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Uncovering Problems at the Turn of the Century

Uncovering Problems at the Turn of the Century. Chapter 16. 16.1 :: Introduction. Jacob Riis – “How the Other Half Lives” Conditions of the urban poor One of the many muckraking journalists of the time Muckrakers – brought the nations problems to the attention of the average citizen.

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Uncovering Problems at the Turn of the Century

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  1. Uncovering Problems at the Turn of the Century Chapter 16

  2. 16.1 :: Introduction • Jacob Riis – “How the Other Half Lives” • Conditions of the urban poor • One of the many muckraking journalists of the time • Muckrakers – brought the nations problems to the attention of the average citizen

  3. 16.2 The State of the Union in 1900 • Westward expansion and urbanization • The United States was a shadow of its Civil War era self • “Manifest Destiny” had been achieved • The “American Frontier” was deemed closed • American industry was continually multiplying its worth • Evolution of the mail order catalog • Evolution of chain stores

  4. Urbanization • By 1900 forty percent of Americans lived in the city (rural to urban migration) • 100 years earlier six percent lived in urban areas • What did the city offer? • Evidence of progress: • Skyscrapers • “Palaces of Merchandise” • Mansions • Census reveals diverse America • 12 Million Immigrants in a 50 Year Span

  5. Poor Living and Working Conditions • Many of the urban poor lived in slum tenements • 90,000 people per square mile in New York City! • City infrastructure was inadequate for such large numbers • Disasters in Chicago, San Francisco, etc. • Sanitation problems promoted disease

  6. Problems in the Workplace “Life in a factory is perhaps, with the exception of prison life, the most monotonous life a person can live.” • The workplace was unsafe and unsanitary • Many times whole families were employed • Injury only meant poverty

  7. Unsafe Products • Upton Sinclair – “The Jungle” • Foods and drugs were not regulated by any government body • “Miracle Cures in a Bottle” • Many times people would end up addicted to a substance – usually a drug • Monopolies took over small businesses • Muckrakers took on this, and the lack of food and drug regulation

  8. 16.4 :: Environmental Problems • Americans changed the landscape in various ways: • Logging • Domesticated Range Animals • Extractive industries • What was the harm in exploiting the environment? “…the river was waiting to be dammed…the prairie waiting to be farmed, the woodlands to be cut down, the desert to be irrigated…”

  9. Polluting Water and Air • Cities were polluting the environment, to the dismay of the average citizen • Other pollutants: animals • In some cities household sewage and industrial waste were released into water sources • Rivers that were in the way or were a health hazard were paved over • OR you could just reverse the flow of the river…

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