Consequences of Rapid Urbanization
By: Caroline R, Allie M, Sarina N, Tomas R, Andrew S 4th
Crime:
-the 1860’s-1890’s the crime rate rose 445%
-New York was the world’s center for crime
Street Crime:
“Most of my friends are investing in revolvers and carry them about at night”-George Timpelton Strong
-By 1870 street crime was very common.
- People began avoiding going out at night and walking in the streets because crimes were so common in all areas. At this time “Central Park was considered unsafe after sundown, and if a stranger wished to go to a dance hall he was urged to go armed or with a policeman.”
-Streets were poorly lit which was a benefit for criminals.
-Street crime was worse in Chicago, the murder rate quadrupled in less than 20 years.
Juvenile Delinquents:
-“The streets of New York became a school to turn little toughs into major outlaws.”
-Three major gangs were formed: The Gophers, the Dead Rabbit, and the Molasses Gang just to name a few.
-Some gangs would have thousands of member ready to commit crimes whenever.
-NY Bowery Boys were the most ruthless
-”If the streets were schools for crime, the prisoners were graduate colleges”
-In Chicago 10,000 citizens were arrested in this time for committing various crimes.
Prostitution:
-In large cities prostitution was very common
-”In 1870, when its population was 950,000 NYC had an estimated 10,000 prostitutes;...in 1840 the number increases to 40,000”
Police!:
-Citizens feel comfort in seeing policemen. They were protectors to those citizens who had to walk the streets at night.
-”Toughness was necessary [in policemen] to meet the challenge from the underworld…”
-In 1857 all policemen were fired because the State Legislature that the city was “too corrupt to govern themselves”
Graft:
- “Graft in the old days was not merely a fringe benefit for the police; it was for patrolmen and chief alike a cardinal value by which they measured their livelihood.”
-There was a bureaucracy that handled payoffs that were received from two sources: legitimate business for “non harassment” and organized crime for protection.
-”The graft made it possible for NY’s vast criminal society to flourish and for the policemen to flourish in millions”
-1878- A society for crime prevention
Spoilsmen and Plunders:
-”the conduct of public affairs for private advantage”
-1882- Herbert Spencer saw the danger to american democracy
-Professional men were too selfish to become involved in this issue.
-Boss Tweed was an example of this rogue.
-”Every important city job was twisted into sinecure for some political trickster…”
-1867-1922 the Cameron-Quay Penrose dynasty owned PA, a corrupt city at the time.
Lynching:
Late 19th century- Lynching was perhaps the darkest stain on the history of the US.
- “between 1892 and 1903 no less that 3337 died in these outrages...and most of the victims were innocent”
- 2 instances epitomize the madness that came over the lynch mobs:
-1898-FB Baker was lynched at Lake City, SC, for accepting the job as postmaster.
-1893- In Paris, TX an african american was kidnapped and burned publicly.
The Crime of Punishment:
-Prisons were for punishment
-Inmates were treated as a subhuman species.
-”Starvation, floggings, chainings, and torture were blandly routine”
The Law:
-”Lower court judges were men of low caliber whose conduct of trials was influenced by their appointers…”
-The rich could get away with murder
-The act of paying off judges was common
Food & Drink
Only Wealthy had money for elaborate meals Most of the country was forced to live on crude and scanty diets Staple Food Included: Tea Bread Soup, Stew (rare occasion) Ragpickers and the poor: Ate what they could find in trash cans Many people shopped for their dinner at secondhand food markets The Markets carried: Second hand groceries cast off trimming and bones from butcher shops Featured in large cities Before the rise of the meat-packing industry beef was shipped lived from the West The Cattle that survived long and cramped journey were too ill that their cattleman had to point steel rods to keep them on their feet Conditions made it too difficult to find rich meat that was not contaminated or decayed. Electric Refrigeration did not exist which lead to more decaying According to the New York Council of Hygiene in 1869 they reported that the meat became “absolutely poisonous” Even though the meat and fish was unreliable the people didn't trust fruit and vegetables as well. “They had a lingering suspicion of fruit and vegetables that had its origin of epidemic of 1832 which was believed to have been cause by fruit” New York City council forbid the sales of all fruit and the mistrust of fruit still remained even after the ban was uplifted. Many of the markets had rotting food because when first bought they expected for it to remain perishable for a long period and ripen. Milk Milk was diluted Ex, given a water pump a dealer was able to boost two quarts of milk to a gallon Improve the color of milk from diseased cattle Added molasses, chalk, or plaster of Paris Many instances of Bacteria- infected milk Root of Problem: Dairy farms kept the cattle area dirty, impoverished and badly housed. Sometimes garbage was fed to cows Some fed alcoholic wastes to cows Which produced “swill milk” Thus making some babies tipsy Butter Butter was made but not accurately and healthy “Sham Butter”- a creamery product that came from dead hog and not live cow “Bogus Butter”- unsavory raw materials such as fat from hogs and animal parts Bleaches were used to blend into the mix to give a better appearance to make it look like real butter. Children’s Food They were on the streets to beg or pick rags and most had not eaten a wholesome meal. They mostly consumed rotten discards from groceries and restaurants and whatever few cents they would use to spend on food Hunger for PICKLES Chronic underfeeding called for thsi craving theory by Robert Spargo Spargo said “ It is a horrible fact that many children whose diet, is so unwholesome cannot eat decent food even they are hungry”. Some had to be taught how to eat. Others refused to eat the food Eating Habits Food was eaten at rapid speed Greasy food, heavily meat oriented. Businessman rushed through dinner Waiters served all dishes simultaneously speeding up the process Drinking and Saloons Drinking was prominent and excessive Per capita consumption of alcohol continually raised Temperance movements formed but was not successful Causes: Ethical Social Bar trade in the slum was profitable and showed supply and demand Many saloons spread about in cities Politicians allowed saloons to proliferate despite efforts because booze as given for votes. Effect of Alcohol on family Drunkard’s wife was a tragedy Confusion of children and ability to follow in father’s path Children drinking alcohol was common Quality of Drink was low but was enough to make a drunk thirsty for more Drunks ended up dying in hospitals or prison Prison inmates were mostly found to be drunks
Housing
for the first time in America, poor people and wealthy people lived in close proximity
finding good housing at a reasonable price was difficult, and changing social classes was rare
townhouses
very unsanitary
polluted
full of people
difficult to maintain
servants were hard to find because Americans were too proud and immigrants were unsatisfactory due to the language barrier
often didn't have good water
tenements were popular but were poorly built and maintained (cracked walls, sagging floors, overcrowded)
boarding houses - sold to single women, childless couples, adventurers, anyone
apartments
"were little more than glorified tenements"
were very susceptible to fire
residents had very little room
squatters often lived in "shanties", or old, abandoned houses
slums
lower classes
filled with crime, drunkenness, disease, and death
between 1868 and 1875 in New York, about half the people lived in slums (500,000)
there was a lot of pollution and smog
pigs ran wild in the streets
waste management was a problem, leading to further sanitation problems
Working Conditions
Surroundings and Pay
High temperatures
Smoky
Max. $1.25 a day
7 day workweek
Health
Destroyed health for thousands by age 40
Exposure to infernal heat and poisonous gases
Steel mills: saw dust of factories and stone dust of quarries
“Coal mines and iron and steel mills, the primordial industries were especially brutal on their man power”
Constant pressure on them by every other industry
“the unlucky ones were sacked and the lucky ones were demoted”
reduced from $1.25 to $1
Accidents
“Robert Hunter put the yearly total of killed and injured at one million, a higher number in proportion to the labor force than in any other nation”
Railroad Industry
Most lethal to workers
Deaths: 1 for every 306
Injuries: 1 for every 30
Weather
Icy weather: more deaths
Loss of hands and fingers
Rheumatism and asthma
Child Labor
“‘mere babies’ were found employed in a cannery”
Children would forget about their hunger and fall asleep
Parents agreed to the actions and government ignored it
Lied about child’s age to obtain employment
Bargains for owners
$1.50 to $2.50 a week
Had to attend 14 weeks of school to become eligible for work
Young mine workers were exposed to poisonous dust
Some textile mill boys were so small they had to be raison on boxes to service the twirling spindles
Constant danger of hands getting caught
1870
total number of child workers; 700,000
+vendors, messengers and shoeshine boys
Grew in the South in a decade
⅓ of mill employees were children
Jobs
worked in tobacco fields
canneries
mines
meatpacking
hosiery etc.
National Child Labor Committee
Sweatshops
Newly arrived immigrants
$5 to work in a slum
New York’s Lower East Side
whole families worked in sweatshops
Rents were $8 to $12 a month
Workers could not support themselves with this low pay
Diet
Bread and tea
Beans (rarely)
“‘the most grinding oppression that can be practiced on a woman’”
Soap-packing plants
exposed to caustic soda
turned nails yellow
ate away at fingers
Flower-making workshops
Produced vivid colors
Sores
Swelling of limbs
Nausea
Debility
Standard of Living
“The crisis year of 1877 saw an estimated two and a quarter to three million men unemployed”
Many families slept in police stations
Rents in New York were lower
took only 10-15 percent of an average wage
Often lived only on bread, no meat
Strikes
“To most people of the upper classes, crowds of angry men in shabby clothes - no matter what their cause - were always wrong”
Industrialists
Controlled public opinion
Slandered the labor movement
Pullman Strike
30% reduction in wages
Homestead Steel Strike
Henry Clay Frick
More than 20 died
Technology
Ambivalent attitude towards technology
“many of whose jobs would not have existed without it”
Bitter workers whose crafts were taken by mechanization
shoemakers
handworkers in iron
wood and stone
“warned workers of the day when giant robots that made human labor expendable would chase them from the factories”
- Feared installation of factories
Health
-Advances in health did not match the pace with techological advances
-"health care reamined dumbly neglected"
Diease:
-Yellow Fever
-Memphis epidemic (1878) killed 5150
-New Orleans killed 3977
-Disease destroyed by Dr. Walter Reed (1900), the Aedes aegypti mosquito
Quarantine:
-ships flying yellow flag, the "international signal of epidemic aboard", were quarantined
-public health officials "splashed disinfectant about the slums to demonstrate vigorous action against pestilence, this had no effect, but improved PR
Doctors:
-"his diagnosis was based on guesswork, his therapy was totally unreliable"
-doctors did not have a good reputation
-good wages (10$ a week) often lead to "incompetent impersonators", which gave a bad repuation to all doctors
-scientific research facilities remaied very primitive
Surgery:
-the surgeons were lax, did not wear/use disinfectant materials
-antiseptic was not used, "even though it was well known in the 1870's
Hospitals:
-"hospitals… were similar to the almshouses, where humanity’s castaways anguished in appalling squalor”
-they were the last resort for the poor who did not have available care at home
-became focal points for epidemics due to horrific hygiene
Mentally Ill:
-”Families hid demented members as if they were evidence of sin”
-once you entered a madhouse, you never left
-”treatments” often were given to patients, including starvation, dehydration and in some cases varying degrees of torture
-it was very easy to “frame” someone to look as if they were insane
-cells were usually 8x10 feet and were shared by 3-4 people
-straightjackets were used to prevent the hiring of more personnel to manage aggressive patients
Drug Addiction:
-drug addiction was a huge problem in the 19th century, almost 100,000 people were addicted to opium alone
-habits developed from the Civil War, or “potions masquerading as cures” for diseases
-Narcotics Drug Act introduced in 1909 demonstrating the federal government’s concern
-pharmaceutical firm created aspirin in 1898, also created heroin, which was first marketed as a remedy for coughs