The purpose of this webpage is to highlight the poor living conditions that were endured during the 1880s-1920s. Mostly with a focus on the living conditions of the lower and working class of society. Especially since most of them could only afford to live in tenement housing. The conditions that they went through back then are what we would consider inhumane or inhabitable in today's time, and I really would like to put that in perspective.
There are numerous things that contributed to the conditions of tenement housing and people having to live in tenement housing. Some things that contributed to the poor living conditions of tenement housing was the underdeveloped technologies, overpopulation, and under regulation of these spaces.
During this time period we had one of the largest influxes of immigrants that we have ever seen. Everyone wanted to come to America to make a life for themselves and their families with all the new jobs opening up over here. A huge majority of these immigrants were entering through New York and other east coast ports and stayed in that area to try and find jobs until they could afford to move more inland. This obviously led to an increased need of housing yet not a lot of places they could go. The library of congress reports that between 1870 and 1900 nearly 12 million immigrants came to the United States. With around 70 percent of them entering through the “Golden Door” otherwise known as New York City. 1 Unfortunately, all of these people were not able to find the ideal jobs they wanted, which forced them to get low wage jobs and become part of the working class. This led to an increase in tenement housing being built and built fast.
Footnotes
1 Library of Congress. “Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900 .” The Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/immigration-to-united-states-1851-1900/.
Credits
Tyler Byrne