Debates about poverty and inequality in the United States frequently
invoke the early twentieth century as a time when new social legislation
helped moderate corporate power. But as historian Daniel Amsterdam
shows, the relationship between business interests and the development
of American government was hardly so simple.
Roaring Metropolis reconstructs the ideas and activism of urban
capitalists roughly a century ago. Far from antigovernment stalwarts,
business leaders in cities across the country often advocated extensive
government spending on an array of social programs. They championed
public schooling, public health, the construction of libraries, museums,
parks, and playgrounds, and decentralized cities filled with
freestanding homes--a set of initiatives that they believed would foster
political stability and economic growth during an era of explosive,
often chaotic, urban expansion.
The efforts of businessmen on this front had deep historical roots but
bore the most fruit during the 1920s, an era often misconstrued as an
antigovernment moment. As Daniel Amsterdam illustrates, public spending
soared across urban America during the decade due in part to
businessmen's political activism. With a focus on three different
cities--Detroit, Philadelphia, and Atlanta--and a host of political
groups--organized labor, machine politicians, African American and
immigrant activists, middle-class women's groups, and the Ku Klux
Klan--Roaring Metropolis traces businessmen's quest to build cities
and nurture an urban citizenry friendly to capitalism and the will of
urban capitalists.
