| This dissertation uses data from the manuscript federal censuses of 1860 and 1870 to examine two dimensions of economic opportunity in early San Francisco: individual wealth ownership by adult males, and school attendance by male children. San Francisco is first compared to Chicago, Boston, New York and Indianapolis in 1860. Then the dissertation documents changes within San Francisco from 1860 to 1870. Immigrants in 1860 San Francisco, like those in the two Midwestern cities, were more likely to own wealth than were immigrants in the two Eastern cities. Further, those who owned wealth did so at higher levels. San Francisco's English and Irish immigrants were, in fact, relatively as wealthy as or even wealthier than San Francisco's Americans.;In 1860, both American and immigrant boys in San Francisco attended school at higher rates than did boys in Boston but lower rates than did boys in Chicago. The 1860s saw great changes in and expansion of the San Francisco school system, including many changes that seemed designed to encourage the school attendance of immigrants. But by 1870, the school attendance rates of immigrant boys had not reached the level of the American boys, despite the relative economic prosperity of immigrant families. Decisions by school superintendents and other figures played an important role in the school attendance of San Francisco's immigrants.;In general, the wealth of all occupational and ethnic groups in San Francisco increased over the course of the 1860s. Blue-collar Irish and English immigrants saw the largest increases. Although German wealth ownership grew significantly during the 1860s, the wealth holding pattern of the San Francisco Germans was quite different than that of Germans in other cities. |
