New York City 18651898

1
New York City 1865-1898

• By
• Kristen Dickey

2
Brooklyn Bridge

• Built because New York was running out of space
• Began work in 1871
• Celebration of opening of the bridge in 1883 12
  years after construction began
• Had a promenade to walk on
• There was no building as tall as the Brooklyn
  Bridge

3
Boss Tweed

• The most corrupt urban politician in American
  history
• Irishman over 6 ft tall and over 300 lbs
• Became one of the largest real estate owners in
  the city
• Stole 50 million dollars sentenced to 12 years
  in prison

4
Jacob Riis

• Knew firsthand what immigrant life was like at
  one time homeless and considered killing himself
• Wrote a book called How the other half lives
• Used his book to spur people to action to change
  the conditions of the slums/poverty

5
Photography

• Children sleeping in Mulberry Street (1890)
• Riis got a job as a police reporter and published
  magazine articles
• He plunged into the 5 points and took pictures
• Captured images of poverty stricken people and
  children

6
The Five Points

• Neighborhood that was the center of corruption in
  the 19th century
• New Yorks most notorious slum
• Overcrowded with newly arrived immigrants
  struggling to survive in the city

7
Walt Whitman

• Began career as a teacher, then turned to
  journalism
• Wrote book of poetry called Leaves of Grass
• I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the
  journey work of the stars
• Died on March 26, 1892

8
Sources

• Documentary New York
• Episode Three Sunshine and Shadow, 1865-1898
• Jacob Riis Brief Biography
• http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAriis.htm
• The Five Points Site
• http//r2.gsa.gov/fivept/fphome.htm
• Walt Whitman
• http//www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442B7C000C0
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