Chapter 19 Vocabulary
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The Providence “macaroni riot”- In 1914, Frank Ventrone, moved to Providence, Rhode Island to start a pasta business which furnished the communitys staple food. Since other food prices increased in the summer of 1914, Ventrone decided to raise his prices also. Angered by this, the people of Providence broke windows in a block of his, broke into his shop and dumped a stock of his macaroni into the street. The people told the police that the matter was an internal one to be solved by the community (Ventrone had violated their ethnic loyalty).The Providence “macaroni riot,” was one of the millions of events that characterized life in an American city. Providence was increasing in size and ethnicity and the slow, quiet pace of village and farm life was disappearing. As cities grew, they became places of both opportunity and misery.
The electric trolley- Mass transportation was beginning to move people father and faster. Animals were insufficient to use because they had to be taken care of and fed constantly. As technology was beginning to advance entrepreneurs came up with new means of transportation. By thee 1860s, steam-powered commuter railroads were beginning to be used. In the 1890s, electric-powered street cars began replacing early forms of mass transit. Designed in Montgomery, Alabama, and Richmond, Virginia, electric trolleys spread to every large American city. Since this occurred, horse-railway tracks began to disappear. Later on they were built under ground, but only in few cities.
The electric interurban railway- This was another form of mass transit which was more convenient, and also, it connected nearby cities. It was built over shorter distances than steam railroads, the interurban operated between cities where there was a growing population and it also furthered urban development by making such regions more attractive for settlers and businesses. An example would be the Pacific Electric Railway, which facilitated travel and economic development of the region.
Annexation- When mass transit began to emerge, cities began to connect to one another. This connection is known as the process of annexation. One of the major reasons of annexation was because of the Urban-Industrial Developments. This is because, if cities worked together, they could gather and use distributed raw materials, and to transport them, we had a newfound form of mass transportation.
The “new” immigration- the Unites States had been the destination of immigrants from northern and Western Europe since the 1840s, but after 1880 economic and demographic changes propelled a second massive wave of immigrants from other regions, such as Canada, Mexico and Japan. The immigrants varied widely in age, martial status, and other social characteristics. Not all groups were equally educated or aged. Many Americans feared the strange customs of these “new” immigrants. These immigrants brought new and different memories of their homelands and the adjusted to American life guided by these memories.
Transplanted immigrant communities- In their new surroundings immigrants started to group up into towns where only their ethnicity was. Italians were in their province, whereas the Japanese were together, and Russian Jews separated themselves from the others. Religion was also a basis of these towns. The diversity of American cities forced immigrants to modify their attitudes and habits.
Conservative Judaism- the influx of so many immigrants between 1870 and 1920 transformed the United States from a basically Protestant nation into one composed of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. German and Russian immigrants gave New York one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. Newcomers usually sought to retain familiar practices, whether the folk Catholicism of southern Italy or the Orthodox Judaism of Eastern Europe. Eastern European Jews convinced that Reform Judaism sacrificed too much to American ways.
African-American migration- In the 1880s, another group of migrants began to move into American cities. Thousands of rural African-Americans moved northward and westward, seeking better employment and fleeing crop liens, the ravages of the boll weevil on cotton crops, racial violence, and political oppression. Most African-Americans found jobs in the service sector, cleaning, cooking, and driving, rather that industrial trades.
New York State tenement legislation- One of the most persistent shortcomings of American cities was their failure to provide adequate housing for all who needed it. As cites grew, landlords took advantages of shortcuts in low-cost rental housing by splitting up existing buildings to house more people. Housing problems aroused concerned citizens to mount reform campaigns in several places. New York State took the lead by legislating light, ventilation, and safety codes for new tenant buildings in 1867, 1879, and 1901.
The germ theory of disease- Efforts at housing reform had only limited success, but scientific and technological advances eventually enabled city dwellers and the nation in general to live and work in greater comfort and safety. By the 1800s, most doctors had accepted the germ theory of disease. In response, cities established more efficient systems of water purification and sewage disposal. Although disease and death rates remained higher in cities than in the countryside, and tuberculosis and other respiratory illnesses continued to plague inner-city districts, public health regulations helped to control such dread diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, and diphtheria
Steel-frame construction- Steel-frame construction, which supported a building by a metal skeleton rather than by masonry walls, made possible the construction of sky-scrapers, and it led to more efficient use of scarce urban land. Electric elevators and steam-heating systems serviced these buildings. Steel-cable suspension bridges developed by John A. Roebling and epitomized by the great Brooklyn Bridge, linked metropolitan sections even closer.
“The worthy poor”- Employment, especially for unskilled workers in manufacturing and construction, rose and fell with business cycles and changing seasons. Many families lived on the margins of survival. Poverty was inevitable because there was always someone weaker than someone else. Cities provided relief in return for work on public projects and sent special cases to almshouses, orphanages, and homes for the blind deaf, and mentally ill.
Charity Organization Societies- private philanthropic agencies concerned themselves only with helping “the worthy poor”. Their efforts to professionalize relief did not foster some change in attitude. Between 1877