urbanization

1. Urbanization means the growth of cities.
2. Americans began moving to cities because the advent of new technologies such as the Mccormick reaper and the steel plow made it possible for a small number of people to work the land and still be efficient. Also, man blacks who owned farms were put out of business and fled to northern cities to flee racial violence.
3. Some poor lived in row houses, houses that were in rows and shared sidewalls or tenements. Tenements were one family homes that had many families living together in them. The ventiliation in those houses was very poor, so the government set a ventilation standard. Landlords began making windows and vents in their tenements, but people put trash in the vents, and nailed their windows shut to keep out the smell.