Chapter 18 Flashcards
Young Men’s Christian Association
Introduced in Boston in 1851, the YMCA promoted muscular Christianity, combining evangelism with athletic facilities where men could make themselves “clean and strong.”
Plessy v. Ferguson
An 1896 Supreme Court case that ruled that racially segregated railroad cars and other public facilities, if they claimed to be “separate but equal,” were permissible according to the Fourteenth Amendment.
Comstock Act
An 1873 law that prohibited circulation of “obscene literature,” defined as including most information on sex, reproduction, and birth control.
Atlanta Compromise
An 1895 address by Booker T. Washington that urged whites and African Americans to work together for the progress of all. Delivered at the Cotton States Exposition in
Atlanta, the speech was widely interpreted as approving racial segregation.
Maternalism
The belief that women should contribute to civic and political life through their special talents as mothers, Christians, and moral guides. Maternalists put this ideology into action by creating dozens of social reform organizations.
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
An organization advocating the prohibition of liquor that spread rapidly after 1879, when charismatic Frances Willard became its leader. Advocating suffrage and a host of reform activities, it launched tens of thousands of women into public life and was the first nationwide organization to identify and condemn domestic violence.
National Association of Colored Women
An organization created in 1896 by African American women to provide community support. Through its local clubs, the NACW arranged for the care of orphans, founded homes for the elderly, advocated temperance, and undertook public health campaigns.
National American Woman Suffrage Association
Women’s suffrage organization created in 1890 by the union of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association. Up to national ratification of suffrage in 1920, the NAWSA played a central role in campaigning for women’s right to vote.
Feminism
The ideology that women should enter the public sphere not only to work on behalf of others, but also for their own equal rights and advancement. Feminists moved beyond advocacy of women’s voting rights to seek greater autonomy in professional careers, property rights, and personal relationships.
progressivism
A loose term for political reformers — especially those from the elite and middle classes — who worked to improve the political system, fight poverty, conserve environmental resources, and increase government involvement in the economy. Giving their name to the “Progressive Era,” such reformers were often prompted to act by fear that mass, radical protests by workers and farmers would spread, as well as by their desire to enhance social welfare and social justice
Hull House
One of the first and most famous social settlements, founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and her companion Ellen Gates Starr in an impoverished, largely Italian immigrant neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
Pure Food and Drug Act
A 1906 law regulating the conditions in the food and drug industries to ensure a safe supply of food and media
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
A devastating fire that quickly spread through the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City on March 25, 1911, killing 146 people. In the wake of the tragedy, fifty-six state laws were passed dealing with such issues as fire hazards, unsafe machines, and wages and working hours for women and children. The fire also provided a national impetus for industrial reform.
fundamentalism
A term adopted by Protestants, between the 1890s and the 1910s, who rejected modernism and historical interpretations of scripture and asserted the literal truth of the Bible. Fundamentalists have historically seen secularism and religious relativism as markers of sin that will be punished by
God.
Race riot
A term for an attack on African Americans by white mobs, triggered by political conflicts, street altercations, or rumors of crime. In some cases, such “riots” were not spontaneous but planned in advance by a group of leaders seeking to enforce white supremacy
