them, and fire and police services were limited. Cities were rife with political corruption and disease.
As a result of the negative consequences of urbanization, many Progressives began to push for urban reforms. Progressives organized settlement houses in urban areas to provide help for immigrants and the urban poor. They supported passage of laws that would improve living conditions in the inner cities. Progressives also advocated legislation that would reduce the power of city bosses and get rid of corruption within city politics. These reform efforts significantly improved life in cities, although they did not get rid of all of the problems of urban life or end poverty.
In Ohio, a number of cities faced tremendous population growth during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Unsurprisingly, these same cities experienced rapid industrialization during this era as well. Cities such as Toledo, Akron, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Cleveland experienced growth because of immigration from Europe as well as migration from more rural areas of Ohio and elsewhere. Like other American cities, Ohio cities faced similar problems from urbanization, and Ohio Progressives actively sought to improve conditions in their communities.