18695. CLASS DIVISIONS AND FEAR IN AMERICAN CITIES. This paper uses historical documents and the views of modern-day writers to address the question of how class divisions created feelings of fear among the residents of urban America in the late nineteenth century. It is argued that writers of the time often exaggerated their fear-inducing claims for the purpose of attaining social and political goals. For example, fear contributed to increased funding for the police and increased support for social reform projects, among other things. TAGS: social class divisions urban United States 19th century social psychology crime labor. MLA Style. 8 pages, 18 footnotes, 7 bibliographic sources. 1,829 words.