Jacob Riis
Due to these large businesses and corporations growing and expanding, the working conditions worsened. Workers were working seven day work weeks, received no vacation days or sick days, along with lower wages and all while at a high risk of injuries, and even death in some cases, while working. In addition, child labor laws had not yet been passed and as a result young children were working in factories full time with these same conditions. Furthermore, due to the large movement of Americans into these urban centers paired with the movement of immigrants into the US and then into these centers, overcrowding became a huge problem. Along with these overcrowding problems, the large amount of people in one place led to overall sanitation problems. A photographer by the name of Jacob Riis set out to change these problems. He took photographs such as the one above, and placed them all in one book named How the Other Half Lives. This book along with his numerous other photos sparked a general interest in many people. They began to move towards a reform within these urban centers, leading to huge reforms in sanitation, water, and overall overcrowding problems. Just one man publishing a book led to filtration, new law enforcement, and overall reforms within cities.