I was surprised to learn that the tenements that house immigrants were once the homes of aristocrats. The birth of tenements began when the need for cheap residential housing by the industrious poor arose. It was the greed of the wealthy and their exploitation of the necessities of the poor that resulted in the dilapidation of tenement buildings. Thus, the large rooms were partitioned into several smaller ones with no regards to ventilation. It is sad that this was the cause of most of the children’s death, as they simply died of suffocation due to bad air quality.

I found it ridiculous that the tenement owners blamed the unsanitary conditions on the people living there, claiming that their dirty ways were at fault. The proprietors were “utterly losing sight of the fact that it was the tolerance of those habits which was the real evil, and that for this they themselves were alone responsible” (Riis 9). Furthermore, I was flabbergasted at the fact that a tenement owner felt that he was “especially entitled to be pitied” for losing his building to a fire (Riis 11). I don’t think he even considered that the ten families that his building provided a home to were now on the streets with essentially nothing since all of their valuables were burned in the fire. These families are the true victims of the fire.

I was shocked to learn of a couple that committed suicide because they “were tired.” They lived in an attic with one window, a space where the residents could barely move. Furthermore, they paid a five dollars for this cramped up room. Their idea of America and the pursuit of the American dream were shattered. Who could blame them, their living conditions were deplorable and most of their income was probably going towards rent.

I was intrigued that both owners and tenants “considered official interference an infringement of personal rights, and a hardship” (Riis 16). Some tenants were losing their homes due to the new laws. There were instances were the police had to drag the tenants out by force. Usually, one would expect the tenants to be for reform, not against it. It is because of the loss of their homes that these tenants felt that the government was being intrusive.

-Anissa Daimally