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Chapter 24 - Summary and Outline
Chapter 24 - Summary and Outline
Chapter 24 - Summary and Outline
CHAPTER SUMMARY
One of the most important facts of nineteenth-century Western history was the urbanization of society. Life in
the new urban society was exciting and complex – as well as full of problems. This chapter shows that although
the urban environment had long been crowded and unhealthy, the rapid growth of urban population made such
problems worse. However, by the 1840s, urban problems began to be attacked – and partly solved. For example,
throughout Europe a movement for better public health brought about sewer and water systems and gradually
cleaned up the worst filth. Likewise, there were revolutionary breakthroughs in preventive medicine in the
1860s and after as Pasteur and his followers discovered how germs spread disease and how disease could be
controlled. Urban planning and public transportation helped people move to better, less crowded housing.
Thus, by the late nineteenth century the quality of life in cities had improved considerably for ordinary people.
However, enormous social and economic differences between upper and lower classes continued to exist as
urban and industrial growth created new classes, class conflict, and a more complex social hierarchy. The
chapter illustrates these differences by describing the different classes and some of the fascinating details of
their distinctive lifestyles, including that of women’s fashion. During this period, family life, sexual practices,
and the role of women changed dramatically. In general, family life became more stable and affectionate in the
later nineteenth century, but economic activities became rigidly separated according to sex – with most women
relegated to the position of mother and homemaker. Only in poor families did women work. Women were
subordinated to their husbands in law as well, although it appears that their power in the home increased. The
result of this discrimination was the emergence of a feminist movement among middle- and working-class
women. At the same time, family size declined and children were treated in a more affectionate (and more
calculated) manner – so much so that family life in the nineteenth century became tremendously intense.
Major intellectual developments in the urban society included an expansion of scientific knowledge and the rise
of realism as the dominant literary mood. Scientific thought scored theoretical triumphs, which resulted in
practical improvements, a growing faith in progress, and great prestige for scientists and their methods.
Influential social thinkers such as Comte and Marx sought to determine society’s unalterable scientific laws,
while Social Darwinists applied Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human affairs. The trend toward secular
thinking strengthened. Literary realism, fascinated by scientific laws, ordinary people, and urban problems, fully
reflected the spirit of the age.
STUDY OUTLINE
Use this outline to preview the chapter before you read a particular section in your textbook and then as a self –
check to test your reading comprehension after you have read the chapter section.
I. Taming the city
a. Industry and the growth of cities
1. Deplorable urban conditions of congestion, filth, and disease existed long before the Industrial
Revolution.
2. The Industrial Revolution and population growth made urban reform necessary.
a. In Britain, the percentage of population living in cities of 20,000 or more jumped from 17
percent in 1801 to 54 percent in 1891.
b. Housing was crowded and poor, and living conditions unhealthy.
c. Many people lived in sewerage and excrement.
3. What was responsible for the awful conditions?
a. A lack of transportation, which necessitated the crowding, and the slowness of government
enforcement of sanitary codes contributed to the problem.
b. The legacy of rural housing also contributed to the problem.
b. Public health and the bacterial revolution
1. The reformer Chadwick was influenced by Bentham’s ideas of the greatest good for the greatest
number.
a. He believed that cleaning the city would curtail disease.
b. He proposed the installation of running water and sewers.
2. New sanitation methods and public health laws were adopted all over Europe from the 1840s on.
c. The bacterial revolution
1. The prevailing theory of disease (the miasmatic theory) was that it was caused by bad odors.
2. Pasteur’s theory that germs caused disease was a major breakthrough, and its application meant
disease could be controlled through vaccines.
3. Based on the work of Koch and others, the organisms responsible for many diseases were identified
and effective vaccines developed.
4. Lister developed the concept of sterilization of wounds.
5. Mortality rates began to decline rapidly in European countries.
d. Urban planning and public transportation
1. Better urban planning contributed to improved living conditions.
2. After 1850, Paris was transformed by the urban planning of Haussmann and became a model city.
a. Broad, straight, tree-lined boulevards cut through the center of the city.
b. Parks were created throughout the city.
c. Sewers were improved and aqueducts built.
3. Zoning expropriation laws were a major tool of the new urbanism.
4. Electric streetcars revolutionized urban life and enabled the cities to expand.