Sullen Hoy, "City Cleansing"

In Sullen Hoy's, City Cleansing, he explores America's transition from a war on slavery during the Civil War to a war on dirt in the years that followed. He points out that in the years following the Civil War the "Filth Diseases" (59) that were once considered a problem mainly for soldiers became a problem for common citizens as well. The growth of cities and towns following the war caused epidemics such as cholera, typhoid, and yellow fever to resurfaced and often forced businesses to close and families that could afford it to migrate to the country. The benefits that followed from these events were the recognition of the relationship between uncleanliness and disease and the newfound importance that was being placed on cleaning up the city.
An interesting point in this piece was that the North criticized the South for their supposed lack of effort in cleaning up to prevent disease, when in actuality the reason for less disease in the North was "due principally to their northerly latitude, where earlier frosts killed the Aedes larvae sooner" (63). This is interesting because even after the end of the Civil War, the North and South found new, different basis for conflict.
Another interesting point also relates to issues of the Civil War. The fact that Chicago became nicknamed the "White City" (78) had numerous implications during this time period. It had the literal implication of its newfound cleanliness along with the underlying implications of the time with "white" being seen as clean, and anything else as unclean.
It is also notewortyh that this new cleanliness issue of the time became an important politcal issue and campaign, when it was previously politically irrelevant. It quickly became and important issue in people's voting decisions and continues to be to this day.
It is interesting that this time began the role of women outside the home, although it was a role that remained one related to cleaning. It was a slow, but important start to the active role of women in society. As cleanliness advance as an important political issue, and the importance of women's role in maintaining this cleanliness advanced, so the two came together to begin women's role in the political world.