American History: A Survey (Brinkley), 13th Edition

Chapter 18: THE AGE OF THE CITY

Main themes of Chapter Eighteen:

• The social and economic lure of the city attracted both foreign and domestic migrations, and these newcomers adjusted to city life in ways that transformed their new urban homes.



• Rapid urban growth forced adaptations to severe problems of government mismanagement, poverty, crime, inadequate housing, and precarious health and safety conditions.



• The urban environment served as the locus for new philosophical ideas, expanded leisure opportunities, fresh approaches to education, rapid expansion in journalism, and a new consumerism.



• The new order of "high" urban culture inspired both serious writers and artists to render realistic portrayals of the seamy side of city life, while many middle- and upper-class Americans were engaging in expanded forms of leisure and entertainment.

• The patterns and processes of urbanization in late-nineteenth-century America



• The changes in the pattern of immigration in the late nineteenth century, and the native response to these changing patterns



• The new economic and social problems created by urbanization, and the technological responses to these problems



• The relationships of both urbanization and immigration to the rise of boss rule



• The early rise of mass consumption and its impact on American life and leisure



• The changes in leisure and entertainment and the growth of mass-culture opportunities including organized sports, vaudeville, movies, and other activities



• The impact of new mass communications technologies on the character of urban life



• The main trends in literature and art during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries



• The impact of the Darwinian theory of evolution on the intellectual life of America



• The profound new developments in American educational opportunities, particularly for women