American History: A Survey (Brinkley), 13th Edition

Chapter 18: THE AGE OF THE CITY

Primary Sources

1
Read the section of the text under the heading "The Urban Landscape," and then read the excerpt below, taken from How the Other Half Lives (1890), the famous book by Jacob Riis. Consider the following questions: How does Riis's account compare with the "melting pot" thesis? What ethnic/racial group that would later occupy the slums of northern cities is absent from this mixed crowd? What comparisons could be made between the poor neighborhoods of the late nineteenth century and those of today?

Jacob Riis

2
Read the section of the text describing the rise of mass-circulation magazines, and then read the following editorial, which is from one of the first issues of the Ladies' Home Journal. Consider the following questions: Why was the low price of the magazine so important? (A yearly subscription was fifty cents, and single copies cost a nickel.) In the age of realism, why did the publishers believe that the readers wanted "a pure and high-toned family paper"? How did popular magazines such as the Ladies' Home Journal differ from established literary journals?

Ladies Home Journal1884

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