During the 17^th century, New York began to thrive with its new innovations and economy which had begun to grow at an exponential rate. The Erie Canal set New York in motion for generations, allowing for the rest of the country to gain easy access to the hub that is new york. Trade businesses grew because of the direct access to Albany as well as buffalo. Because of the new found success in the west, expansion spread towards the eastern side of the country, as well as allowing for immigrants to start to make their mark in the country, further embellishing their future for generations to come. With this new mode of transportation and trade, this inspired even further innovations such as steam power as well as railroads making even greater connections within the area. Traveling distances had more than halved, and cost travels had dropped drastically as well. Several jobs had been created boosting trade, immigration, as well as an overall outlook on the success of the country. From this, population had skyrocketed increasing apartments and tenements, sadly in turn, this had introduced an unhygienic city and filth and disease had spread within the city. Within small tenements and apartments, hygiene was very hard to control especially due to their overpopulation. Conditions would be so bad, as to host 10-20 people per tenement. Within these conditions, all these people would share one bathroom. Cleanliness hadn’t become such an important issue until a few years later. All of these are evidence that one advancement leads to another.

New York City (NYC) is one of the most diverse places in the world. We see how people travelled from around the world in the early times of it’s establishment and how people are still moving to NYC. The buildings in this city captures the culture of these people and the style the brought with them from there foreign country.

As we walked the streets of Lower Manhattan, observing the buildings and learning about their styles and era built. We see as a modern city, we capture designs from ancient time in our buildings. Looking at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse located on 40 Centre Street, we see a style of modernism with the use of Greek designs. We see that the building provides a place for communal gathering as did the Greek, when the built a building like this. This building is placed in a location where there is other buildings that offers governmental services to the residents of NYC. They building in this location was design as a gathering place for people to come and do business.

The style of the building so prominent was designed to show case power, dominance and authority that the court brings to society. It’s massive columns welcomes you with warmth and worry at the same time.

The field trip we took a few weeks ago was fairly eye opening for me, I used to live in the financial district when I first moved to New York and I never looked at it so in depth. For one thing, I never walked up the steps of Federal Hall, which made a difference. Feeling the sandstone, and standing under a portico for protection from the rain. Looking down on Wall St. made me feel high up, and at the same time it made Wall St. seem small, but I could easily imagine getting people’s attention from there.

As for the Woolworth Building, I used to walk by it all the time but I never looked up, I never paid attention to the ornate details, and I never knew that I was walking by it. I only recognized it from a distance, the green roof on the skyline, which sounds kind of dumb but it’s true.

Another building I never noticed was the Federal Office Building, the one with the monument to the slaves who’s bodies were found when they started excavating. I don’t really know how I missed that but that was very interesting, that a burial ground was was there and that it was discovered so recently. Also interesting was how it was memorialized, the grassy mounds are what made me look first. Since I had fallen back at that point and couldn’t really hear the professor I had thought that they looked like graves; although we don’t bury people like that, the approximate length and width makes you think that the mounds contain dead bodies. I also have an interest in monuments, and whether or not they are successful and I feel like this one is; but I’d need to go back again to see if that is the case.

Living in NYC in the late 1800s and/or early 1900s it was difficult situation, due to the overcrowding  conditions. tenements where docents of people would live in, in confine spaces. many of these places were unsafe, dirty, unhealthy, and mostly overcrowded.  the working conditions were basically none existent.  This over population of NYC was created because of the rapid industrialization, the creation of jobs in the city went up to levels never seen before. the agricultural system used in America was rapidly being shifted away to a manufacture economy.

An old-law tenement was typically 25 feet wide by 100 feet deep and six stories tall. The lots that were used for a single family units would later on be turn into a 6 story building, or use the single family units to fit at least 20 families. many of these families were Immigrant families that couldn’t afford living in more decent places, but had to share with many other families to survive. they didn’t even have the basic amenities, or a clean bathroom, sanitation was out of the equation, and many started to demand these necessities.  There were no housing regulations, no fire hazard regulations, and working regulations were irrelevant, children would work on machinery that only adult should be working on; many kids would die in this places.

during the Antebellum Era the U.S. is an agricultural nation and Cleveland was a city on growth. Cleveland was near a river and it had a bid steam boat industry, which was going well and steady.  most of the money on Cleveland was invested in boats and the water industry, when the big boom happened with the expansion of the railroads.  When Cleveland was asked to be involved and become part of that railroad expansion, they declined because they didn’t think that transportation system was going to be relevant, and they kept investing the money on steam boats.  Chicago took part and got involved in the railroads and, hence, Chicago became a more important city than Cleveland. During industrialization Chicago became more popular and a more centric city, and that made the city to grow in  building density and population.

Lower Manhattan

The day we visited the area was kind of gray and wanted to rain however we got to see great architecture in lower Manhattan one of the building well pavilion that I thought was really interesting was the African burial ground national monument even though it was kind of creepy standing on were people were buried. The architecture in this pavilion was amazing starting with the entry a triangle pointing at the direction of the world. The exit is epic too it has the feeling of the world is together by surrounding the world ramp. Finally the symbol on the wall which all mean something else.

African Burial Ground National Monument on 290 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, at Duane Street the Civic Center district of Lower Manhattan, New York City. There is a Monument for more than 400 Africans buried during the late 1700s and 1800s centuries which were estimated to be the largest colonial era cemetery for African Americans. When people were excavating for this site to build they found this however the city of New York preserves the site to be “the most important historic urban archeological project in the United States.

NYC in the 1800s

Population in the big cities of U.S. grew in a remarkable amoung in the late 1800s and early 1900s, This happen by the urbanization, industrialization, and immigration of the time. Employment in industry increased in a tremendous rate by 400 percent from 1880 to 1920 while 14 million people immigrated to U.S. in the same period.

In New York City, there was an amazing population increase every decade from 1800 to 1880. The population would double every decade because of these buildings that were single family dwelling were divide into multiple living spaces.

The conditions in the first tenements were very poor and people lived in enormously crowded situation. When the first tenements were built there were almost no law regulations. Therefore housing didn’t have lighting or air which people need to survive.

An old-law tenement was typically 25 feet wide by 100 feet deep and six stories tall. Build to accommodate 26 families in 325 square-foot apartments.  Often these apartments had no windows, apart from the living room, which often was window looking out to a tiny light shaft or if not just another room in the same apartment. They would live like this which was unhealthy to people living there specially kids this is why kids would die in higher rate than any other category or any age type.

Tenement housing in New York City in the 1800s I think people living in these housing would describe it as, unsafe, unhealthy, overcrowded, inhumane, high death rate, high crime rates. These are some of the struggles the early immigrants had to face looking for a better life. They were running from famine in Ireland or revolution in Germany to have a better life in the United States.

These tenement were constructed because of the growing population in NYC. These houses were constructed in the lower east side where the wealthiest were moving more up north. These houses were for about two to three families, but with the demand for housing so high, they were divided into smaller quarters. These smaller quarters were holding more people than the entire house was designed for. The access to a clean and safe toilet was not part of the deal here. These tenement dwellers shared a toilet that might not have been flushed everytime they used it or every week.

There were no laws that governed these living conditions. However, in the late 1800s, people started to react and fight for there rights to basic amenities. By Early 1900 some of these laws were implemented and enforced, which improved the living standards of tenement dwellers. These laws helped to improve the living standards. Adding to healthier and safer life for people who reside in tenements.