Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/811

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UNITED STATES.
697
UNITED STATES.

from both the North and the South. As the West became well settled the westward movement grew less important; whereas in 1880 11 per cent. of the population of the Central States were born in the Atlantic Coast States, in 1900 only 6 per cent. of the population in the former group of States were born in the latter group. Again, in 1880 13.0 per cent. of the population of the Western division of States were born in the Atlantic States; in 1900 the corresponding per cent. was only 9.5. The absolute number, however, had increased during the period. The increase was much more marked in the percentage of the Central States population which the Western division of States contained. The rate increased from 17.5 per cent. of the population in 1880 to 24.0 per cent. in 1900. In the latter year there were 954,974 whites and 336,879 negroes born in the Southern States who lived in the North and 1,021,450 persons born in the North who lived in the South. New York and Ohio have each experienced a net loss of between six and seven hundred thousand by interstate migration of native born. Texas has made a net gain of 629,000.

Negro Population. See Negro in America.

Urban Population. From 1875 to 1900 there developed a marked tendency for the population of the United States to segregate in cities. Better transportation and communication facilities have enabled trade to concentrate in the large centres, and the development of an extensive factory system has also tended in the same direction. At the same time the greater use of farm machinery has reduced the amount of labor necessary on the farm. The following table shows the absolute and relative increase in the different classes of urban and rural population. It is noteworthy that while the percentage of increase of the urban population was almost as great in the decade 1890-1900 as in the preceding decade, there was in every class of cities but one (the group 4000 to 8000) a very much less percentage of gain in the latter of the two decades:

Number and Population of Cities Classified by Size, and Population of Country Districts, 1880, 1890, and 1900


Number of cities Population Per cent. of
total
population
Per cent. of
 increase of 
population




 1900   1890   1880  1900 1890[1] 1880  1900   1890   1880   1890 
to
1900
 1880 
to
1890












Cities having a population of 
 100,000 and over  38  28  20 14,208,347  9,697,960  6,241,240 18.7 15.5 12.4 46.5 55.4
 25,000 to 100,000 122  96  57  5,509,965  4,291,608  2,394,284  7.3  6.8  4.8 28.4 79.2
 8,000 to 25,000 385 321 210  5,273,887  4,255,057  2,763,137  6.9  6.8  5.5 23.9 54.6
 4,000 to 8,000 612 447 328  3,380,193  2,449,299  1,796,241  4.4  3.9  3.6 38.0 36.4
 2,500 to 4,000 704 598 473  2,211,019  1,865,443  1,485,964  2.9  3.0  3.0 18.5 25.5
 
Country districts ...... ...... ...... 45,411,164 40,388,347 35,484,917 59.8 64.2 70.7 12.4 12.9











Continental U. S. ...... ...... ......  75,994,575  62,947,714  50,155,783  100.0    100.0    100.0   20.7 24.9











All cities   1,861     1,490     1,088    30,583,411   22,559,367   14,670,866  40.2 35.8 29.3 35.6 53.8

The North Atlantic and the North Central States contain the great majority of the urban population. In 1900 the North Atlantic States had 16 and the North Central States 14 of the 38 cities having over 100,000 inhabitants each, while the former division had 54 and the latter 35 of the 122 cities with a population between 25,000 and 100,000.

The following table shows the population of cities having over 100,000 inhabitants in 1900, for the census years 1860, 1890, and 1900:

Population


CITY 1900 1890 1880




New York  3,437,202   1,515,301   813,669 
Chicago 1,698,575  1,099,820  109,260 
Philadelphia 1,293,697  1,046,964  565,529 
Brooklyn [2] 838,547  279,122 
Saint Louis 575,238  451,770  160,773 
Boston 560,892  448,477  177,840 
Baltimore 508,957  434,439  212,418 
Cleveland 381,768  261,353  43,417 
Buffalo 352,387  255,664  81,129 
San Francisco 342,782  298,997  56,802 
Cincinnati 325,902  296,908  161,044 
Pittsburg 321,616  238,617  49,221 
New Orleans 287,104  242,039  168,675 
Detroit 285,704  205,876  45,619 
Milwaukee 285,315  204,468  45,246 
Washington 278,718  230,392  61,122 
Newark 246,070  181,830  71,941 
Jersey City 206,433  163,003  29,226 
Louisville 204,731  161,129  68,033 
Minneapolis 202,718  164,738  2,564 
Providence 175,597  132,146  50,666 
Indianapolis 169,164  105,436  18,611 
Kansas City, Mo.  163,752  132,716  4,418 
Saint Paul 163,065  133,156  10,401 
Rochester 162,608  133,896  48,204 
Denver 133,859  106,713  4,749 
Toledo 131,822  81,434  13,768 
Allegheny 129,896  105,287  28,702 
Columbus 125,560  88,150  18,554 
Worcester 118,421  84,655  24,960 
Syracuse 108,374  88,143  28,119 
New Haven 108,027  81,298  39,267 
Paterson 105,171  78,347  19,586 
Fall River 104,863  74,398  14,026 
Saint Joseph 102,979  52,324  8,932 
Omaha 102,555  140,452  1,883 
Los Angeles 102,479  50,395  4,385 
Memphis 102,320  64,495  22,623 
Scranton 102,026  75,215  9,223 

Density. There were in 1900 25.6 persons to the square mile in the United States, as against about 600 persons in England, 270 persons in Germany, and about 53 persons in European Russia. The average density of population in the United States is greatly reduced because of the vast uninhabited areas in the western half of its territory. In some sections, such as Massachusetts or New Jersey, the density compares favorably with that of Western European countries, as shown in the following table:

  1. Includes population of Indian Territory and Indian reservations.
  2. The city of Brooklyn was consolidated with New York City in 1898.