"Mammon and the Archer," like other stories in O. Henry's The Four Million, touches on aspects of life in New York City at the turn of the century. During the Industrial Revolution of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many American cities experienced an unprecedented increase in immigration, much of which was handled through New York's Ellis Island. In its heyday, Ellis Island processed more than five thousand people per day, and on its busiest day it received almost twelve thousand arrivals. Of all the nation's major cities, New York experienced the greatest increase, more than tripling its population during the last four decades of the nineteenth century. This massive increase in people, coupled with the city planners' desire to surpass other American cities, culminated in 1898—with the consolidation of the city into five boroughs: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

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