Dr. J. Mark Souther
Rhodes Tower 1904
Department of History
Cleveland State Univ.
Spring 2005

Home

Requirements

Readings

Schedule

Euclid Corridor Project

Syllabus (PDF)

Souther Home

Journal Questions for Weeks 3-4

Week 3

Journal—Mon., Jan. 31—Colonial Seaports
Nash, “The Social Evolution of Preindustrial American Cities”
“Early Cities of the Americas” (Read the following selections: Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia)

1. According to the Nash article, how did the social order of colonial cities change between 1700 and 1800? Give 3 or 4 examples of these changes.

2. What “lost history” of 17th-century Boston did a recent archaeological dig unearth? We often think of colonial Boston as a Puritan city, but what was it really like, as suggested by the dig?

3. According to the Charleston article, how did Charlestonians orient themselves in the city? What places were part of their so-called “mental topography?” Why was this so? Did this way of thinking about the layout of the city have any negative consequences?

4. What do the very different fortunes of Benjamin Franklin and William Moraley tell us about urban life in colonial Philadelphia?

Journal—Wed., Feb. 2—The Development of Urban Networks
Chudacoff and Smith, “Commercialization and Urban Expansion”
Pred, “Biography Formation”

1. How did cities shape the western frontier, according to Chudacoff and Smith? What role did local governments play in shaping these newer cities? What role did urban rivalries and boosterism play in the cities?

2. Allan Pred discusses the interplay between people and place as a force that kept Boston a booming city despite its seeming shortcomings. The story he tells is one of place (a seaport) shaping people (merchants) and of people shaping place. He looks at both the merchant’s interactions with the wider world and the merchant’s path to gaining experience and knowledge. Read the article, focusing especially on the “daily path” of the merchant on pp. 60-63. How did the merchant’s typical daily path enable him to become more effective and successful in his work, in turn making Boston a city of ongoing importance? Be specific.

Journal—Fri., Feb. 4—The Urban Social Order
Ryan, “The American People”
Powers, “The Poor Man’s Friend”
Peiss, “Leisure and Labor”

Read TWO of the three articles listed above and then answer the questions for your two chosen articles AND the 4th question below.

1. What function did parades serve in early nineteenth-century American cities? How and why did parades change by the 1850s, according to Ryan?

2. What role did saloons play for working-class urban Americans in the early nineteenth century, according to Powers? What was the “code of reciprocity” that she describes and how did it affect the men who went to saloons? Finally, why did the saloon lose its allure as a “poor man’s club” after 1900?

3. Why were young working women able to seek out new forms of leisure by about 1900, according to Peiss? And, what does knowing this tell you about the nature of the workplace earlier in the 1800s? (Hint: Your answer should account for the changes in the workplace.)

4. After reading your two articles, what do they suggest to you about the changes in the 19th-century urban social order, generally speaking?

Week 4

Journal—Mon., Feb. 7—The Perilous City
Duis, “Saloon Crime”
Tebeau, “Scaling New Heights”

1. Describe the kinds of crime and disorder associated with saloons and how saloonkeepers avoided punishment. How did reformers respond to saloon vice, and how did vice manage to continue in secrecy despite efforts to stamp it out?

2. How did firemen bring a sense of order to American cities through firefighting? What role did their ideas about gender and nature play in the gradual self-identification as a heroic urban social class? In what sense were firemen urban reformers who responded to more than just the threat of fire?

Journal—Wed., Feb. 9—The Urban Park and Sanitary Movements
Peterson, “Sanitary Reform and Landscape Values, 1840-1900”

1. What is “sanitary reform” and why was it necessary? Be specific in your answer, citing evidence from Peterson’s chapter. In what way was it similar in purpose to the development of urban park systems? (In other words, what did the park and sanitary movements seek to change about city life?)

2. What were the limitations of the application of so-called "landscape values?" Can you think of parks in the Cleveland-Akron area that drew upon Olmstedian (Frederick Law Olmsted) ideals? Which ones, and how so?

Journal—Fri., Feb. 11—The Rise of Urban-Industrial America
Cronon, “Annihilating Space: Meat” and “The Busy Hive”

1. Why do you think Cronon titles his chapter “Annihilating Space?”

2. In “The Busy Hive,” how does Cronon argue that Chicago was linked to the vast countryside or hinterland that looked to it? (Describe the effect of railroads, wholesaling, advertising, and mail-order merchandise catalogs.)

3. In what sense did the impact of Chicago as a supplier to rural people radically transform their understanding of the marketplace for goods?