Primary Source Review: Genesis of the Tenement

Primary Source Review: Genesis of the Tenement
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In the late 19^th New York the housing needs of the working class were unmet and they increasingly lived in squalid conditions.  In Genesis of the Tenement, Riss addressed the social problem of poor housing and even poverty with many New Yorkers living in slums, but there were differences in opinion among the rich and poor residents on what caused this. Genesis of the Tenement was first published in 1890, and Jacob had focused on social reforms, but his work was noticed more after the book’s publishing. Riss mentions the first tenement/ residence to be built in New York City and likens this to Biblical Cain. The new tenants in the late 19^th century were more mixed unlike the earlier inhabitants who were the descendants of Dutchmen in New York. New York was mainly the first place where immigrants from Europe settled since there was a port where they landed and many traveled to other places from there. While earlier immigrants were from Western Europe and Scandinavia, those in the late 19^th century were mostly Eastern Europeans. The recent immigrants in the U.S. tended to settle in cities including New York, but housing was in short supply. “In thirty-five years the city of less than a hundred thousand came to harbor half a million souls, for whom homes had to be found.” The city had grown that even George Washington had moved away from his previous residence to places that were less congested.   The housing problem worsened over time, as there were first opportunities for the poor to get cheaper housing, and they could live in tenant houses.  However, over time, the house owners partitioned their houses into small compartments for the poor and the rent was exorbitant.   The densi...