Chapter 1: The Americas, Europe, and Africa Before 1492
Chapter 2: Early Globalization: The Atlantic World, 1492–1650
Chapter 2: Early Globalization: The Atlantic World, 1492–1650
Chapter 2: Early Globalization: The Atlantic World, 1492–1650
Chapter 3: Creating New Social Orders: Colonial Societies, 1500–1700
Chapter 3: Creating New Social Orders: Colonial Societies, 1500–1700
Chapter 4: Rule Britannia! The English Empire, 1660–1763
Chapter 4: Rule Britannia! The English Empire, 1660–1763
Chapter 5: Imperial Reforms and Colonial Protests, 1763-1774
Chapter 6: America’s War for Independence, 1775-1783
Chapter 6: America’s War for Independence, 1775-1783
Chapter 6: America’s War for Independence, 1775-1783
Chapter 7: Creating Republican Governments, 1776–1790
Chapter 7: Creating Republican Governments, 1776–1790
Chapter 8: Growing Pains: The New Republic, 1790–1820
Chapter 9: Industrial Transformation in the North, 1800–1850
Chapter 9: Industrial Transformation in the North, 1800–1850
Chapter 9: Industrial Transformation in the North, 1800–1850
Chapter 10: Jacksonian Democracy, 1820–1840
Chapter 10: Jacksonian Democracy, 1820–1840
Chapter 11: A Nation on the Move: Westward Expansion, 1800–1860
Chapter 11: A Nation on the Move: Westward Expansion, 1800–1860
Chapter 12: Cotton is King: The Antebellum South, 1800–1860
Chapter 13: Antebellum Idealism and Reform Impulses, 1820–1860
Chapter 13: Antebellum Idealism and Reform Impulses, 1820–1860
Chapter 14: Troubled Times: the Tumultuous 1850s
Chapter 14: Troubled Times: the Tumultuous 1850s
Chapter 15: The Civil War, 1860–1865
Chapter 15: The Civil War, 1860–1865
Chapter 16: The Era of Reconstruction,1865-1877
Chapter 17: Go West Young Man! Westward Expansion, 1840-1900
Chapter 17: Go West Young Man! Westward Expansion, 1840-1900
Chapter 18: Industrialization and the Rise of Big Business, 1870-1900
Chapter 19: The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900
Chapter 19: The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900
Chapter 20: Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1900
Chapter 20: Politics in the Gilded Age, 1870-1900
Chapter 21: Leading the Way: The Progressive Movement, 1890-1920
Chapter 21: Leading the Way: The Progressive Movement, 1890-1920
Chapter 21: Leading the Way: The Progressive Movement, 1890-1920
Chapter 22: Age of Empire: American Foreign Policy, 1890-1914
Chapter 22: Age of Empire: American Foreign Policy, 1890-1914
Chapter 22: Age of Empire: American Foreign Policy, 1890-1914
Chapter 22: Age of Empire: American Foreign Policy, 1890-1914
Chapter 22: Age of Empire: American Foreign Policy, 1890-1914
Chapter 23: Americans and the Great War, 1914-1919
Chapter 23: Americans and the Great War, 1914-1919
Chapter 24: The Jazz Age: Redefining the Nation, 1919-1929
Chapter 26: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932-1941
Chapter 26: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal 1932-1941
Chapter 27: Fighting the Good Fight in World War II, 1941-1945
Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
Chapter 28: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960
Chapter 29: Contesting Futures: America in the 1960s
Chapter 30: Political Storms at Home and Abroad, 1968-1980
Chapter 30: Political Storms at Home and Abroad, 1968-1980
Chapter 30: Political Storms at Home and Abroad, 1968-1980
Chapter 31: From Cold War to Culture Wars, 1980-2000
Chapter 31: From Cold War to Culture Wars, 1980-2000
Chapter 31: From Cold War to Culture Wars, 1980-2000
Chapter 31: From Cold War to Culture Wars, 1980-2000
Chapter 32: The Challenges of the Twenty-First Century
Chapter 32: The Challenges of the Twenty-First Century
« Previous
Reading progress:
98%
Next »
Chapter 19: The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900
Chapter 19: The Growing Pains of Urbanization, 1870-1900
Introduction
“We saw the big woman with spikes on her head.” So begins Sadie Frowne’s first memory of arriving in the United States. Many Americans experienced in their new home what the thirteen-year-old Polish girl had seen in the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty (Figure 19.1): a wondrous world of new opportunities fraught with dangers. Sadie and her mother, for instance, had left Poland after her father’s death. Her mother died shortly thereafter, and Sadie had to find her own way in New York, working in factories and slowly assimilating to life in a vast multinational metropolis. Her story is similar to millions of others, as people came to the United States seeking a better future than the one they had at home.
The future they found, however, was often grim. While many believed in the land of opportunity, the reality of urban life in the United States was more chaotic and difficult than people expected. In addition to the challenges of language, class, race, and ethnicity, these new arrivals dealt with low wages, overcrowded buildings, poor sanitation, and widespread disease. The land of opportunity, it seemed, did not always deliver on its promises.