New York City

How do you think the lives of city dwellers in the early 1900s differed from those of people living in cities in the 1850s?

There were more immigrants and more urban poor, that residents in 1900 experienced the gasoline engine and mass transit, and that more people lived in apartment buildings.

Cities Around 1900

What characteristics did a city around 1900 possess? 

It had a large population and thus a large source of labor. Its organization allowed for separation of different ethnic groups and classes, and for the transport of many people quickly to and from work. Cities also faced problems such as housing shortages, overcrowding, crime, pollution, disease and poverty.

What factors drew people to cities during the late nineteenth century?

Cities offered factory jobs along with modern conveniences such as electricity and running water. They also had mass transportation and cultural offerings. All these factors made cities attractive places to live, especially for immigrants new to the United States.

Separation by Class

The nation’s wealthiest families created exclusive districts in many cities. Those with plenty of money built even more luxurious homes.

Women living in these huge homes employed many servants. At the same time, many New Yorkers lived on a paltry $500 a year.

Industrialization helped grow the middle class. Middle-class women had more time on their hands. Women’s clubs developed, focusing on social and educational reforms.

People in the urban working class lived in tenements—dark and crowded multifamily apartments.

Many urban people who were poor were also homeless. Many slept outside or in shantytowns. Sometimes children worked, too. Dangerous working conditions and truancy alarmed many reformers.

More and more women worked outside the home, but most still worked in domestic service.

Separation of Class

In what ways was life in the upper class different from that of the lower classes?

More free time. More luxury. High society isolated itself from other classes. Life was a series of social engagements.

Separation of Class

What kind of tensions might develop between the upper and lower classes?

Many working-class people would be angered when comparing their squalid conditions to the luxury of the upper class. They would feel that they were being treated unfairly. Tension would develop. Class friction. Unrest.

Predictable Misunderstandings

You might think that few women worked outside the home during this time.

Nearly 19 percent of women were in the workforce by 1900.

A century later, that figure had risen to about 60 percent.

Class Divisions

Do class divisions continue to exist in the United States today? Explain your opinion.

Socioeconomic divisions are widening as the wealthy control ever-greater amounts of money and real estate. Students may alternatively argue that class divisions do not exist because Americans share the same popular culture and socioeconomic opportunities.