Document Analysis: How The Other Half Lives

As the problem of overcrowding became more and more evident, several remedies were tried. There was some individual philanthropy, model dwellings were built by "philanthropic capitalists," legislation was passed prohibiting overcrowding, slums were torn down(which, of course, only worsened the problem by displacing more people), there was suburban speculative development closely following the development of the railroad which provided cheap, rapid transit to the newly-forming

There were several problems that the laborers faced. There were unsafe working conditions, unequal pay, discrimination, and so many other things. Some places even had children as young as four working in factories. Women in the workplace were treated unfairly compared to the men. Unsafe working conditions led to many injuries and deaths in men, women, and children.

The houses were built cheaply while the land remained marshy ,and dense with mosquitos. When the Irish began flocking to New York during their potato famine they needed cheap shelters and the Five Points was just the place.

“Children worked in very dangerous conditions in the picture represent in document 8” (Document 8). The children working in the factories have to be careful not to get their limbs or foreign objects lodged into the machines. If they got injured or ill and had to miss work in order to properly recuperate. “You are considerably deformed in person as a consequence of this labor? Yes I am” (Document 7), a woman that worked in a flax mill as a young girl was left deformed from all the harsh labor that was forced upon her while growing up. Not only did the parents have to work in order to be able to provide for their family, but their children had to work in order to contribute to be able to put food on the table for the whole family due to the parents lack of pay. “Children were uneducated and were unable to attend school as seen in document 6” (Document 6). Because of the lack of education many adults were illiterate, which caused many problems for example, learning basic life skills would be more difficult and time consuming because people are unable to self-educate by reading informational books on how to acquire basic skills “I am at work in a spinning room tending four sides of warp which is one girl’s work” (Document 1) Children were over worked the girl that spoke in the text about was forced to do the work of four separation girls all in one. Furthermore is unhealthy for anyone at any age

This meant that babies were being born into these lives, like slaves. Mother Jones tells use about a woman, who she met “coming home from nigh work” with “a baby in her arms”. The woman told Mother Jones that she could take the baby to work with her and keep it in a “little box with a pillow in it beside the loom”. Babies were being born into child labor and raised in the unsafe and dirty conditions of the

Between 1854 and 1929 there were about two hundred thousand children who were either orphaned or abandoned by families who could no longer care for them. These children needed new families to care for them. The children traveled west mainly to rural areas in the Midwest by train in search of new homes where they could live and work. The children generally were a year old to seventeen years old. Most were separated from their brothers and sisters, and some never saw their siblings again. Thus began the “placing out” movement.

At the same time as the settlement houses were in effect, the charities were being discouraged from giving public relief, during a period of financial crisis and unemployment. The society went into chaos and the charities began to panic. Due to the overwhelming amount of relief necessary, charity workers argued that there needed to be a scientific way to establish who would get relief. Therefore, private charities were combined into an organization called the COS, and others like it followed. These organizations were there to conduct investigations and distinguish the worthy from the unworthy poor and based on their findings, refer them to relief agencies. Where the COS blamed the poor for their situation, the settlement houses strived to prove that it was a societal issue. The settlement houses paved the way for community organization and didn’t focus on the COS’s distinction of worthy and unworthy. The social workers in the settlement houses focused on reducing

The information submitted for this determination was reviewed by our physician. The reason that we are not approving all the requested personal care services is based on the following documents: M11Q-which is your doctor’s order, the home nursing assessment performed on 05/09/2015 and our review of your social support system. We also reviewed all available medical information including information about health services you are receiving concurrently or have received recently.

“Publicize the plight of impoverished children”. Riis immigrated to the United States in 1870, found sporadic work as a casual laborer, then eventually landed a job as a newspaper reporter. Riis authored several books documenting the life of the urban poor in the crowded slums of New York. His use of photography visually depicted the filth and unsanitary conditions that urban families were forced to survived in. His works were widely read by the upper and middle class and played a key role in inspiring social activism. In his own words Jacob summed up his cause, “Nothing is now better understood than that the rescue of the children is the key to the problem of city poverty, as presented for our solution to-day; that character may be formed where to reform it would be a hopeless task”. (Wheeler, Becker and

The year is 1900. Living conditions in New York had hit an all time low. Two-thirds of the population were living in overcrowded tenement houses. These small apartments held multiple families, without indoor plumbing. Neighborhoods were taken over by disease and crime. Jacob Riis and Jane Addams were two influential reformers surrounding living conditions in the cities. Jacob Riis photographed

During the beginning of the nineteenth century, orphaned or abandoned children had few outlets for aid. The options available besides

In New York after 1815, there seemed to be a flood of individuals that stormed into the city walls. The spread of a more urban area and a large numbers of immigrants that stormed into New York created a dynamic of both benefits and downfalls for the government of New York. The force that was coming for workers provided employers extremely cheap day workers, with the belief that the exponential growth of pauperism represented an unnecessary and eradicable evil” (pg. 577). Associations were formed for problems across the board, “to assist widows and orphans, immigrants and Negroes, debtors and prisoners, aged females and young prostitute". In January of 1805, there was a report of 10,000 residents that were on some form of charity in New York

Jane Adams opened The Hull House 1889. She and her colleagues opened the house to offer services that targeted poverty and unfair labor laws. (pg 29 Martin) In the 1800’s philosophies such as Calvinism and Social Darwinism made it hard for individual and families of 3rd class to succeed. Adams wanted to move away from those philosophies and create a social change with The Hull House. (Martin, 2012) Adams believed in the relational model of poverty; where she thought that the problems of lower class was within society its self, and not due to moral deficiency (Lundbald, 1995) Adams believed that everyone should be created equal and with respect. Adams and The Hull House changed how the poor was cared for, she gave them a safe place for them

People with privileged job and high social status are expected to be formal, polite and understanding. They have the ability to make people listen, feel and support them, but when they use this kind of power wrong the consequences can be unbearable and unforgettable. They can be misguiding, come forward as unprofessional and heartless. Pamela Ramsey Taylor lost her job due to her comment on social media. The choice of words she used In her comment was the reason behind losing her job. Her comment told us that she wanted some beautiful and dignified First lady in the white house rather than ape in heels (Taylor, 2016). The comment was snarky and indirectly to the pervious first lady in America; Michelle Obama. The comment was condescending for

The lowborn workers toiled away for hours in physically exhausting jobs only to afford apartments that were sterile and cold. “There were some nine cots in the place . . . he was sick of the bareness and privation connected with his venture” (Dreiser, 304). The pay affected the men and woman’s own mode of life. They were forced to share living spaces with other families and more often than naught, had to bunk with complete strangers. The very comforts associated with a home, such as wood and furniture, were often too large of an expense. Even with Governmental/ Charity handouts the citizens had no money in which they could afford better living conditions. The rooms they were given to stay in were cold and sterile, and they were not guaranteed a place to stay every night.