ABSTRACT
At the time of the nation's founding and for several decades after, the politics of American cities were controlled primarily by aristocratic and merchant elite. Such a system could not survive the urban growth and the economic and technological changes wrought by industrialization. Because they were important centers of finance and trade, right from the beginning the cities perched on the eastern seaboard benefited from national development even when it was occurring on the distant frontier. The late nineteenth century was the golden age of American city building. Although most Americans were recently descended from immigrants themselves, many of them soon developed a fear and distrust of cities and the people who lived within them. Wherever they were headed, the Statue of Liberty gave them their first view of America, making it the most enduring symbol of America's immigrant history.
