Questions on City of the Century

Below are possible study questions for next week's test.  The questions will be selected from the following:

 

1.  What type of historian is Donald L. Miller?  (What does he argue is most important in understanding the history of Chicago?)

2.  What are the major differences between Part I and Part II of the book.  Why do you think the book is divided at that point?  Do you think this is a correct decision?  Why or why not?

3.  Does Mr. Miller’s background qualify him to study the history of Chicago?  Why or why not?

4.  Books have been written about Chicago politics.  How would you describe and explain the development of Chicago politics during this period?

5.  Chicago has some of the most interesting architecture of any American city.  Why did Chicago evolve in this fashion.  How did the built environment reflect the development of the city.

6.  How does the economic development of Chicago compare to other American cities?

7.  Miller writes:  “No city in the world grew faster in the 1880s or was more chaotically alive than Chicago, a place people went to see the shape of the future.  Entering it for the first time shattered some visitors’ very ideas of what a great city was; Chicago was that spectacular and awful.”  What does Miller mean by this statement?  Use examples to support your arguments.