Problems in America at the Turn of the Century

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Problems in America at the Turn of the Century
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Poor Living Conditions

• Many city dwellers lived in slum tenements.
  These were crowded apartments no bigger than this
  classroom that housed three or four families.
  They were poorly ventilated, dark, and
  constructed mostly of wood. Fires were a
  problem.
• There were record numbers of homeless in the
  cities, as well.

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Other Problems in the Cities

• Roads, sewage, power systems, and transportation
  systems were overwhelmed and sometimes did not
  even exist.
• The infrastructure was weak and unsound.
• Infrastructure- The facilities and equipment
  required for a community to function.

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Working Conditions

• Jobs for the immigrants and the newcomers to the
  cities were boring and strenuous.
• Most of these jobs were found in factories that
  were dangerous. They were hot, poorly
  ventilated, exposed people to dangerous machines,
  and dust from cotton and wood. People were paid
  cents a day, were not compensated for injuries,
  and many children as young as five or six worked
  up to sixteen hours a day.

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Unsafe Products

• Products such as meat and medicine were
  unregulated by the government and were very risky
  to eat or use.
• Meat packing factories were not sanitary.
• Many drugs contained addictive narcotics.

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Pollution and Use of Natural Resources

• Industrialization came with a cost.
• Resources were being used as never before with
  little thought of the effects.
• Mining was dangerous.
• Pollution from factories poisoned rivers and
  clouded out sunlight in many urban areas.
• Pittsburgh and Cleveland for example.

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Corruption in the Cities

• Corruption- Using various forms of dishonesty for
  personal and political gain.
• Corruption was rampant at the local, state, and
  even national levels.