Introduction- Underside of City Life
- Tenement Tour
- Practice
- Task
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Following successful completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
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The above objectives correspond with the following Alabama Course of Study Objectives:
| Immigrants in the courtyard of a New York City tenement |
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| Immigrants in the courtyard of a New York City tenement. 2010. Image. 6 September 2010. <http://www.discoveryeducation.com/>. |
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| The expectations of many immigrants to the United States received a reality check when they found themselves living in the kind of squalor they had hoped to escape. Here, immigrants gather in the courtyard of a New York City tenement. (Discovery Education) |
Overview
"Gilded Age" cities served as a classic example of the time period's deceptive nature. To a visitor, cities were bustling places full of energy with towering skyscrapers and new modern conveniences. However, a closer look revealed a less glamorous side of the city full of tenements, filth, and pollution. The residents in these slums were poor Americans and new immigrants who struggled daily to survive the dangers of their environment. Unlike their middle and upper class counterparts, these residents suffered from a lack of city services which often left their environment ripe with disease. Over time reformists took note of such conditions and slowly began to crusade for improvement. Change did eventually come, but it was unfortunately too late for many of the millions who suffered daily under the abysmal circumstances.
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