still doing powerpoint presentations. its really takin a while.
starting off today with 7-2.
recap-why immigrants came to america....yeah. so now, urban issues.
what problems did cities face due to rapid population increase?
transportation problems, litter, highly unsanitary....people could iether buy a house on outskirts of city or live in tenements. Tenements...boarding houses in the city.
transportation- mass transit systems designed to move large numbers along fixed routes. lots of people used horses for trnsportation.\
water problems- needed lots of drinking water for all the people. some cities installed public waterworks (highly unsanitary) homes seldom had indoor plumbing. had to collect water from pails from faucets on the streets.
Sanitation- cities were not clean. sewege and horse/pig manure in the streets. people were paid to clean sometimes, but they didnt do their jobs very well. eventually departments were developed to keep things clean. by 1900, many cities developed sewer lines, etc.
Fire- limited water supply and mass amounts of flamible materials (like wood...) accounted for many fires. most big cites had major fires at some point. fires did LOTS of damage. bad planning on the city-designers part.
Crime- theives and pickpockets flourished. not a lot of authority available to stop them. police forces began in 1844 but often had little-to-no effect, since they were small.
next- what did people do to try and help the situation in they cities?
Settlement House movement- people wanted the poor to have more say in things, a settlement house is similar to a community building. in the slums. first one was toynbee house, in london. Hull house in chicago (founded by jane adams) is most well-known. these house were often founded and maintained by women.
Social Gospel Movement- people said God wanted them to help the poor- so they preached to the poor and helped them. many responded to this. yay=)
7-1. politics in the gilded age.
political machine- an organized group that helped out in citiezs in exchange for support. kinda like black-mail or bribery.. showed up a few decade after the civil war. organized like a pyramid (base is workers and captains who would go out a talk to people in the streets, then report to their ward boss. ward boss secures votes by helping people. top-city boss contolled activities. precinct captains on top. like the mayor, although he wasnt always on top.). Tammany hall is a famous one- people would organize events for whichever party they were for. (it is not an actual machine)
role of political boss sometimes he was actually the mayor. controlled access to municipal jobs and influenced courts. Roscoe Conkling built parks, sewer systems, and waterworks.
bosses solved problems to secure votes- so they did a lot of positive things for people, although there were a few negative things as well.
immigrants- many bosses were american citizens with immigrant parents or immigrants themselves. had bad grammar. machines helped immigrants get citizenship, etc.
tomorrow will talk about boss tweed ect.
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