Sin Cities, 1870-1910I. Urban context
A. ImmigrantsB. UrbanizationC. Poverty
II. CrimeA. GamblingB. AlcoholC. ProstitutionD. Violence
III. Problems with GovernmentA. CorruptionB. Incapacity
IV. ProgressivismA. RootsB. ValuesC. Broader Goals
V. ResultsA. ReformsB. Resentments
Immigration• 13 M people of
foreign stock in Chicago
• 587,112 foreign born
Nationalities at Duquesne Steel Mill, 1919
Urbanization• Americans living
in city over 10,000 pop. – 1820-- 5%– 1900-- 20%– 1920-- 50%
• Big Cities1870 - 1910– NYC grows
from 1M to 4.7M
– Chicago grows from 298K to 2.1M
PovertyJacob Riis,
How the Other Half Lives (1890)– 1/3 of NYC
took some charity during the previous decade
– In 1889, the city arrested 612 persistent beggars.
Vice• Six million
go to racetracks in 1905; bookies earn $15.5M
• Chicago (1910): 1,000 brothels, 4,000 prostitutes, $60M in annual revenue
Denver Saloon with prostitutes, 1895
Gang Violence
Year Population Murders
1900 1,698,575 1021910 2,185,283
201
• Lee “Stack” Shelton
• William “Billy the Bully” Lyons
Bandit’s Roost, NYC, 1888
Corrupt Governme
nt
• Hinky Dink Kenna
• Bathhouse John Coughlin
Incapacity
• Incompetent justices of the peace
• Overburdened criminal courts
• Antiquated city charters
Chicago police court, 1903
Progressives
Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago 1909
• Professionals
• Women
• Old elite– Ministers
Values
• Moral reform– Whose morals?
• Honest government
• Efficiency
• ScienceWomen’s Christian Temperance Union
The Causes of
Crime
• Immorality• Poverty• Heredity• Bad government
African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, 1906
Reforms
• Civil Service• Investigation• New Institutions• New Personnel• Federalization
Alexander “Clubber” Williams
Teddy Roosevelt
Resentments
• “White Slavery”
• Mann Act 1910
• Jack Johnson
