Describe how the city of Boston and the people living there changed between 1850 and 1900. Lisa A Burns
The history of Boston is one of many changes and growth since its renaming in
1630. Going from a small British settlement initially limited to the Shawmut Peninsula to a busy merchant seaport in 1850 to the industrial metropolis by the 1900’s. The changes can be seen in three main areas sizes, population, and ethnic composition. The city more than tripled its sizes by filling in marshes, mud flats, and gaps between wharves down by the waterfront. Starting in 1807, they used the crown of Beacon Hill to fill in a 50acre mill pond area now known as Haymarket Square area. Land reclamation also help created the
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“The money of this period paid for the expensive homes of the South End and Back Bay, the estates of Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Brookline, Milton, and Dedham.
Municipal enterprise went forward on an unprecedented scale. The streets were widened, marshes filled and hills leveled, parks laid out, and miles of waterworks constructed.”
Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston, 1870 –1900 By Sam B Warner, Jr.
Harvard University Press and The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1962
During this time much of the original part of the city of Boston became the industrial and commercial areas and much of the tenements were use as lowerincome housing. Many of these working–class neighborhoods were “crowded and unsanitary, with inadequate public services. Many workers lived in houses once occupied by middle–and upper–class residents, now divided and subdivided to accommodate more people than the original builders had intended. Others squeezed into tenements, which were specially constructed to house as many families as possible. Small apartments were dark and stuffy and often had windowless rooms. A study of working–class families in
Massachusetts found the family of one skilled worker living “in a tenement of five rooms in a pleasant and healthy locality, with good surroundings. The apartments are well furnished and [the] parlor carpeted.” The family even had a sewing machine. But
unskilled and semiskilled workers
Urban seaports: Cities like Boston, New York, Newport, Philadelphia, Charleston became major urban seaports and commercial centers populated by rich and poor alike.
* Which industry sparked the New England economy at the end of the 17th century? Who was unhappy with the success of that industry, and why?
Investors have a number of development options in this community. Since it has remained primarily residential for years, there are many different vacant lots developed. The community's real estate prices are rising, so investors have the option of just buying the lot and leaving it vacant until they sell it.
Before the Boston Massacre even occurred, tensions were high in the city of Boston between the Bostonians and the British. At this time people were just
Boston had changed majorly from being the merchant city to the industrial metropolis. The population of people went up about ¾ in 50 years of its physical change. When Boston was a merchant city in 1850, it was tightly packed and crowded, then once it because an industrial metropolis in 1900, it was a spread out to a 10-mile radius, containing 31 cities and towns. The metropolis was
The Massachusetts Bay colony was an east coast colony near current day Boston. The Massachusetts Bay colony was formed as a Puritan settlement. (Massachussettes bay) Most of the original 400 settlers of the colony were Puritans. The colony celebrated its first Thanksgiving on July 8, 1629. After this, the Massachusetts Bay colony had a period of continual growth and expansion due to many ministers reacting to the oppressive religious policies of England. (the Massachusetts Bay Colony wikipedia) Many Puritan ministries developed due in part to the influx of puritans that vastly dominated
The Boston Massacre was an important event in U.S. history, that lead to the American
The beautiful city of Baltimore, Maryland, nicknamed “Charm City” is full of historical cites and landmarks. It was founded July 30, 1729, and it was named after Lord Baltimore, the first proprietary governor of the Province of Maryland1. It was founded to serve the economic needs of 18th century farmers2. The waterways in Baltimore have been a passage for ships carrying commercial cargo and new citizens since the 1600s. Baltimore became the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States during the 1800s. Shipbuilding was one of the earliest industries in Baltimore, and it increased during the Revolution and the War of 1812. When the British controlled Philadelphia in 1777, Baltimore became the meeting place of the
As a larger number of immigrants began to move to the United States from eastern and southern Europe, cities began to increase. Due to these patterns of global migration, between 1870 and 1900, cities increased by at least eleven million people from these immigrants (p.507). While the idea of a growing city benefits big businesses in hiring low-waged workers, this opportunity for work in large industries opened the flood-gates for multiple waves of immigrants. The first wave, those known as the skilled workers “…criticized the newcomers. One Irish worker complained, ‘There should be a law…to keep all the Italians from comin’ in and takin’ the bread out of the mouth of honest people’” (American
1. The American city was changed drastically in the first half of the 20th century with the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the ongoing flow of foreigners into an already crowded United States.
All of us have formed habits in our daily life. Even though some of these habits only exist in our subconscious and we cannot actually make sure whether they are real or only the conjectures. But it is undoubted that all of our behaviors are influenced by our desires on specific objectives. In the book, the power of habit, Charles Duhigg explained the definition of a habit as an effort-saving instinct. “When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making” (20). To support his opinions on habits, he introduced the three-step model of a habit loop, the theory of golden rule of habit, and the role of a craving brain and belief in the process of a habit changing. Through learning
An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic
Boston, and New York. The increase in land, natural resources, and industry gave the United
The major cities of the United States are all very interesting, after I analyzed my decision; I decided to research the great city of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston was founded on September 17, 1630 and has a rich historical background making it a very important city in the United States. “The city of Boston was the home to several important events during the American Revolution such as: the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, the Siege of Boston, Battle of Lexington and Concord, and the Battle of Bunker Hill.” (Snow, Caleb H. (1828). History of Boston. Abel Bowen.) These were all significant events that helped shape the city Boston has become today.
Most contracts never mentioned the safety and comfort of tenants (p. 10). In addition, many of the tenants were working and needed to be close to where they worked. The costs of living in these tenement houses were ridiculously high for the condition and size of the rooms.