The long long ago
This 1848 canal linked the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River system, making Chicago a trade hub.
What is the Illinois & Michigan Canal?
This 1871 disaster destroyed much of Chicago but led to rapid rebuilding.
What is the Great Chicago Fire?
This mayor (1955–1976) symbolized Chicago’s Democratic machine politics.
Who is Richard J. Daley?
This Chicago crime boss became nationally famous during Prohibition.
Who is Al Capone?
This 1930s housing policy labeled minority neighborhoods “hazardous” for loans.
What is redlining?
Chicago’s early growth depended on access to this major river system connected to the Mississippi.
What is the Mississippi River system?
This industry made Chicago the nation’s __________ capital.
What is the meatpacking industry / Union Stockyards?
This mayor’s 1983 election led to the “Council Wars.” He was also the first black mayor of Chicago.
Who is Harold Washington?
This nationwide ban on alcohol (1920–1933) fueled organized crime.
What is Prohibition?
These agreements prevented Black families from buying homes in white neighborhoods.
What are restrictive covenants?
Before becoming a city, Chicago was part of this fur trade network involving French traders & Native Americans.
What is the French fur trade?
Railroads transformed Chicago into this type of national transportation center.
What is a railroad hub?
This term describes a political system where one party dominates city government for decades.
What is a political machine?
This 1969 police raid killed Illinois Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton, becoming one of the most controversial law enforcement actions in Chicago history.
What is the FBI assassination?
These high-rise housing projects became symbols of concentrated poverty.
What are Cabrini-Green & the Robert Taylor Homes?
Chicago was officially incorporated as a city in this year.
What is 1837?
This 1886 labor protest in Chicago became tied to the fight for the eight-hour workday.
What is the Haymarket Affair?
Machine politics exchanged jobs & services for this.
What are favors & votes / political loyalty?
In the 2010s, gang conflicts increasingly escalated because of this digital platform effect that spreads taunts quickly.
What is social media / algorithm-driven amplification?
This federal practice in the 1930s–1950s directed loans toward white suburbs while denying them in Black neighborhoods.
What is federal mortgage discrimination / FHA-backed redlining?
This geographic feature gave Chicago control over trade between the Great Lakes & inland America.
What is its location at the southwestern tip of Lake Michigan?
After the Fire, Chicago rebuilt using this new architectural innovation, helping create the modern skyline.
What is steel-frame skyscraper construction?
The long tenure of mayors like Richard J. Daley & Richard M. Daley reflects Chicago’s tradition of this type of centralized political power.
What is mayoral machine dominance?
After 2010, gang fragmentation was intensified by decades of this economic condition in South & West Side neighborhoods.
What is disinvestment / concentrated poverty?
The demolition of high-rise public housing in the 1990s–2000s was part of this redevelopment plan by the Chicago Housing Authority.
What is the Plan for Transformation?