ABSTRACT
American society experienced great change in the years 1880 to 1920. Rapid industrialization, mainly in the northern states, led to major urban growth. The population of New York City rose from 1.2 million in 1880 to 5.6 million by 1920. During this period the population of Chicago, a gateway to the West and a centre of the meatpacking industry, increased from just over half a million to 2.7 million. In the same years, Detroit, which became a key location for automobile production, saw a rise in population from 16,360 to just under 1 million, and the population of Pittsburgh, home of the steel industry, grew from 235,071 to 588,343.
