BellringerFebruary 25, 2013

Describe what it is like to live in a city.

Grab your book.

Essential Question

2. What social, political, and

environmental problems did

Americans face at the turn of the 20th

century?

VocabularyTenementUrbanizationGhetto Political Bosses

Notes:Growth of Cities

Growth of Cities

City Life

2/3 immigrants settled in urban areasNYC, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia

1920: 75% of foreign-born US residents lived in citiesMost cities weren’t equipped to handle massive

populationsStreets were often flooded with waste b/c of poor sewage

systemsLived in ghettos

Section of a city inhabited primarily by people of the same race, religion, or social background, often because of discrimination.

Provided a sense of community/securityFamiliar customs, foods, languages, etc.

“5 cents a Spot”

Urban Living ConditionsTenement Building

Run-down, low rent apartments in the poorest parts of the city

Designed to hold as many families as possibleSlums

Poverty, neglect & overcrowding caused neighborhoods to decline

Soot from coal-fired steam engines/boilers made the air seem dark and dirty during the day

Open sewers attracted rats and other disease spreading animals

Tenement Buildings

Dangers of the CityFires

Fires were a constant dangerSince tenement buildings were crammed together, a small fire could spread to several buildings

Created rapid/large firesDisease

Contagious diseases spread quicklySpread especially in summerBuilding were hot like ovensBacteria thrived and spread

Gangs of New YorkFive Points

Notorious slum in Manhattan centered on the intersections of Mulberry, Anthony (now Worth St.), Cross (now Mott), Orange (now Baxter), and Little Water Street (no longer exists)

Today, the Five Points would be located about halfway between Chinatown and the Financial District.

The name Five Points derived from the five corners at this intersection

Five Points was dominated by rival gangs like the Roach Guards (Irish, Rivals with the Bowery Boys)Dead Rabbits (Former Roach Guards, now rivals with RG and

BB)Bowery Boys (Anti-Catholic, Anti-Irish, Rivals with the Roach

Guards)

Dead Rabbits vs. Bowery Boys

America: The Story of Us

“Cities”

BellringerMarch 4, 2014

What is one problem created by living in a city?

Grab a book.

Vocab

Muckraker: a journalist who wrote about social, environmental, and political problems Americans faced in the early 1900s

Reading Notes 16Muckraking Notepad

Conduct Your Field InvestigationTopic: Title

In this space, describe the problem using vivid and shocking language that will stir your reader into action. Write at least two sentences about the photograph. Also choose one sentence from the quotation to excerpt.

Read the corresponding section of Lesson 16. Then, in this space, record at least four important pieces of information about the problem.

Topics by Field Site

Field Site #1 Slum LifeThe WorkplaceUnsafe Products

Field Site #2The LandscapeNatural ResourcesPollution

Field Site #3Political Machines & BossesLocal & State PoliticsNational Politics

Field Site #4Social ClassAfrican AmericansFamiliesWomen

Now that you’ve collected evidence from the field…

Choose a writing partner

Writing an Investigative Newspaper ReportAs a muckraker, you uncovered alarming information about problems in American society at the turn of the century. You will now expose what you learned to the American public by writing a newspaper

report that will stir your readers to action.

Your article MUST include these elements: An appropriate and appealing title. (5 points) A byline with you and your partner’s name and an appropriate date from the time period. (5 points) An introduction with a brief explanation of muckraking and an overview of what you plan to expose in your

article. (10 points) Two paragraphs describing each of the problems you uncovered at two of the field sites.

Use vivid and shocking language. (20 points) Each paragraph should have at least two sentences, including at least three pieces of information from your Reading

Notes (Muckraking Notepad). A conclusion summarizing the reasons your readers should take action to address the problems you

uncovered. (10 points) A “photograph” from your investigation with a brief caption. (10 points)

This can be a drawing you make or a copy of a photograph from a book or the Internet. It should depict something you wrote about in the article.

Any other clever and creative touches that will make your article more realistic.

NOTE:YOUR ARTICLE MUST BE TYPED, CLEAN AND NEAT.

Discussion Questions

1. What might be some reasons why developments in Ukraine are important to the U.S. and Russia?

2. What do you know about socialism? What makes this form of government controversial?

3. How would you characterize today's report about poaching in the Republic of Congo?

FYIs:Due Monday, March 10th:Muckraking NewspaperUnit II PacketUnit II Review Sheet

Unit II Test Monday, March 10th