Housing

Introduction
Living conditions varied greatly. It all depended on your social class and your job. Urban population expanded, making housing a major problem. There was housing shortages, since cities and factory towns were so crowded. There was a growth of slums. Deterioration of exciting housing occurred because of overpopulation.

Homes of the Wealthy

Cliffe Castle, Keighley is an example.
A very large home that looks like a castle. Has towers on its side. Is surrounded by a garden. The estate itself stretches for thousands of miles. Now open for the public (museum)

Homes of the Poor

Lived in very small houses on cramped streets. Would share toilet facilities and have open sewers.
It was very damp. Disease was spread through a contaminated water supply.

Working Class died due to disease.

Example: cholera from drinking water, chest diseases from the mines, and smallpox.

Improved Conditions
Conditions did improve. Public health acts were introduced covering things such as sewage, hygiene and making boundaries upon the construction of homes.
The first housing law (the 1867 New York City tenement house law) was revised in 1879 to prohibit windowless rooms. in 1901, better provision for light and ventilation, fire protection, and sanitation was required.

The Gilded Age created a larger middle class.

Lawyers. Doctors.

At Home
Since workers, especially women and children, were laboring for up to eighteen hours each day, there was very little family contact, and the only time that one was at home was spent sleeping. Sharing houses further contributed to the breakdown of the family unit. Because of the conditions, more than 50% of infants died before the age of two.

Housing Laws
The first housing law (the 1867 New York City tenement house law) was revised in 1879 to prohibit windowless rooms. The findings of a tenement house commission resulted in a new law in 1901, requiring better provision for light and ventilation, fire protection, and sanitation.

Working Conditions
While the workforce today is generally quite safe, it was not always so. Laws enforced today state that employers have to look after the workforce and provide safety equipment, but such laws did not exist during the time of Urbanization after the Industrial Revolution. There were no laws against child labor, no laws about long working hours, no laws that enforced safety in the workplace, and definitely no laws the ensured employees benefits that they are entitled to today. During the Urbanization period directly after the Industrial Revolution, many workers became aware of the poor working conditions in factories. The Industrial Revolution was a period of time during which the nation transformed from being agricultural to industrial, primarily through the growth of factories. Urbanization was a direct result of the Industrial revolution because cities had to be built around the factories in order for them to be successful. Before this period, the nation was, for the most part, agricultural and relied heavily on farming as its main industry. With farming being so prominent, working conditions were not an issue. Working on a farm, people were subject to their own working conditions. They were in charge of their own safety, working hours, and profit. With the development of factories and Urbanization, though, workers were subject to their employers. They were now faced with long hours, dangerous factory equipment, and often not very much pay.

Working Conditions cont.

Another issue that arose from the growth of factories concerned child labor. In an agriculturally based nation, it was perfectly normal for children to work on the family farm. Now that the nation was moving towards an Industrial and Urban lifestyle, though, it became dangerous for children to work. Factories were a dangerous place for anyone to work, but especially for children. Aside from dangerous equipment, working hours for children also became an issue. With the Industrialization and Urbanization boom, factories required an extremely large yet extremely cheap workforce. The easiest source of cheap work at the time was in women and children. In the mid to late 1800s, women and children could work the same number of hours as men and still receive less pay for their work. This was mostly because women and children could not physically do the same kind of work that men could do, but it was also believed that women and children didnt need as much pay because they were not directly responsible for supporting the family. This standard obviously held many negative consequences relating to the work force. Between 1881 and 1905, there were approximately 37,000 strikes across the country demanding better pay and working conditions.

Working Conditions cont.

Factories at the time of Urbanization were an unsafe, unsanitary place. The equipment was dangerous, not to mention dirty. All of the necessities for a successful factory led to great pollution as well as the development of slums. Since factory workers worked such long hours, they needed to live nearby. However, factory workers got paid very little, so they couldnt afford to live in a nice home. These small homes were located in the dirty neighborhoods close to the factories, the slums. Working conditions also lead to many prejudices against immigrants. Many immigrants to the United States came seeking a totally new lifestyle and were willing to do whatever work they could get to support themselves. They often took jobs in factories as unskilled workers. This created many prejudices of the old-comers towards the new immigrants.

Health and Sanitation

While many urban residents migrated to the cities from rural areas in the United States, the majority of the newcomers were immigrants. The concentration of these new arrivals in select urban areas led to the emergence of distinct ethnic neighborhoods and fueled nativist fears The sudden influx of millions of poor immigrants led to the formation of slums in U.S. cities. These new city dwellers lived in tenement buildings, often with entire families living together in tiny one-room apartments and sharing a single bathroom with other families on the floor.

Health and Sanitation

Tenements generally were filthy, poorly ventilated, and poorly lit, making them a hospitable environment for rats and disease. The unprecedented growth of industrial production during the Gilded Age also sparked demographic changes. Attracted by factory jobs, large numbers of rural migrants and immigrants flocked to the industrial centers of the Northeast. The resulting urbanization led to an increase in the number and size of American cities. Poor living conditions, limited health care, and a lack of education opportunities afflicted the growing working class. The urban centers of the Gilded Age were larger, more densely populated, and ethnically more diverse than any previous urban settlements.

The Political Machine (of the Gilded Age)

A Brief History
Mostly started by Irish immigrants in New York City Also in Boston and Chicago Did this to get control of their cities, and improve their lives

Structure
There were three elements:
Bosses or a county committee, governing the party, machine and the politicians Election district captains who organized the party at the neighborhood level Party loyalists who supported the machine with votes and financial help in exchange for jobs, favors, and help from the bosses and captains

Tammany Hall
One of most famous machines Controlled NYC from late 1700s to early 1960s Didnt really have a single boss, except for Boss Tweed, the last of the machines politicians

Machines in General
They would grant jobs and building contracts to those who did them favors. Machines would often pay off city politicians and police, and then get control of the city Would also use scare tactics, and illegal voting to get control.

The Graft
This was a practice when the machine would get its people papers and such from the city In exchange for this the machine would expect money or favors in return- these were called kickbacks The contract would cost the city more, and the city would raise taxes, and the taxpayers would be, in essence, paying more then they had to This would help finance the machine

By: Lauren Kirk

New Technologies That Effected City Life

Due to the increase of industrialization and urbanization, urban areas became congested. As a result of poor living conditions, many diseases infected the inhabitants of the cities. The cities reacted to this by paving streets, creating sewers, putting effort into sanitizing water, and creating means of safe public transportation.

New Technology Used with Textiles

Many different methods for creating textiles were patented during the Industrial Revolution including the water frame, the spinning jenny, and the spinning mule. These methods were used not only for the production of cotton, but for worsted yarn, flax, and linen. When the patents ended, many cotton mills arose throughout the country.

Innovations in Glass Making

The Cylinder process was invented in Europe to create glass sheets. This allowed glass to be sold in larger panes without interruption. This also allowed glass to be sold more cheaply.

Steam Power
James Watt is responsible for improving the steam engine. His model was first invented for the purpose of pumping out of mines, but was later applied to power machines. This adoption of steam powered machinery enabled factories to have rapid production speeds that were not available with waterpower.

Iron Founding
During this time period, coke was applied to all stages of iron smelting. The coke replaced the use of charcoal. Also the use of potting and stamping and puddling were used in the production of bar iron

Large Scale Production of Chemicals

During the Industrial Revolution, chemicals began to be produced in larger scales. Sulphuric acid was the first chemical to be produced in such a large scale. The lead chamber process was used to create this chemical. This with other chemicals allowed many other different innovations to spark up during this era.

Cultural Benefits
Urbanization is often viewed as a negative trend but in fact it occurs naturally from individual and corporate efforts to reduce expense in commuting and transportation while improving opportunities for jobs, education, housing, and transportation. One of the many positive effects of urbanization is the diversity that it creates. Many different types of people move into one city because of urbanization. These many different types of people bring with them various cultures. These many different cultures make the overall culture of that city very rich.

Cultural Benefits cont.

Another positive effect of this mass migration of people is that the city is forced to build many things to accommodate these people. Urbanization causes the city to build museums, theatres, parks, libraries, community centers, and schools.

Works Cited
www.socialstudieshelp.com www.albany.edu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization www.britannica.com/eb/article9074449/urbanization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/industrial_revol ution

Works Cited
www.historychannel.com www.ask.com www.wikipedia.com/guildedage www.infoplease.com/gildedage_urbanizati on.html www.pbs.org