The Chicago Fire: America at Its Best | 5 Minute Video
The most famous fire in American history happened in Chicago on October 8, 1871. But it’s not the fire that was so remarkable; it’s what happened afterwards. Lee Habeeb, host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Our American Stories,” explains.
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Script:
The most famous fire in American history happened in Chicago on October 8, 1871. But it’s not the fire that is so remarkable. It’s what happened afterwards. To understand why, we first need to know something about the city’s history.
In 1840, Chicago was a small town of forty-five hundred souls. It ranked 92nd in population in the United States. Yet, only three decades later, by 1870—just a year before the great fire—Chicago was closing in on a population of 300,000, making it the fifth-biggest city in America and the fastest-growing city in the world.
What led to all this rapid growth? In three words: location, location, location.
“Chicago was near the center of the country, and near where the waterways and railways met,” city historian Tim Samuelson notes. “It was a perfect place for anything and anyone to get anywhere…”
Timing had a lot to do with it, too. America was moving from a rural to an industrial power. Chicago was right in the middle of the action. Ironically, its rapid growth was almost its undoing. “[Chicago] had to build, and build quickly, and so they built it out of wood,” explained Sarah Marcus of the Chicago History Museum. “It was quick, it was easy, and it was cheap.”
And, as it turned out, very flammable.
By most accounts, the fire started on the city’s West Side, near the De Koven Street barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary. No one is sure of the cause, but it could have been anything, from vandals to a drunken neighbor to that clumsy cow of urban legend.
Within minutes, the blaze roared out of control, tearing through Chicago’s business district. The fire was so hot, it created its own tornado of flame. By 3:30 a.m., all hope of saving large parts of the city was gone. Nearly 30 hours later, the fire finally died. The reason? There was nothing left to burn.
The losses were staggering: The fire claimed nearly 300 lives, destroyed over 17,000 buildings covering almost 3.5 square miles, and caused damage of over $200 million–about 3.8 billion today. Roughly a third of the city lay in ruins, and one out every three people living in Chicago—nearly 100,000 residents—became homeless overnight.
“All the law offices were destroyed, all the major hotels were destroyed, all the major department stores were destroyed, and all the major banks were destroyed,” Chicago weather historian Tom Skilling notes.
In those days, there were no national or state agencies to help. Chicago was on its own.
What was to be done? To most of Chicago’s citizens, the answer was obvious: Rebuild. Make the city better than ever. Yes, there were many victims of the fire, but there was no sense of victimhood. Even before the bricks stopped smoking, the people of Chicago went to work.
First, the damage had to be assessed. The death and destruction were obvious. But there were some major pluses as well. The stockyards and meat packing plants had been spared. Two-thirds of the grain elevators survived. And most importantly, the railway and rail stock escaped major damage. This was critical because it would allow shipments of building materials and private relief aid to come pouring in from across the country and around the world.
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WITHOUT cheating, does anyone know the history of where CHICAGO'S name was derived from? 5:37
2:42 for those who have commented on the facts being MISLEADING… pay attention 😊 3:43
Anyone out there living in Chgo now? 2024 1:00
Evil
Fire destroyed it once. Lori Leadfoot will destroy it again.
Patrick cause the fire, got it
As a conservative living in Illinois this makes me so proud. Outside of Chicago being very liberal, it’s my home and always will be. Soo proud of this!!
I have to admit, olden day Americans had wisdom ( a big chunk of it) as well as self determination.
We rebuilt ground zero after 9/11
This video's bias is misleading. Chicago is not build itself up alone. It depended on world wide donations, insurance AND the federal government. Troops were sent in to help with the aftermath.
Lies lies lies. they weren’t stupid. they didn’t build everything out of wood. The photos of this “fire” are bs and show concrete structures in ruins not from fire. Quit insulting the good folks from the Old World including the architects and everyone that brought their knowledge and talents here from overseas. History has been erased, rewritten with new stories to fit the narrative of the corrupt elite.
Wake up people.
Do you have this same opinion about Afghanistan or foreign countries the US government occupies?
i want chicago to be safer 🙁 i had to leave because of the violence
Heaven is roo far away..do it yourself and learn a new skill. God cant help u now
Happy thanksgiving and merry Christmas
If only. Even though The rebuilding of New York after 9/11, I'm drawing a parallel, was the combined effort from the private sector and Government to reach it's goals. The one thing i noticed was how inspired I became to see how united America was during this tragedy and even for a while after. People really had come together. Boy if ever there needed to a Trump presidency it would have been then .
Man would that have been kickass ? Trump on the hill Rudy at first
There probably wouldn't have been a 9//11.
This is such a powerful story!
this fire was suspicious, a green new deal to me.
https://youtu.be/l2g0jEdu8qk
K mhm
They say theres still bodies never found in the rubble beneath the city you see today.
Which king of 5th grader asks "Why didn't the firefighters work harder"
The people of Chicago need to hear this today
2:50
That's why I want to be a firebender
How funny some people comments negatively on this video. Some say Chicago now is one of the most corrupt State in the USA. New York which is dominated by Liberals is higher on the list. But that's not the point. The point is unity and a strong community. Both Liberals and Conservatives helped each other rebuild the City of Chicago during that time because common sense tells us that no matter our beliefs in life we overcome our differences in order to improve our community in times of crisis. We set aside our selfishness in the name of unity. That's how the "United" States of America got its name. There was a time Liberals and Conservatives thrive to be better and trully respect one another for the sake of the country's abundance and advancement. Then came the Leftist, the Socialists, the Communists and the Progressives. Liberals allowed themselves to be corrupted by these so called philosophical groups whose only purpose is to destroy and tear down the very essence of what the people of the USA has built for so many years — "UNITY"! The USA has now become a laughing stock and many countries now look down on them because many of its citizens disrespects and destroys their own country and one another. How sad.
What was to be done? The answer was obvious.
Cry victim and demand government stimulus!
Who came here after the commercial?
I need to watch this dumb stuff for school
Very inspiring. Possibly the best Prager U video.
All over the globe, thousands of communities have reacted in the same manner in dealing with catastrophes. To claim that this is "America at its Best" is condescending.
Also, the sad part is that the morons who survived the blaze permitted the Democrats to take control, and quickly, the city slid into a reeking cesspit of immorality and idolatry.
Some think it might have also been caused by meteorites. Some other city also had a fire possibly from the same cause.
The one party system at its best
And it turned out (pause) very flammable lol
Chicago later did become the railroad capital of the world as well.
Yeah, but liberals will pounce on all the deaths that occurred during the rebuilding due to shoddy safety standards.
Go chicago