Context
The decades following the tumultuous Civil War were signified by radical changes. Rapid urbanization ensued, and major cities broke at the seams. America had entered a new chapter-one with blooming innovations, politics, and roles for every member of society.
Immigration
Irish immigrants had heard tales of streets being paved in gold. The streets weren't paved in gold. Actually, they weren't paved at all. Immigrants were treated differently in the sense that they started out at the bottom... It was a kind of ethnic pecking order. |
In New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, migrants constituted nearly 50% the population; the 15 million added from 1900-1915 were an endless source of cheap labor.
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Tenement Life
"Overcrowding combined with poverty and poor sanitation allowed disease to infiltrate the tenement house. The Tenement House Commission of 1900 reported that tuberculosis was common... As of 1900, 35% of deaths for those between the age of 15 to 35 were due to tuberculosis."
-Fordham University, Tenement Houses and Progressive Solutions
-Fordham University, Tenement Houses and Progressive Solutions