Explosive Growth of Urbanization in the Late 19th Century

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Explosive Growth of Urbanization in the Late 19th Century
Introduction
In the second half of the 19th Century, the United States (US) witnessed the rapid growth of towns and cities for a number of reasons. It was never the beginning in the growth of cities as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia were already established from the colonial settlement era. However, many factors converged in the late 19th Century to mark it as the period when the most significant level of urbanization was realized. People globally saw the United States as the land of opportunities and had started migrating into the land in large numbers. Industrialization, in particular, had in major ways affected people’s way of living and contributed to the emergence of factors such as electric lighting, communications improvements, intercity transportation, and the rise of skyscrapers. The subsequent discussion offers more insight into the role of the factors mentioned above in elevating the state of urbanization in the country.
Electric lighting is an indispensable factor when it comes to the talk on urbanization. The incandescent light bulb was an invention borne by the popular Thomas Edison in 1879. Edison is referred to as the father of inventions and this one, in particular, ensured that homes and factories where the low and middle-class individuals lived and worked were lit. The dissemination of the electric power to the rural areas was challenging meaning that it was available in cities only. It even got better as the design of the alternating current (AC) system by Nikola Tesla implied that power could be distributed to users, miles away from the source. This capability allowed the expansion of urban centers. Lighting allowed for the increase in production hours and consequently, need for more labor. More population came into the cities. Because of these developments, cities became the hub of economic activities even after sunset.
An exponential rise in the population and growth of cities, a significant problem that in efficient travel was borne. At the time, the most common infrastructure used was either rail or canal and mainly deployed for connection of cities to each other. Omnibuses were becoming ineffective in that horses had to rest and furthermore, their manure became another menace. The electric trolley at the time became a much-needed invention. They were reminiscent of the omnibus but the difference is that they used electricity as the as the source of energy. Major cities elevated the use of electric trolleys to an extent that trolley lines were used to escape congestion because of increased population. At the near-end of the century, cities such as Boston and New York paved way for the establishment of subway systems. Skyscrapers on the other hand, provided the excellent to the housing challenging, as there was an ever-increasing need for space to house the increasing population.
Communication was another intriguing aspect at this time. At the center of this conundrum was the telephone, an equipment that led to complete transformation in both regional and national communication. Its popularity and more so the convenience were the primary reasons as to why i...