History Homework

Homework on Post-Civil War NYC
The documentary and the reading are on critical developments in the period 1865-1900 which was often called the Gilded Age. The podcast focuses on the decision by the five different boroughs to merge to form one city (which occurs in the 1890s)
Documentary on NYC in the period after the civil war https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsK4PwAvLzE&t=3737s. (watch from 7:07 to 54:30 and 1:14:44-1:17:20).
What were the significant changes that the city went through in the second half of the 19th century according to the documentary? It describes the city as in a sense two cities. What is meant by that?
What happened to the city’s economy after the civil war?
What major construction project started in the 1880s?
What was Tammany Hall? Who supported it? Who was its leader Was it corrupt?
Did the economy always grow or were there economic shocks and depressions? What did the police do when poor people gathered in Tompkins Square to demand the city provide help for the poor?
What was the name of the most important banker who emerged in this period and what was his solution to the economic problems that beset the city and nation?
What was the name of the man who ran for mayor in 1886? Who supported him and why? (1:14-44-1:7:20)
Either listen to this podcast discussion (only need to listen to first 42 minutes) on the merger of the five different borough https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2013/04/consolidation-tale-of-five-boroughs-and.html or read Wallace’s “The Imperial City” (attached). You only need to read pp 1219-1230
What were the different boroughs like in the period before the consolidation of the five boroughs?
What did the state government do in the 1850s in terms of possible future merger?
Who was the key figure who played central role the merger process starting in the 1870s? What was he like? Why did he think that the merger made sense?
Did some areas merge with Manhattan in 1870s? What was the argument in favor of that?
What were some of the main reasons made in support of consolidation of New York City and Brooklyn?
What were some reasons that some opposed the merger of the two? What groups opposed it?
When there was a referendum vote in the different boroughs on merger in which borough was the vote the closest?

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