Unit 3:: The Growth of Cities and Social Reform

During the late nineteenth century, America began a century-long shift from the countryside to the city. This shift accompanied and aided in other important changes, such as the Industrial Revolution in America, massive population growth, the creation of a new artistic and urban culture, and a rise in the average standard of living for its citizens. These new cities served as a structure in which many of these changes would occur. When the American economy began to shift from small independent farms to the “American System of Mass Production” in the early nineteenth century, the population would begin to shift to areas that could support new industries. The rise of industrialization and the migration of workers from rural farms to bustling urban centers occurred simultaneously.