Urbanization and City Life in Progressive Era (Notes)

Flashcards covering urbanization, political machines, reform, immigration, and the urban landscape during the Progressive Era.

What is a political machine?

A powerful urban political organization that mobilized large blocs of working-class and immigrant voters and was corrupt and engaged in illegal activity.

What did urban reform aim to improve in cities?

Professionalizing police and fire departments, improving drinking water quality, cleaning up street waste, building parks, and expanding public education.

What is a Settlement House?

An urban institution established in the 1880s to help the poor by providing social and educational services (e.g., literature, art, cooking, sewing, vocational training).

Who was Jane Addams and what was Hull House?

A reformer (1860–1935) who ran Hull House in Chicago to help immigrants and oppose child labor.

What was the City Beautiful movement?

A movement begun in the 1880s that advocated comprehensive urban planning and grand redesign of urban space to eliminate overcrowding and improve aesthetics.

What were tenements?

Multi-family dwellings, typically four to six stories high, housing dozens of families; densely packed with poor sanitation and disease risk.

What was Ellis Island?

A processing center in New York Harbor for immigrants; those deemed unhealthy or undesirable were sent back.

What is nativism?

An anti-immigrant movement advocating restrictions, fearing job loss and cultural change; often led to discrimination and government limits.

What was the Great Migration?

The movement of African Americans from the rural South to Northern cities like Chicago and New York seeking jobs and escape from racial injustice.

Where did most New European immigrants come from in the 1880s–Progressive Era?

Russia, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire; many settled in urban areas during the Progressive Era.

What does the Statue of Liberty symbolize for immigrants?

A symbol of new freedoms and economic opportunities they hoped to find in America.

What mass transit systems developed in urban America?

Horse cars, steam rail, and later electric streetcars that connected suburbs and transformed city layout.

What characterized the late 19th-century business districts?

Banks, department stores, lawyers, and other professional services clustered in central business districts.

What were skyscrapers?

Tall office buildings that defined the urban skyline, enabled by steel frames and elevators, especially in business districts.

How did suburbs influence city life?

Residential areas outside downtown, linked by mass transit, shaping living patterns and leisure.

What are ethnic enclaves?

Communities formed by immigrant groups to support one another and protect cultural identity in a new country.

What were urban life challenges in the era?

Poverty, crowded tenements, poor sanitation, disease, and crime in dense urban neighborhoods.

What did the White City refer to in the City Beautiful era?

A term describing idealized, monumental urban design and public spaces that reflected reform ideals and capped overcrowding.