Changes in Cities and

CultureChapter 10, Sections 2 & 3

America Becomes a Nation of Cities

a. What term was created to describe the last few decades of the nineteenth century? Who came up with this term?

• The Gilded Age;• Mark Twain;• A rotten core covered with gold

paint.

America Becomes a Nation of Cities

b. What advantages did cities offer? • Opportunities in manufacturing for

women;• Jobs for immigrants;• Hope for better wagesc. What other type of migration took pace

during this time period? • Rural-to-urban migration= from farm

to factory.

Technology Improves City Lifea. How did skyscrapers improve city life?• Could provide for more people in

same amount of space. i. Elisha Otis= invented the safety

brake used in elevators. b. How did electricity change city

transportation? • Electric powered mass transit used

to carry large numbers of people;• Less reliance on coal.

Technology Improves City Lifec. What was the job of a city planner?

What was the biggest city planning project of the nineteenth century?

• Keep cities functional and ‘pretty’ even with large #s of people;

• 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.

Urban Living Creates Problemsa. Why did immigrants live in such horrible

conditions? i. Tenement= low-cost multi-family

housing designed to fit as many people as possible.

• Needed to live close to factories because they couldn’t afford mass transit.

b. What problems arose in cities from the population explosion?

• Poor sanitation and water;• High crime rates and conflict.

Americans Become Consumers

a. How did the change in work lead to a change in purchasing patterns?

• Workers were able to save up their wages, so they could spend more greater disposable income!

Americans Become Consumers

b. What new tool emerged to attract customers? How did it reflect standard of living?

• Advertising; • As the overall standard of living

improved, people felt comfortable spending more.

Mass Culturea. Identify the changes that occurred in

the following areas of mass culture: i. Newspaper1. Joseph Pulitzer= World and

Evening World publisher. 2. William Randolph Hearst= Morning

Journal• Both believed that newspapers

should inform and stir up controversy sensationalist

Mass Cultureii. Literature• Authors took a critical look at

society and its problems. • Horatio Alger and other authors

wrote about characters who succeeded with hard work.

iii. Education• Changes in curriculum to encourage

students to take specialized courses;• Specialized courses in college, too.

New Forms of Popular Entertainment

a. What new forms of entertainment emerged at the turn of the twentieth century?

• Amusement parks;• Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show• Vaudeville shows musical dramas;• Spectator sports like baseball and

boxing.