For this short exercise, you are asked to pick a leading city from the 19th century (see below, which we will discuss in class), and write a short (2–3 page) summary of key aspects of the city’s growth and development over the 19th and early 20th centuries. Focus on the grand arc and the pivotal moments, not every detail. (We’ll have a lot of time for details and closer reading later in the semester.)
Try to answer the following (although ideally in a more compelling narrative, not just a series of bullet points):
- Why is the city located where it is?
- When was it settled, how did it grow, and why?
- Who lives there? What do they do?
- What challenges has this growth or history included, and how has the city responded to these changes?
Please write up your thoughts in a tight, descriptive, and engaging summary, and close with a single paragraph highlighting something in this history that you found particularly interesting (and why).
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For a useful resource to help you select a city to focus on, see the infographic “Rank of the Most Populous Cities at Each Census: 1790-1890,” from Statistical Atlas of the United States, Washington, DC, 1898.
