Themes in American History

By the 20th century, Philadelphia had become one of the world’s largest industrial centers. But pollution, disease, and inadequate housing alarmed city officials. Unlike the high-rise tenements of New York. The three-story tall bandbox houses were often hidden from street view. Local government was slow to react. By 1920 most of south Philadelphia was filled with block after block of row and twin houses. unlike New York has the public place like central park and recreation park. philadelphia only has a few public squares and playgrounds provided off-street recreation and open green space.

4 Comments »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&hl=en&hl=zh-CN&v=S4aPi0ZgN0E

This clip is made by a Youtube user, vietnamgal and been uploaded in 7-26-2008.

The Great Depression was triggered by the stock market crash in 1929. This tragic event soon took effects on every American city, and led to heavy unemployment. New York City was been hit the hardest. By 1932, about 25 percent of the population was jobless, and most of them were concentrated in cities like New York and Philadelphia. New York City had one million unemployed, and Philadelphia had 298,000 people unemployed. In 1933, the unemployment of New York City reached 30 percent. The same year, the congress created FERA (Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which distributed $500 to help the country, and 42 percent of the fund went to the five heavily urbanized cities including New York and Philadelphia.

4 Comments »

The 1920s was a great period of change for Americans. The post-war prosperity and Government policies lead to an economic boom. Immigrants fled into the country to escape Europe’s post-war poverty and with the nineteenth amendment giving women the right to vote, American society was going under a big change. Like all change, these changes which took place in such a short space of time attracted the growth of many opposing parties. Such groups were the anti-flirt league, who opposed revolutionary young women, known as ‘flappers’. Perhaps the most recognized opposing group at the time was the Ku Klux Klan, which had been revived recently and gained immense membership throughout the early twenties when it reached five million members. The Ku Klux Klan is a violent hate group who opposed Blacks, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, unionists, and bootleggers in the 1920s to name a few. The reason for the Ku Klux Klan’s uprising in the 1920s is that people feared the change that was taking place in America, and they wanted to band together to try and uphold ‘American White Supremacy’.

In Chudacoff’s book, the author mentions the historian Kenneth T. Jackson estimated that half the Klan’s membership “lived in cities of over fifty thousand people”. Also he states that Chicago, with an estimated fifty thousand Klansmen, “contained the largest operation in the country.”(Chudacoff 235).  Moreover, Jackson states : “At the time, the “Invisible Empire” was known for anti-Catholicism as much as for white supremacy and anti-Semitism, and Chicago had an abundance of all three targets. The Chicago Klan drew its primary support from lower-echelon white-collar workers, small businessmen, and semiskilled laborers, all of whom resented the growing influence of persons who did not meet the Klan’s definition of “one hundred percent American.” (encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org)

On the other hand, in New York City, the Klan was not as violent as cities in the south and in rural places: “In cities, Klansmen often turned to politics rather than using violence and display to achieve their goals.” (Chudacoff 235). One example of the ways of the Klan to try to achieve its goals was in the Democratic National Convention: “The Klan issue played a significant role at the bitterly divisive 1924 Democratic National Convention in New York City. The leading candidates were Protestant William Gibbs McAdoo, with a base in areas where the Klan was strong, and Catholic New York Governor Al Smith, with a base in the large cities.” (Wiki)

Bibliography

Jackson, Kenneth T. The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915–1930. 1967.

Encyclopedia Chicago History.org

Cover of sheet music for the song "We Are All Loyal Klansmen"-It is copyright 1923 by William Davis, William M. Hart, Charles E. Downey, and E. M. McMahon

Ku Klux Klan parade in New York State, 1924

1 Comment »

Photo taken by a young Spaniard Javier Saracho in New York City in 2007

In 1898 New York City became a consolidated city of five boroughs. Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and The Bronx combined all together became 5 boroughs of New York City. The consolidation helped to bring the people together. Construction of subways allowed people to travel easier to boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens. Construction of Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges further connected new consolidated city. On other hand, Boston was unified from the beginning. During the early 20th century Boston focused on creating new roads which extended from the city core to the suburbs. The highway system was a priority. New York focused on connecting the boroughs and making sure all five of them are easily accessible from anywhere around the city.

Comments Off on 1898 Consolidation

The 1920s, also known as “The Roaring Twenties” was a great time period for the United States. New York City, especially, flourished with many inventions as well as political, cultural, and structural changes. New York was becoming more modern than ever, it was finally being known as the American New York. With all the other changes in the city, there was a big change occurring in Harlem, New York. Many African-Americans were migrating from the South and entering Harlem. New York was experiencing an explosion of culture. The African Americans brought a huge change culturally. The black population brought with them new ideas and had a great influence in poetry, literature, music, and photography to New York. Jazz, a style of music brought by the African American community, became the musical tradition in this time period. Also, with a great boom in the black population in New York, African American officials were now finally being elected.

Musical Influence

The Harlem Renaissance

Comments Off on Cultural Explosion in Harlem

Starting from the mid nineteenth century, the populations of New York and Chicago were growing exponentially. Consistent with such urban development there has been a widespread increase in wealth and the desire to improve living conditions. It had become obvious that the formless growth of the city is neither economical or desirable, and that overcrowding and traffic congestion had paralyzed the every day functions of both cities. Chicago, in common with New York, realized that it was time to bring order out of the chaotic growth that its diversified populations brought. As a result, in 1906 the Commercial Club of Chicago along with Daniel Burnham, a gifted architect and an American planner, came up with the Plan of Chicago. The plan included the building of the park system, lakes, beaches, gardens and public squares as well as expanding transportation and areas available for public recreation.

The video attached shows that Burnham has also designed some of the most famous buildings in New York city. Among them is the flatiron building, located on 23rd street and Broadway, which is only a few blocks away from Baruch college. However, the biggest project in his career was the Chicago’s world fair.

Thus, one of the similarities of urban development in 20th century between New York and Chicago was the city planning and architecture; which sometimes involved the same people working on the projects of each city. Perhaps no other metropolis was more immediately affected by the influence of New York regional planning efforts than Chicago, where civic leaders initiated designs of the best plans for architectural and infrastructural improvement, of which Daniel Burnham was a leading example.

Source: The film is produced by The Archimedia Workshop in consultation with Kartemquin Educational Films, 2007

Comments Off on Chicago and New York

New York City had a population of 515,547 in 1850 -- a 65% increase in just 10 years

I will compare and contrast Boston vs. New York in the 19^th century. To begin with, both cities were considered as one of the most established cities in the mid –nineteenth century. In this time period, both cities experienced massive migration. According to Chudacoff, “By 1850, there were 135.6 persons per acre in New York, 82.7 in Boston.” (Page 66) Boston’s population grew from 61,392 in 1830s to 177,840 in 1860s. New York’s population grew from 202,589 in 1830s to 813,600 in 1860s (Chudacoff page 61). This data shows us that, Boston grew 3 times and New York 4 times larger in population between 1830s-1860s.Both cities were the financial centers of the United States in the 19th century, and were especially important in funding railroads nationwide. Although, Boston was growing at the fast speed, it wasn’t not nearly as developed as New York. In the 19^th century New York was bigger, economically stronger and faster at innovating and applying new technologies. As Chudacoff stated, “By 1833, some eight omnibuses operated on the streets of New York.”(Page85)On the other hand, it took Boston another decade to implement this type of transportation to accommodate growing population. This example shows us how these two cities differ in development aspect.

2 Comments »

According to Chudacoff, during the civil war, contrary to New York, Philadelphia, relative unity prevailed. Industries there met needs for war materiel, and workers adjusted to inflation and succeeded in getting some wage increases. Philadelphia residents responded relatively calmly to government quotas requiring that the city furnish a certain number of recruits for the Union army, and a strong police force deterred potential social upheaval. (81) Instead, in New York, there had riots which caused by unfair Draft Laws. The whites laborers were attacking black people and republicans and it lasted for four days and resulting in more than four hundred deaths. Most of all, it was a race riot. Through the image, we can see rioters subjected black men to the most brutal violence: torture, hanging, and burning.

Comments Off on New York / Philadelphia

Richmond, Virginia, like New York, was a fast growing city between 1800 and 1860. Of course it didn’t grow as quick as New York. There are a variety of things that the two cities had in common even though New York was more business-related, whereas Richmond was more of a plantation/farm-based city. Richmond was following the same path as New York, having their first City Hall built in 1816, says visitrichmondva.com. In the 19th century, slavery was common in both of these cities. It’s obvious that a city as large as New York would need slaves to help regulate the flow of business and in Virginia, there were over a hundred slaves per plantation. Fortunately, slavery was abolished in New York in 1827. On the other hand, in the South, farming was a big part of daily life and they needed slaves and it was impossible for them to free a slave. “Only in Richmond, where slave manpower was essential to iron and tobacco provessiong, did a large proportion of slaves still persist in 1860” (Chudacoff 64). Due to their selfishness to keep slaves, Virginia joined the Confederacy, the states that supported slavery. Havoc broke loose in the mid 19th-century when the slave-free North, also known as the Union, and pro-slavery South clashed in a war known as the Civil War. The outcome of this war shaped the way for slavery for years to come. According to visitrichmondva.com, Richmond actually became the capital of the Confederate States. As common as Richmond was, it’s population didn’t burst until the mid to late 19th century, whereas New York experienced a sudden population growth starting from the 1820s, onward. “The establishment and expansion of the COnfederate government’s bureaucracy helped to triple the population of Richmond” (Chudacoff 74).

Slave auction in Richmond, Virginia on September 27th, 1856.

Comments Off on Richmond, Virginia

Throughout the  19th century, the primary occupation of people living in Kentucky was farming whereas for New Yorkers was manufacturing and constructing. All the dirty and hard works like producing hemp, and processing tobacco were attended to by slaves. The number of slaves appeared  to relate to the production of market-oriented crops and not to the amount of land owned and farmed. Also the small farming tasks were performed by slaves.Although  slaves were free and not owned, they had been given the most difficult tasks than any others. In contrast to kentucky, New York was one of the developed city where prominent Americans used to live there. As there were  many renowned individual living in the city, they  were able to import and own the slaves even just to make their standard in the society.

The demand for slaves were mainly for manufacturing, construction, and other household works. In contrast to New York, between 1850-1860 Kentucky used to export more slaves than did any other states (wikipedia ,”Slaves in Kentucky”). African American slaves used to be exported through Tennessee and Mississippi river from kentucky to New York and other states. During 19th century as all people living there were engaged to farming and crop production, there were no people owning any slaves. There was no demand for slaves whereas in New York, the demand was higher for the purpose of manufacturing, construction etc. The business was mostly depending on the slavery trade.

1 Comment »

One similarity about New York and New Orleans that existed between 1800 and 1865 was the conflict between new immigrants and native-born residents together with the foreign-born expansion in the population. As a result, “by the 1850’s, more than half the residents of Boston and New York City were foreign born.” (Chudacoff 74) According to Chudacoff these new comers where Europeans:  “Major populations of Irish immigrants could be identified in New York, Boston and Philadelphia…”(74) This new group of immigrants added their culture and customs in these cities. Chudacoff states these new immigrants “brought their cultural traditions of work and leisure, spirituality and sociability, which often came into conflict with those of native-born residents.”(74)  One example of these traditions was their drinking and the Catholic religion. Similarly, in New Orleans  “by 1860, 40 percent of New Orleans population was foreign born.” (Chudacoff 74) The immigrants in New Orleans, French and Spanish brought with them their traditions of carnival, “…with maskers, Harlequins, and Punchinchellos parading the streets with guitars, violins and other instruments in the days before lent.”(Chudacoff 74) As a result, this caused the hatred of the native-born residents. According to Chudacoff: “By the 1830s and 1840’s, New Orleans revelers were throwing flour and pieces of brick as well as candies and cake and apples and oranges to people along the parade route..”  Referring Mardi Gras as a “vulgar and tasteless” celebration (74) To the contrary, one difference between these cities was that New York was a Protestant city while New Orleans was Catholic. “An early wave of Irish immigrants, fleeing British persecution at the end of the 1700s, landed in New Orleans and became well integrated into the economy and social life of the city. The first St. Patrick’s Day celebration was held in 1809. Irish social and benevolent organizations were formed, and Irish theater thrived.  (neworleansonline).  On the other hand, New York didn’t see the Irish population in that way:  “native –born enthusiasm for temperance translated into passionate anti-Catholicism, sharply splitting the working classes along ethnic lines and turning neighborhoods into battlegrounds.” (Chudacoff 75)

1 Comment »

The evolution of transportation allowed for explosive growth in immigration and the sizes of Americas cities. In New York City the increase in immigrants from Europe caused cities to overcrowd. This forced the development of public ferry lines. Before the public ferry system was established, transportation between NYC, its boroughs and the main land territory bordering the Hudson river, was possible only because of private, local shipowners that had to be hired to make the trip. This private ferrying system prevented the expansion of the population, as its limited capacity and its prices effectively made it impossible for the lower classes to travel. With  public transportation becoming available in early and mid 19th century, the immigrant population were given a way to settle in different parts of the land.

Transportation also allowed the immigrants arriving in New York City to expand across the country into places such as San Francisco, California. The only way European immigrant could get to California and other far off American land was by ship, that had to travel around south America then north to California, or by land, which was a quite long  journey through hostile Indian territory and the harsh  American landscape. With the creation of the train and its connection with the east coast, the west was opened to settlement by immigrants. Since the major stations for trains were cities and, compared to NYC, were small in size, arriving immigrants tended to stay in the cities as overcrowding was not as established as in NYC. That will not always be the case as those same cities, such as San Francisco would eventually outgrow its limit to house all the people arriving and the growth of its native population, causing an opening up of land outside cities in California to settlement by new immigrants and the native population tired of city life.

A main difference between NYC and San Francisco’s  increase in immigration is the difference in the nationalities of the immigrants. In NYC the majority of its immigrants were made up of Europeans,specifically Irish ,Germans and Italians.This is not to say that these nationalities did not find their way to Californians cities, but they did stick to the north eastern region of America. The western part of America’s immigrants were made up of people from Spain and other Spanish groups,such as Mexicans. This is due ,in major part, to the fact that San Francisco was once a part of the Spanish empire and its language being Spanish.

Ferry Building 1889, foot of Market Street Photo: Greg Gaar Collection, San Francisco, CA

Comments Off on The expansion of transportation in NYC and California

The two North American cities New york and New Jersey developed in many different ways during the mid and early 1800s. Both the cities have significant similarities as well as some differences.

                                    New Jersey prospered during the early 1800s. New factories sprung up through out the state. Paterson became a textile center and later became known for producing trains and silk. Trenton produced clay products, iron and steel. Camden, Elizabeth, New wark and Jersey city all became major manufacturing centers in the 1800s. New york city was developing in different ways; the Erie Canal was completed in the 1825 providing boats a gateway to the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The economic impact of the Erie Canal was tremendous. Businessmen were able to ship goods in and out of the New York City through this man made river ( official website of the New Jersey State and www.inetours.com).

 One difference between the two states is, Legislation was passed in the  1804 to abolish slavery in the state of New Jersey; where as in the New York city slavery was still in existence until 1827.

Comments Off on New York vs New Jersey during the mid and early 1800s

Most of American great cities were built near waterfront, which were true to both Philadelphia and New York. The completion of Erie Canal in 1825 created connection for New York City to the western markets. It linked the Hudson River to the Great Lake (Chudacoff 44). On the other hand, as a response to New York City, Philadelphia started its construction of transportation. The Pennsylvania railroads were built. One similarity of the two cities is that they were both the most populated cities from 1830 to 1860, and their population increased dramatically during the years (Chudacoff 60).

Comments Off on Comparing New York and Philadelphia