ABSTRACT
In the three decades following 1860, most American cities doubled or trebled in size, increasing the non-rural population to a third of the nation’s total. The enterprise engendered by the pre-Civil War cities transformed their character, constructed new arteries of trade, and scattered almost a thousand new urban places throughout the land. Inter-city rivalries, though muted somewhat during the Civil War, acquired a new intensity after the return of peace. The immigrant tide was steadily mounting in these decades and averaged a half million annually during the eighties, more than double that of the sixties. Most of the northern and western cities, on the other hand, welcomed or at least attracted immigrants in great numbers and responded in varied ways to their influence. Choral societies and orchestras in Rochester and Milwaukee eagerly endeavored to match the performances of the more professional symphony orchestras of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati, and Chicago.
