The American Industrial City : The Issue Of Fresh Water, Water Pollution, And Smells

Through a multitude of significant changes physically, conceptually, economically, and more, the societal reformation of cities in the Progressive Era had set themselves as the foundations of American civilization. The juxtaposition between the rich and poor statuses in these urban areas show the drastic separation within developing cities. Through this division caused a wide variety of living conditions, the majority of which held the overcrowded sections of cities where the population mostly stayed while the higher end communities had more luxurious lives. Through this success of entrepreneurship and economic growth from all aspects in cities, the entire landscape, both physically through innovative architecture and the perspectives outside rural and suburban areas had on them, had transformed for the better in these areas.

In the first two decades of the twentieth century, the United States experienced a large increase in political, economic, and social reforms. During this time, there had been an increase in urbanization, and industrial factories within the larger cities throughout the United States, particularly in the northeastern cities. With the addition of the industries and factories too populated also came a growing number of immigrants, and seekers of wealth and employment. As a result, the population increase would result in major issues which would overshadow the economic gains that came from industrialization. In addition, the rise of industrialization also brought about major issues within the populations of the city. After seeing

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

Another negative effect of the Industrial Revolution was the poor sanitary conditions in cities. When Friedrich Engels visited an English industrial city he stated in “The Conditions of the Working Class in England” that the streets are usually unpaved, full of holes, filthy and strewn with refuse due to the lack of gutters or drains. This caused the main river of Manchester to look coal black and be packed with stinking filth. The factories also led to pollution and poor air quality due to the open air vents and chimneys which released the pollution from the factory into the air. Many people who lived in these poor cities or slums were either the working class or the poor that had to struggle through these unsanitary conditions.

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.

At the beginning of the 19th Century, most American cities were small in size and usually coastal. Their infrastructure was primitive even by the standards of that time period. Street lighting was rare, roads were unpaved, and water supplies were really inadequate. The water surrounding NYC was tidal and mostly saltwater. They had no direct access to fresh water. Initially, Residents depended on wells or rain-water cisterns for their water needs. External wastes contaminated the water aquifers. Rain-water did not help increase the main supply. Flush toilets were introduced to the city in 1819 that increased the need for water usage. (Weidner, 1974, p. 55)

With the growth of industry in the United States, the population of cities began to grow substantially (Tovanche Lecture). They started providing job opportunities in factories, offices, and other places as well. The cities became the main center of wealth and also poverty. A huge class of the impoverished lived in slums. Some even lived underground in the sewers, and a huge percentage of the poor came from newly arrived immigrants who were coming to America in large numbers from poor

Manchester is a city in England that experienced tremendous growth between the 1750’s and 1850’s. The population grew from 18,000 in 1750 to over 300,000 by the census of 1851. This growth called for more homes and factories to be built in order to support the growing population. With the constructing of more factories to support the rise in population came the growth of industry and manufacturing. The growth of the city, along with these factories, brought about several issues other than the manufacturing of valuable goods. The overcrowding from the population growth and the smog, smoke, and other toxic waste from the factories brought about the issue of pollution and bad living conditions. Pollution and the horrible quality of living was

Most eighteenth century Americans lived in self-maintaining rural areas. The Industrial Revolution saw the advancement of large urban hubs, such as Boston and New York City, and impelled an enormous migration of workers. “From the beginning, cities formed part of the western frontier. Western cities like Cincinnati and St. Louis that stood at the crossroads of inter-regional trade experienced

People hear about issues and events that happen in America every day. Unfortunately every issue or problem does not receive the necessary media attention. One of the roughest cities in the United States, Detroit, Michigan is being affected by pollution. Detroit Wastewater Treatment Facility is the largest source of discharge into the river with 47 billion gallons of diluted sewage water dump into the Detroit River. 10.1 millions of toxic substance was dumped in the great lakes (Matthews, 2013.para.7). Due to the unstable environment Asthma, Cancer, and birth defects are at its peak. This is because of the factories built in the city next to the lower class neighborhoods. There has been cases where a local neighborhoods has been affected by

for even the shop and beer houses hardly take the trouble to exhibit a trifling degree of cleanliness. But all this is nothing in comparison with the courts and lanes…(Doc C).” The Industrial Revolution brought a lot a good things to European society, but it brought some negatives as well, such as a dirtier country because of the larger population meaning more litter equals a dirtier country, this transforms European society from clean to dirty. The European society was transformed from the Industrial Revolution to dirtier, also though pollution , in the political cartoon it shows, “A man covered in dirt and in muddy water, while a governor holds his nose and holds the dirty man a card, most likely fining him. (Doc D).” As a result of the Industrial Revolution, Europe was starting to get a lot more dirty due to the byproducts of factories, and since the byproducts go somewhere, they end up in other parts of Europe. This transforms Europes from a clean, but non industrialized country, to a country that is industrialized but, semi

1. Describe the rise of the American industrial city, and place it in the context of worldwide trends of urbanization and mass migration (the European diaspora)

During the turn of the 19th century, the second industrial revolution was taking place in America, which shifted society from agricultural to industrial. Innovations and new technology were the driving vehicle for burgeoning businesses in the city. With this shift, populations swelled in large cities such as New York, Chicago, and Pittsburg by job seeking immigrants from countries including Ireland, Germany, and Lithuania who were attracted to the United States wanting to be a part of a so called “American dream” and economic opportunity. These immigrants longed for a chance to start over again and wanted nothing more than an opportunity to make a better life for themselves, and the generations

At the culmination of the nineteenth century in the United States, industrialization was transforming cities at a lightning pace. With a flurry of immigration and expansion, urban populations were multiplying by the decade, at a rate twice the speed of the total American population. In 1860, the city of Chicago had a mere 100,000 residents but by 1890 had exploded to harbor over one million people. Immigration from southern and eastern Europe had skyrocketed over these few decades, bringing a new working class and a new backbone for the American industrial economy. This burgeoning industrial system proved to be very attractive for immigrants across the globe, drawing in

The condition of water and cleanliness in the world's cities found that water syndication systems are inadequate, typically offering the city's upper- and middle-class neighborhoods but not to the swiftly expanded settlements on the colonial fringe. In addition, the current info on the provision of water and sanitation in colonial areas is very vulnerable and the true scenario is actually far even worse than most international standard suggest.