Brooklyn Bridge

Before the Brooklyn was built, there were many issues with the East River.  There was reliable, easy way to get across except for ferries.  People had to choose to either live and work in Manhattan or Brooklyn, because of unreliable, unsafe transport.(openlab).  However, the Brooklyn bridge brought major change to both Brooklyn and Manhattan.  The bridge, while not funded for moral reasons, allowed for safe and easy travel, expansion of population in Manhattan to Brooklyn, and the implementation of new technologies to create the largest suspension bridge at the time. 

This is a picture of the ferry across the
East river

This is a news paper article about the architect of the
Brooklyn Bridge, John Roebling

Before the bridge began construction, 10% of the population of Brooklyn commuted to Manhattan every day.  The Brooklyn Bridge started construction in 1867, and was finished in 1883, spanning a sixteen year construction period.  The construction of the bridge was overseen by German immigrant John A. Roebling.  After dying during the construction of the bridge, his son took over the project.  The main reason why the bridge was possible to build in the first place was Roebling’s invention of steel cables.  This made the bridge much sturdier, and able to hold more weight than traditional iron cables.  This resulted in the longest suspension bridge of its time, being 3,454 feet long and weighing 6,620 tons.(abc.clio)  Also, according to a newspaper in 1888, bridges of similar stature, weight, and length were now possible thanks to Roebling’s steel cables holding up the weight.(the sun, newspaper)  This was truly an engineering feat of its time.

This is a picture of a commuter on the bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge became an extremely easy way to commute across the East River.  The bridge had been crossed an average 30 million people each year.  This is not surprising since the bridge connected two of the fastest growing cities in the nation.  The bridge had cost 15 million dollars to build.(the sun, newspaper)  However, it had toll booths for the first eight years it was in operation.(history.com-Bridge)  This was to make up the gap that was created to build the bridge, as well as earn some profit.  After that, the bridge would be free for everyone to travel across, no matter what the circumstances.  This immediately made the bridge more popular, as well as making it easier to live in Brooklyn.  Within the decade before and after the toll booths were repealed, the population of the city was more than double what it once was.(worldpopulationreview.com).  This was the importance of the bridge to the common population.

This is an illustration of the workers on the bridge

The bridge was built for many different reasons, especially for the common person in the city.  Accidents in the harbor were very common before the bridge.  Ferries would crash and sink on a constant basis.  They would also be extremely overcrowded with people who would rush to get to there jobs.  This is because nearly 100,000 people would attempt to cross the river every single day.  The bridge offered a safer, easier, and faster path to their destination.(openlab.edu)  While accidents did happen on the bridge, such as a steel cable snapping, killing several and injuring many, they did not happen nearly as frequently as the ferries.  The population increased because of this new mode of transportation by the hundreds of thousands in each decade, and nearly 2 million in 1900.  This was due to the overcrowded nature of New York, having a population density of 53,306 per square mile to 42,746 per square mile between 1880 and 1890.  This happened while the population increased by 309,002 people, all because more people were spreading into Brooklyn.(demographia.com)  This shows the impact the Bridge had on the entire population of New York.

This is William "Boss" Tweed a powerful stockholder for the bridge's company

This bridge was also built for political reasons.  One reason was to create several thousand jobs for the population.  These jobs were mainly take by German, Italian, and Irish immigrants.  They were also cheap jobs with an average of $2 - $2.25 for daily wages.(brooklynwaterfronthistory.org)  However, the main contributor to gathering the fund for the New York Bridge Company was a man named William M. “Boss” Tweed.  Tweed help with the bridge from the beginning by becoming a major holder of the stocks company.  He joined the committee in the company which managed the finances of the project.  His plan, however, was to get money for the city’s bridge contracts.  He had done this with similar projects, and sold between $45 million - $200 million from public coffers.  This stopped, however, after he was arrested in 1871.(history.com-tweed)  Even though he funded the project in order to scam money from it, he was a key player in making the bridge a reality.  

This is modern day New York, now a major economic power

The Brooklyn bridge is the reason why New York City is the large, economic power house today.  The bridge was able to connect these to large cities, Brooklyn and New York.  This lead to the annexation of Brooklyn into New York City in 1898.(stevemorse.org)  People were finally able to cross the river without much trouble at all, and the population of New York would be able to move to Brooklyn, without having to worry about being able to easily get to their job.  This was the significance of the Brooklyn bridge.