3.1: Urbanization: The Physical Form and Moral Condition of Cities

Paired Sources from U.S. History, 1877-present
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Abstract

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, cities grew rapidly. Cities were the sites of new factories. Those factories attracted immigrants, who moved to cities because that’s where the jobs were. There was also a huge internal migration from rural areas. As farming became increasingly automated, it became harder for children (both male and female) to stay on the farm and have a stable, prosperous life. As a result, there was a popular anti-urban movement, which played up the risks to the physical and moral health of those moving to cities.

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