Plague of strangers: Social groups and the origins of city services in Cincinnati
Dublin Core
Titre
Plague of strangers: Social groups and the origins of city services in Cincinnati
Sujet
, société urbaine, service public, gouvernance, santé, urbanité, histoire urbaine, collectivités locales, nineteenth century, dix-neuvième siècle, Cincinnati, États-Unis, United States, Marcus Alan I., immigration
Description
Abstract from the publisher:
Alan Marcus's
Plague of Strangers examines the origins and development of municipal services in mid-nineteenth century cities from a political, social, and public health point of view. Using Cincinnati as an example of a national trend, Marcus argues that cities developed police, fire, health, relief, and city development services and regulations in reaction to what they perceived as a new threat from "strangers" - immigrants and others not versed in American urban ways who were invading their cities during the 1830s and 1840s.
By the mid-nineteenth century, according to Marcus, most Americans had acknowledged that their cities contained social divisions, or subpopulations, and that these diverse people differed only by behavior and could therefore be taught the "right" way to act. This task fell to benevolent organizations. City government emerged as the mechanism to prevent the uneducated and ill-educated from wreaking havoc on themselves and other city residents as behavioral modification progressed.
