By: Justin H.
Industrialization in the United States caused cities to become a magnet for people looking for work. Many people flocked to the cities looking for their piece of the American Dream. But who were these people? And how did the cities change over time during this period?
Towards the end of the 19th century, Americans primarily lived in rural communities. According to the U.S. census, about 35% of the population lived in urban areas. By 1920, America became a majority urban nation (at 51%). A lot of this urban growth came from immigrants coming from European nations. Some major groups include Germans, Italians and Eastern European Jews. In places like New York City, a significant portion of the population consisted of foreign born persons (37% in 1900). Other examples in 1900 include San Francisco (34%), Chicago (34%) and Detroit (34%). Of the top 50 most populated urban areas, Fall River city, Massachusetts had among the largest foreign born population at the time, according
to the U.S. census (40-50% 1870-1910). It was a likely place for newcomers to America to start out because of its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the city’s booming industry at the time. It was not uncommon to find neighborhoods where immigrants from the same country would gravitate. Places like Little Italy in New York City or Chinatown in San Francisco were (and still are) among the many sub-communities that immigrant populations lived.The people who also entered the cities included blacks who moved to northern cities from the South. Many moved to seek job opportunities due to labor shortages and to distance themselves from discrimination that was common in the South. This was the beginning of the “Great Migration” for blacks in America that continued on well in to the mid 1900’s.
The urbanization of America at the time did not mean that everyone was flocking to the cities to live in crowded neighborhoods. For those who could afford it (primarily upper and middle class people), they moved to the outer edges of the city into suburbs. As transportation made it possible to live outside the city and commute to work, the urban landscape expanded outward. The houses in the inner city left by the urbanites were often subdivided into apartments or low-rent living spaces that attracted immigrant populations.
Sources:
http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html
http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/tab19.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/black-migration - by David M. Katzman
Pictures:
Festa in Little Italy - Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3c14764/
The street of painted balconies, Chinatown, San Francisco - Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/agc.7a08846/
