Essay On The Rise Of Urban America

The United States of America underwent a dramatic change during the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds. The social landscape went from a localized, small town society, and quickly morphed into a metropolis based nation. Millions of people immigrated from the plains, Southern and Eastern Europe, and any other country one could name into the cities. This epoch of our history is deemed the term “the rise of urban America,” and had great implications on the country. This massive shift of people led to over populated cities filled with disease and impoverishment and created ongoing racial hostilities. These issues had and still have implications in the American society. The allure of big city life drew hundreds of thousands of people from Southern and Eastern Europe into the growing urban centers of America. During this major shift of people, small city blocks with thousands of people living there began popping up everywhere. Housing developments were packed full of people; up to 4,000 people lived on one city block at a time, which is unheard of considering how small the apartments were. Many immigrants could not find places of work that would allow them to work there, mainly because of their ethnicity, which led to extreme poverty. Income was low and hours were long for those who did find work. Crime was on the rise as people felt they had to steal money, food, and other goods in order to survive. Due to the sanitation of the cities being technologically …show more content…
This time in our history was so significant that its effects still ripple into our everyday life here in 2015. If one was to examine America today, they would still see the packed urban city blocks (now called ghettoes), and the racial feelings that many Americans harbor deep down. The rise of urban American forever changed the United States and will be remembered for decades to