Jacob Riis Chapter Summary

1. This book takes place in New York around the year 1855 to about 1889 when many immigrants from all over the world came to North America. In Jacob Riis’s book he breaks down the immigrants in to different race groups. This book is also about the overcrowding and the unhealthy living conditions of the tenement and how there community changes to become a healthy place to live and work.
2. The author Jacob Riis proved that the saying ‘’one half of the world does not know how the other half lives.’’ Although we are not talking about the other half of the world but the other half of New York this saying is still true. Mr. Riis opened the eyes of New Yorkers and stood up for others to show how their fellow citizens where living in a dangerous and unhealthy environment. The streets dirtied with trash, swine living in cellars underneath homes with eight to ten loads of manure and five families crowed into one 12 × 12 room awhile the spread of disease.
3.
Jacob Riis uses is own experience has an immigrant that was in poverty plus his research on all the different nationality that lived in the tenements which include Irish, Italian, German, French, African, Spanish, Bohemian, Russian, Scandinavian, Jewish, and Chinese. He also took many photographs of the filthy environment and of people including children in their daily life struggles. The book also included many sketches of his photos and diagram of the different tenements.
Mr. Riis also uses dialog with people he has meant throw this journey of uncovering the truth of how the other half lives to support his