The Chicago World Fair: A Historical Impact Of The Chicago World Fair

The “White City” was a vast collection of architecture and arts that were put on display in the year 1893. The Chicago World Fair, also called the “White City”, was a major event in American history that impacted America’s culture, economic, and industry. The Chicago World Fair was held to honor Columbus’ discovery of the New World. The real reason why it was made was to proudly have back their wealth and power. Larson said, “the tower not only assured the eternal fame of its designer, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel but also offered graphic proof that France had edged out the United States for dominance in the realm of iron and steel…”(15). To accomplish this, architects led by Daniel Burnham and John Root made numerous buildings and beautiful scenery

Heaps of civilians wanted to work for the world fair so they came to Chicago. However, there was an abundance of people present and the fair only took a portion of them. At the end of October, the Chicago World Fair ended and the country was in a substantial economic crisis. The working class and even a large number of companies filed for bankruptcy. The social classes were forced to think about their families and forget about the fair. Citizens around the country hoped that the economy would rise up with the fair’s success. However, all of the money that America earned did not stipulate the economy. The thousands of people who had jobs at the fair were now unemployed. The vast amount of people who came to Chicago thinking they would obtain a job since the fair began were now unemployed. For example, look at the Pullman’s Railroad Company and what they did to the workers. They made the apartment's rent 25% higher than the city and cut back 25% on wages (VandeCreek). The reason why the wage cuts and apartment raise occurred was that unemployment was so high that the workers knew they could not fight back. The Chicago fair truly changed history as it was chronologically right next to the Panic of 1893. Luckily, the economy started rising to shape the twentieth century. "Late in the 19th century American manufacturing started to migrate from the eastern seaboard to the burgeoning Midwest in search of cheaper labor, more raw materials, and cheaper power"(Lowery). All of the inventions may not have helped early on, but towards the end of the 19th century, it truly did. All in all, the fair caused an economic distress as shown by the Panic of 1893 however, it helped towards the end bringing a stable economy into the twentieth