chapter 18 Flashcards
In what three ways did the middle and working classes distinguish each other?
work
consumerism
leisure
Describe consumer culture and inequality.
Products were developed for the consumer; consumer culture seemed democratic as working-class Americans could purchase cheap mass-produced goods and watch moving pictures
however, there was class inequality, race privellage, and traditional gender roles in consumerism
consumer-oriented businesses enticed middle-class women to change old shopping and leisure habits. women were offered tearooms, day-care, and other services.
on the other hand, the working-class women would work in the establishments and use employee discounts
how did technology widen the gap between the middle and working-class
Technology (washing machine, vacuum cleaner, telephones) changed social relations and eased life for middle class
Technology offered employment for working class
Describe transportation and the inequality?
Transportation was elegant for the middle-class
African Americans were segregated against.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) said that segregation may occur as long as the accomodations were equal. They followed Jim Crow Legilsation that segregated commerical + public spaces in the South.
However, the accomdations were usually not.
Describe gender expectations for men and the change it underwent?
A man did not use his muscle as much as “brain work”.
Athletics became a leisure activity to prevent weakness and decay and to maintain toughness and strength.
What was the YMCA
Young Men’s Christian Association
= combined athletics with evangelizing appeal
wanted to teach discipline and instill teamwork and pride
working-class men were offered indoor games and leisure activities
middle class and elite men and women were offered country club activities and aggressive physical sports.
Describe “America’s game”
Before the Civil War, the only “games” were Native American lacrosse and European American cricket.
Baseball was developed in the mid-19th century and spread to military camps.
It was created by independent craftsmen and adopted by middle-class/elite men. = Elite men played it for strength and fitness = Working class men played it for discipline and teamwork
A new consumer was made: the fan
Describe African American Baseball
They were not allowed to play in the national league, and the game had become separated.
They made an all-Negro league to celebrate the athletic talent and racial pride
Describe American Football
was the most controversial sport (began at Ivy League Schools)
Attracted business sponsorship. Executives of Carnegie Steel organized teams and created a league during the anthracite coal strike.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Describe the Great Outdoors in the late 19th century?
The outdoors changed from being viewed as dangerous to recreational and leisure.
Women took up archery and golf. Men and women took up bicycling.
Railroads were used to go to national parks or go camping & rent cottages.
What nature conservation movements arose?
Organizations (Appalachian Mountain Club, Sierra Club) dedicated themselves to preserving and enjoying the mountains.
Governments would set aside public land for preservation and recreation. Wilson expanded the park system and created the National Park Service (1916).
Conservationists protected wildlife (Lacey Act, National Audubon Society, Roosevelt’s National Wildlife Refuge at Pelican Island, Florida)>
Fishing and hitting were redefined as recreational, not subsistence
What was the antiquities act?
US presidents can set aside objects of historic and scientific interest WITHOUT congressional approval
Roosevelt used it to preserve Grand Canyon
Describe changes in family life in the 1900s?
The average woman in 1800 bore 7 children. This number decreased to 3.6 by 1900.
Childbearing was limited
= mothers would space pregnancy by nursing young children for several years (this suppressed fertility)
= contraceptives
1873 = Anthony Comstock banned obscene materials from US mail (information about sex and birth control)
Describe education in the 1900s?
High school education was good for boys who wanted to enter professional or managerial work. (daughters attend school more than sons).
1900 = 71% of Americans attended School
- School was co-ed with athletics
1920 = 8% attended college
state college began stressing technical training, and private colleges used liberal arts (under harvard’s Charles eliot).
Who was Washington?
Booker T. Washington created the Tuskegee Institute
proiminent black leader who emphasized racial progress in the South, and supported segregation.
wanted to avoid confrontation with whites, but accommodated them too much.
Describe female college education in the NE and S vs MW and W
women attended single-sex institutions or teacher-training colleges.
private colleges offered equivalent educations (Vassar, Smith, Wellesley).
Co-education was prevalent in MW and W, immediately after the civil war.
What was the Association for the Advancement of Women
founded in 1873
defended women’s education and argued that a women’s paid employment was good.
Why was the General Federation of Women’s Clubs Created
middle-class wanted to expand their place beyond the household and take political action in the late 1800s.
they would make maternalist arguments and justify work based on their role as a mother.
What was the WCTU
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (headed by Frances Willard - A Christina socialist)
Wanted to advocate the prohibition of liquor
Launched women into public reform
Advocated women’s suffrage and supported the Prohibition Party.
Why was the WCTU important for women
allowed them to raise money and become politically involved
they could join People’s Party or National Congress of Mothers
could run for office
How were Women’s groups patriotic?
Daughters of American Revolution = devoted themselves to celebrating memory of revolutionary war hero
United Daughters of Confederacy = extoled South’s Lost Cause
Describe African American women and their women’s groups
1896 = Created the National Association of Colored Women (focused attention on community support)
black women would care for orphans, find home for elderly, work for temperance, and undertake public health campaigns.
IDA B. WELLS: launched campaign against lynching. showed that lunching occurred due to labor disputes, economic competition, and consensual relationships between white women and black men.
What was the NBC
National Baptist church housed the largest black women’s group.
The Women’s Convention of the NBC promoted night school, health clinic, kindergarten, daycare, prison outreach
What is NAWSA
National American Woman Suffrage Organization (split during reconstruction, but reunited in 1890).
Won victories in Colorado, Idaho, Utah.
Antisuffragists believed that women voters would double their husband’s votes.
