The Evolution of American Urban Society

by Howard P. Chudacoff, Judith Smith, Peter Baldwin

Overview

This interesting and informative book shows how different groups of urban residents with different social, economic, and political power cope with the urban environment, struggle to make a living, participate in communal institutions, and influence the direction of cities and urban life. An absorbing book, The Evolution of American Urban Society surveys the dynamics of American urbanization from the sixteenth century to the present, skilfully blending historical perspectives on society, economics, politics, and policy, and focusing on the ways in which diverse peoples have inhabited and interacted in cities. Key topics: Broad coverage includes: the Colonial Age, commercialization and urban expansion, life in the walking city, industrialization, newcomers, city politics, the social and physical environment, the 1920s and 1930s, the growth of suburbanization, and the future of modern cities. Market: An interesting and necessary read for anyone involved in urban sociology, including urban planners, city managers, and those in the urban political arena.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138474154
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/25/2017
Edition description:	8th ed.
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peter C. Baldwin is Professor of History at the University of Connecticut. He is the author of two other books: In the Watches of the Night: Life in the Nocturnal City, 1820-1930 (Chicago: 2012), which traces the changing schedules of nocturnal activity in the urban Northeast and Midwest during the long century when cities became fully illuminated by gaslight and electricity; and Domesticating the Street: The Reform of Public Space in Hartford, 1850-1930 (Columbus: 1999), which explores civic reformers’ efforts to make the use of streets conform to values associated with the middle-class home. His essays have appeared in the Journal of Urban History, Journal of Social History, and Environmental History, among others. He is co-editor, with Howard Chudacoff, of Major Problems in American Urban and Suburban History, 2nd ed. He is currently working on a micro-history of religion and sexuality in the mid-nineteenth century, focusing on the diaries of a Massachusetts-born educator.

Read an Excerpt

Since 1975, when The Evolution of American Urban Society was first published, American cities and the scholarship about the history of American cities have undergone consequential changes. Yet at the same time, there have been vital consistencies in both urban life and the scholarly focus on how American urban society has evolved. Throughout almost three decades, the authors of this book have maintained their focus on the social history of urban life, with special attention to the unfolding political and economic processes that have shaped the development of cities and the lives of urban dwellers. Equally important have been the ways that the actions of urban dwellers—the powerful and the ordinary—have influenced the course of urban history.

For this, the sixth edition of The Evolution of American Urban Society, we have updated the scholarship and bibliographies for each chapter, paying particular attention to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, the built environment, regional differentials, and emerging cultural forms such as rock and rap music. Wherever possible, we have added perspectives on the environmental impact of cities and suburbs. The chapters on the post-World War II cities offer new attention to the new racial and ethnic mix produced by the most recent immigration trends and to the re-institutionalization of segregation resulting from public housing development and highway policies. As well, we have tried to be sensitive to the effects of concentrated poverty in inner-city neighborhoods and the costs of hardening barriers between city and suburb. The final chapter has been expanded to take into account issues relating to the presidential administration of George W. Bush and to the consequences of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Once again, we owe special thanks to Pembroke Herbert for her valuable picture research and to Jim O'Brien for his efficient indexing. We also wish to acknowledge the insightful critiques offered by Mark Newman, National Louis University; Abel Bartley University of Akron; Anne Brophy Georgia State University; George Lubick, Northern Arizona University; and Jacob Judd, CUNY/Lehman College. Howard Chudacoff thanks Nancy Fisher Chudacoff for guidance and inspiration, and Judith Smith thanks Larry Blum, and Ben, Sarah, and Laura Blum-Smith for their insights and support.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Urban America in the Colonial Age, 1500-1776 Chapter 2. Urban Expansion in the New Nation, 1776-1860 Chapter 3. Life in the Walking City, 1820-1865 Chapter 4. Industrialization and the Changing Shape of the City, 1865-1920 Chapter 5. Newcomers and the Urban Core, 1865-1920 Chapter 6. Bosses and Reformers in City Politics, 1870-1920 Chapter 7. Reforming the Social and Physical Environment, 1870-1920 Chapter 8. Cities in an Age of Metropolitanism:The 1920s and 1930s Chapter 9. The EmergingUrban Crisis 1941-1975 Chapter 10.New Hope and New Concerns in the American City

Editorial Reviews

A broad survey of American urbanization organized chronologically and integrating political, social, and economic history. Chudacoff (Brown U.) and Smith (U. of Mass-Boston) investigate such questions as why people go to the city, what they find there, how they cope, what they contribute, and how they are rewarded. Earlier editions appeared from 1975 to 1994. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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