LearningCurve for Chapter 19

What allowed engineers and planners in the second half of the nineteenth century to develop a new urban geography in the United States?

New technologies Technologies like the steam engine, electric power, and the streetcar allowed engineers and planners to reorganize big cities like New York. In the late nineteenth century, cities developed a new geography with specialized districts, immigrant neighborhoods, and affluent suburbs.

Why did audiences enjoy the vaudeville, an urban entertainment that emerged in the 1880s and 1890s?

The variety of entertainment types Vaudeville theaters invited customers to walk in anytime and watch a continuous sequence of musical acts, skits, juggling, magic shows, and other entertainment.

Why were women more vulnerable than men in the new system of dating that emerged in American cities around the turn of the nineteenth century?

They earned less than men, making them vulnerable to gifts in exchange for sex. Because women had less money to spend than men did, working-class girls relied on the "treat." Some tried to maintain strict standards of respectability, but others became so-called "charity girls" for whom sexual favors became a matter of practical necessity.

Why were skyscrapers an impetus to urban development?

They made it possible to crowd more work and living space into a given area. Skyscrapers were expensive to build, but they allowed downtown landowners to profit from small plots of land. By investing in a skyscraper, a landlord could collect rent for ten or even twenty floors of space.

What was the purpose of the phenomenon that took shape in the United States in the late nineteenth century and came to be known as progressivism?

To combat the problems caused by industrialization and urbanization in the United States Progressivism was an overlapping set of movements united by their common desire to combat the ills of industrialization and urbanization.

What did Florence Kelley hope to achieve through her leadership of the National Consumers' League (NCL)?

Worker protection Kelley believed that only government oversight could protect exploited workers. Under her crusading leadership, the NCL became one of the most powerful progressive organizations advocating worker protection laws.

What was the key to the successful building of skyscrapers in American cities in the late nineteenth century?

An interior skeleton made of manufactured steel beams Architects invented the skyscraper, a building that was supported by its steel skeleton while its walls bore little weight, serving instead to enclose the structure.

Which statement assesses the early-twentieth-century crusade against prostitution in the United States?

The crusade pushed prostitution out of brothels and into the street. The crusade against prostitution accomplished its main goal, closing brothels. But in the long term, it worsened the conditions for prostitutes since women now lost control of the trade and found themselves working as "streetwalkers" or "call girls." This made them more vulnerable to violence and led to lower earnings.

How did the early-twentieth-century campaign against prostitution affect prostitutes in many Americans cities at the time?

By closing brothels, new laws worsened many prostitutes' lives. By closing the brothels, new laws actually worsened the conditions under which many prostitutes worked. Losing the protection of madams, almost all sex workers became "streetwalkers" or "call girls," more vulnerable to violence.

Which city suffered a terrible fire in 1871?

Chicago A large area of the city of Chicago was destroyed by fire in 1871.

The social geography of the suburbs in the late nineteenth century was in large part determined by which of the following factors?

Class structures Where one lived in the suburbs tended to mirror class position—the wealthier lived farthest from the city center, the poorest closest to work. Although natural landscape and some planning went into the construction of suburbs, these factors did not determine who lived where. Ethnic minorities tended to live in urban neighborhoods rather than in the suburbs.

How did reform-minded businessman Tom Johnson recapture the political support of Cleveland's working class in the early twentieth century?

He advocated public ownership of city utilities. Johnson advocated various reforms in order to win the allegiance of Cleveland's working class, including public ownership of the city's utilities.

How did Henry Huntington expand the suburban ideal in southern California in the early twentieth century?

He used his family's fortune to buy up real estate and subdivide it into lots. Henry Huntington was the nephew of a wealthy Southern Pacific Railroad magnate who expanded the suburban ideal by buying up Los Angeles real estate, building trolley lines, and then subdividing the property into lots on which he built rows of bungalows with tidy yards that featured lush trees and tropical fruits.

The dominance of private development in U.S. cities and the preference for business solutions to city needs are expressed in what concept?

The "private city" In the United States, cities relied largely on private developers to build streetcar lines and provide urgently needed water, gas, and electricity. This preference for business solutions gave birth to what one urban historian calls the "private city"—a place shaped by individuals, all pursuing their own goals and bent on making money.

Why was Margaret Sanger indicted for publishing her newspaper column "What Every Girl Should Know" in the 1910s?

Her frank discussion of birth control violated obscenity laws. Margaret Sanger's column focused on birth control information. She was indicted for violating the era's obscenity laws, although the resulting publicity actually helped her launch a nationwide campaign of contraception education.

What impact did city politics have on immigrant communities in the United States in the late nineteenth century?

Integrated them into urban society Ward politics as practiced in the big cities served an integrating function by giving immigrants a voice in government in exchange for their votes. In so doing, ethnic communities were involved in, rather than isolated from, urban culture, and immigrants were granted some power over public policy. Immigrants usually settled in ethnic communities on their own, not at the urging of politicians.

Why was the reform effort aimed at wiping out urban prostitution in the early twentieth century shortsighted?

It ignored the multiple factors that led women to prostitution. Women entered prostitution as a result of many factors, including low-wage jobs, economic desperation, abandonment, and often sexual and domestic abuse. Women who bore a child out of wedlock were often shunned by their families and forced into prostitution. Some workingwomen and even housewives undertook casual prostitution to make ends meet. The reforms did nothing to change these conditions, which meant prostitution continued.

Congress passed the Mann Act in 1910 to achieve what purpose?

Prohibit the transportation of prostitutes across state lines In response to fearful talk about "white slavery," Congress passed the Mann Act in 1910 to prohibit the transportation of prostitutes across state lines.

Why did music publishing agents spend so much time in urban beer gardens and dance halls in the United States after the 1890s?

To have their musicians test their songs on the audiences there To find out what would sell, publishers had musicians play their compositions at New York's working-class beer gardens, saloons, and dance halls. One publishing agent reported that he visited "sixty joints a week" to test new songs.

What prompted urban reform movements in the 1890s?

Widespread suffering from the depression of that decade The scale of urban problems became dramatically evident in the depression of the 1890s, when unemployment reached a staggering 25 percent in some cities. Homelessness and hunger were rampant; newspapers nationwide reported on cases of starvation, desperation, and suicide.

Beginning in the 1850s and accelerating in the late nineteenth century, the spread of railroads in the United States spurred the growth of

suburbs. Even before the Civil War, the rise of railroads led to the growth of suburbs.