Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- PREFACE
- CHAPTER I THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
- CHAPTER II THE LABOURING POPULATION—IRISH AND GERMANS
- CHAPTER III THE PRESS—ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE—PUBLIC OPINION
- CHAPTER IV RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS
- CHAPTER V THE WOMEN OF AMERICA
- CHAPTER VI THE CITIES OF AMERICA—NEW YORK
- CHAPTER VII THE STEAMBOAT AND RAILWAY SYSTEM OF AMERICA—STREET TRAFFIC
- CHAPTER VIII EDUCATION—THE FREE-SCHOOL SYSTEM
- CHAPTER IX BUSINESS
- CHAPTER X MINERAL WEALTH OF THE COUNTRY
- CHAPTER XI THE LATE CIVIL WAR
- CHAPTER XII SANATORY FAIRS AND CHARITIES
- CHAPTER XIII POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE
- CHAPTER XIV COMMISSIONERS OF EMIGRATION—CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YOEK
- CHAPTER XV ADVICE TO INTENDING EMIGRANTS
CHAPTER VI - THE CITIES OF AMERICA—NEW YORK
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- PREFACE
- CHAPTER I THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
- CHAPTER II THE LABOURING POPULATION—IRISH AND GERMANS
- CHAPTER III THE PRESS—ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE—PUBLIC OPINION
- CHAPTER IV RELIGIOUS AND MORAL CHARACTERISTICS
- CHAPTER V THE WOMEN OF AMERICA
- CHAPTER VI THE CITIES OF AMERICA—NEW YORK
- CHAPTER VII THE STEAMBOAT AND RAILWAY SYSTEM OF AMERICA—STREET TRAFFIC
- CHAPTER VIII EDUCATION—THE FREE-SCHOOL SYSTEM
- CHAPTER IX BUSINESS
- CHAPTER X MINERAL WEALTH OF THE COUNTRY
- CHAPTER XI THE LATE CIVIL WAR
- CHAPTER XII SANATORY FAIRS AND CHARITIES
- CHAPTER XIII POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE
- CHAPTER XIV COMMISSIONERS OF EMIGRATION—CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YOEK
- CHAPTER XV ADVICE TO INTENDING EMIGRANTS
Summary
The mixed races of people on the American continent has been the cause of producing not only a change in manners and habits, but everything connected with their social and domestic requirements has been altered to suit their new condition. Every man coming to the United States must make up his mind to begin life afresh. To the young, in whom pliability of mind and body is natural, the change is not difficult, but to the aged, whose time-honoured impressions are a stereotyped part of their being, the case is very different. So far as personal comfort is in question—such as eating, drinking, house-room, and clothing—the working people live much better than the generality of the middle classes of England did little more than fifty years ago. In the large towns the majority of the houses are built of brick, but there are a large number of frame-houses, many of which are occupied by people of high social position. These wooden erections are very different from the frame-houses common in England up to the early part of the present century. The American frame-house, like almost everything else in the country, is not built to battle with time, whereas the old English mansion, with its solid oak ribs, was made to stand the test of ages through sunshine and storm. I have always had a great veneration for these antique erections; to me they are landmarks in the march of British progress in civilization, and memorials of the steady character of John Bull, and they also furnish a proof of his love for things of a solid and enduring nature.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009