History of American Cities - Essay Example

The geographical location and nativity has a very strong influence on our life. The living conditions and the surroundings have often been known to be interrelated with the locations and places that put their unique stamp on the type of people that inhabit in a given location within a city. The urbanization of the cities has not only extended the city but it has segregated the population into well defined groups that has a distinct identity conforming to specific socio-cultural background and often promoting racial distinction within the community, well defined in their behavioural pattern and economic disparity. In the last 200 years, the American cities have been undergoing tremendous transformation, both in terms of the geographical area and the inhabitants. The influx of the foreigners in relatively large numbers, have produced a multicultural environment that is responsible for the rapidly changing socio-political scenario of the cities. The existing society and the social setup has accommodated the growing numbers of new inhabitants by not only creating new jobs but new suburbs and slums thus embarking on a new road that defines the inhabitants by the location and locations could reliably affirm the inhabitants’ race and culture. Historians and social scientists, through the years, have conducted studies to this effect and have come to some amazing results backed by research asserting that cities and suburbs are divided into specific locations that are characterized by the people who may be represented by their race, economic status or by their creative differences. The cosmopolitan flavour of New York is distinguished by the colonies named after the different nationals inhabiting them, like Chinese colony, German colony, Spanish or Jewish colony. ‘Even the Arab, who peddles ‘holy earth’ from the battery as a direct importation from Jerusalem, has his exclusive preserves at the lower end of Washington Street’ (Riis). In the mid nineteenth century, the author Riis studied the immigrant population, living in tenements, in the lower New York and observed that the tenements developed according to the immigrants, well defined by their race and cultural background. The Italians, for example, had largely come to America in search of work and this was carried out by the fellow Italians who facilitated their immigration and later exploited them for their own vested interests. Family oriented Italians preferred to be guided by their compatriots and lived in tenements, mostly in sub human conditions so as to maintain the facade of a family. Over crowded and unhygienic conditions of the tenements are matter of indifference to the Irish landlord, whose main concern is the exorbitant rent that he exhorts from his vulnerable immigrants who in turn accept the prevailing conditions of their dwellings without protest because it might cost them their job! Over the years, the small group of Italian immigrants turn into a small colony known as Italian colony, mostly devoted to their work and their family, making no extra efforts to adapt themselves to the changing environment of their adopted country. But slowly but steadily, they improve their status in the society and develop and create a more prominent space for themselves, within the changing social equation. This is true for all immigrants coming from different countries. All the major cities of America exhibit this trait of fragmented social paradigm. Each of them can boast of cosmopolitan population, intermingled with different nationalities, race, colour and culture. In the mid and late nineteenth century, the emigrants and immigrants, in the city of New York and Washington, lived in tenements and slums, which were designed to cater to low income, large families with insecure future mostly belonging to a particular nationality and race. The industrialization brought in more affluent families and at the same time, economic disparity rose to new heights with segregation of labour force by establishing industries in the outskirts of the city. The labor migrated to suburbs, nearer to the industries, thus alienating them from the mainstream and successfully preventing them from joining the unions. ‘’Graham Taylor in 1915 confirms that employers were particularly concerned about the contagiousness of central city labor unrest..When factories did move to industrial suburbs, workers were automatically more isolated than they had been downtown’ (Gordon, 1978). Thus geographical locations were deliberately used to create class segregation and increase economic disparity by the affluent class in order to exploit the poor and the immigrants. The early twentieth century, saw further transformation which was more positive and more empowering. The steady rise in the social status of the people, of the various colonies and tenements, within the cities and suburbs, not only brought confidence within the communities but the persistent efforts of the government and the welfare people, promoted the need for education which ultimately became responsible for the real empowerment and the knowledge thereafter, which made acculturation possible. The education prevailed upon the people and created the need for better understanding of the surrounding and the urgent need to develop social relationship with other communities for a peaceful co-existence leading to better opportunities and scope. It is seen that even though the geographical locations could be identified by specific nationality and race, economic stature and creative differences, the one thing that remained in common with all was the gender disparity that could be observed in almost all the different localities of the cities. In the nineteenth century, the women were identified only as home makers and had their role defined as wife, mother, sister etc. Men were seen as the main bread earner with all decision power basically conforming to patriarchal society. The Second World War saw massive change in the perception and women were looked upon as individuals who were equally capable of working outside their home and support and fulfil their families’ financial needs and requirements. The men also became more domesticated by involving themselves with the upbringing of their children and concern for their wife. ‘Masculine domesticity, in that sense, served as a male reply to the feminists’ insistence that women had as much right to seek individual achievements as did men’ (Beecher, 1865). Today, the changing paradigm of the social structures has brought in a much more mature understanding of the different communities. The mutual acceptance of each other’s unique identities, have become their strength and which has evolved into global power that has spread throughout the continents. The multicultural society of the New York and its Chinese colonies, German colonies, Jews colonies etc. can be seen in different cities of the different countries of the world. The tendency of exploitation has been replaced by the more positive synergy of mutual cooperation and understanding. Empowerment has decreased the socio-economic disparities between the poor and the rich and racial discrimination has become less visible. Where initially these things were promoted for vested interests, the world now scoffs at these discriminations and promotes equality and consciously inculcates love and peace. One can therefore say that the cities, indeed are divided into geographical spaces with their unique identity but it would be wrong to say that, today, these very remarkable features of the cities, the world over, have hindered the socio-economic developments. Contrarily, their distinct features have facilitated the concept of mutual trust and inter-dependence that has been used to develop and advance the existing knowledge, to a much greater height. The fragmented social setup of the cosmopolitan cities, have evolved into a highly successful societies with diverse interests which have proved mutually beneficial. Reference Beecher, Catherine. (November, 1865). How to Redeem Woman’s Profession from Dishonour. Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 31. Gordon, David. (1978). Capitalist Development and the History of American Cities. Marxism and Metropolices. Oxford University Press. Riis, Jacob a. (1890). Studies Among The Tenements of New York. New York. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Available: [12 December 2007]. Read More