Urbanization in America increased dramatically between 1800 and 1900. In 1800, only 300,000 people lived in urban areas, but by 1900 that number had grown to 30 million. One driver of urban growth was increased agricultural productivity which freed up workers. Cities offered amenities like electricity, public transportation, and cultural institutions that rural areas lacked. However, rapid urbanization also increased problems like overcrowding, disease, pollution and crime.

1. Urbanization in America
Chapter 2

2. History of Urbanization in America
• In 1800 the urban population of America was 300,000 and the total population was
5 million.
• By 1900 the U.S. urbanized population was 30 million, and the total population
was 76 million.
• In 1800 the largest city in the United States, had a population of well under
100,000. By 1900 its population was over 3 million

3. History of Urbanization in America
• Forces behind urban growth:
• One force behind urban growth was simply national population growth.
• agricultural machinery made farmers more productive, workers were freed to take
on other employment, much of it in the cities.
• In 1800 perhaps 85 to 90 percent of the U.S. labor force was engaged in farming.
• Another consequence of the industrial revolution was the shift from cottage
industries to factory production.
• The growth of large-scale manufacturing also brought into being the modern
corporation, with a large administrative force concentrated at a single point.
• The growth of large cities was also promoted by the development of low-cost
transportation.

4. History of Urbanization in America
• Urban Concentration and density:-
• As the century progressed, the more gracious and open pattern of the colonial city
disappeared.
• Population densities that have never again been seen in the United States were
built up in the late nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries.
• What made nineteenth-century cities so concentrated?
• Much of the answer lies in the transportation technology of the age.

5. • At the opening of the nineteenth century, water transportation was cheap, and land
transportation was expensive.
• One effect of these cost differences was to favor the growth of port cities.
• But another effect was to concentrate economic activity in those areas of the city
with direct water access.
• The desirability of rail- and water-served sites made centrally located land very
valuable.
Several other features of emerging nineteenth-century technology also
contributed to very dense patterns of development

6. History of Urbanization in America
• URBAN TRENDS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY:
• What did the cities have to offer Americans that rural America did not?
• Cities had electricity, running water, and modern plumbing. People were able to
go to museums, attend theater performances, and visit libraries as well.

7. History of Urbanization in America
• Housing and transportation needs changed due to the increase in the
amount of people living in cities.
• As the price of land increased, building owners began to build up.
• Skyscrapers, tall steel frame buildings, were constructed for this
reason.
• Chicagoan Louis Sullivan contributed to the design of skyscrapers.

8. History of Urbanization in America
• In the late 1800s, various kinds of mass transit developed to move
large numbers of people around cities quickly.
• Beginning with the horsecar, and later to the more sophisticated
electric trolley cars and elevated railroads, engineers created ways to
move the ever-expanding population around the city.

9. History of Urbanization in America
• What made it necessary to build skyscrapers?
• The increasing need for land drove the price of land up. Buildings
were built upward instead of outward to use less land in an effort to
keep costs down.

10. History of Urbanization in America
• Wealthy families lived in the heart of the city where they constructed
elaborate homes.
• The middle class, which included doctors, lawyers, engineers, and
teachers, tended to live away from the city.
• The majority of urban dwellers were part of the working class who
lived in city tenements, or dark and crowded multi-family apartments.
Separation by Class Definite boundaries could be seen between where
the wealthy, middle class, and working class people lived.

11. History of Urbanization in America
• What were some differences between the social classes?
• The social classes differed in their level of income and the area in
which they lived. The wealthy lived in the heart of the city in elaborate
homes.
• The middle class lived away from the central city and used commuter
lines to get to work.
• The working class lived in cities in tenements

12. History of Urbanization in America
• Positive impact of Urbanization:
• Employment Opportunities
industrialization paves the way for modern industries and will need
more people to perform various jobs. R
• Modernization:
• Modern technology provides for a better city infrastructure. With
modernization, cities can adapt to cultural needs and provide support
systems for future development.

13. History of Urbanization in America
• Negative Impact of urbanization:
• The growth of cities resulted in an increase in crime, fire, disease, and
pollution.
• From 1880 to 1900, there was a large increase in the murder rate.
• Native-born Americans blamed immigrants for the increase in crime.
• Alcohol contributed to crime in the late 1800s.
• Contaminated drinking water from improper sewage disposal resulted
in epidemics of typhoid fever and cholera.