Click Image to reach an interesting page on The Depression of 1893
For Monday April 14
For Wednesday, April 16"Hard Times"
Review, Chambers,
Chapter 2, Prelude to the 20th century, pp. 25 - 53
Bruce Springsteen, a.k.a. The Boss, sings "Hard Times Come No More" in the video above. But the song goes way, way back to 1854, before the beginning of the gilded age, and was written by Stephen Foster. But hard times don't stay away, as the recent recession has shown. The "hard times" which marked the 1890's fell upon many, not just the persons who formed the focus of Jacob Riis' Book, How the Other Half Lives. Many different writers assigned different causes to the decade. For Wednesday, I'd like to have you browse some chapters in some books with different point of view. Speaking of Riis, how are you coming with that? I'd like to get you reflecting on it soon
We didn't quite spend enough time on Rauschenbusch on Wednesdays, class, so I'd like to give him some time This day. Then we'll proceed to think about some of the things mentioned below.
Note that there are links behind the dates in the column at the right. The links in most cases take you to cartoons... Speaking whereof, humor can help people through the worst of times. The Cartoon below is from Puck Magazine, which was published through much of the Gilded Age.There are many more cartoons available through the Library of Congress. Click on the image below to explore them. Volumes of the magazine, which includes jokes and stories, are available by clicking on the name above.
This picture to the right links to a short document by a man from Ohio who led a march, on foot, to Washington DC to protest the conditions of labor during the 1890s
This picture to the left links to a prize-winnig text analyzing the causes of the economic hard times of the 1890s. As was the custom back then, Chapters often began with a short precis of the chapter's context. Browse those, and you'll be able to determine which might be of greatest interest or importance to you. Download the text and open it with adobe acrobat and you'll be able to head right to the chapters of interest.
This picture to the right links to a Wall Street trader who, not exactly charmed by the reputation Wall Street had back then (and still seems to have now), wrote a book called The Wall Street Point of View. As was the custom back then, Chapters often began with a short precis of the chapter's context. Browse those, and you'll be able to determine which might be of greatest interest or importance to you. Download the text and open it with adobe acrobat and you'll be able to head right to the chapters of interest.
For Friday, April 18School Holiday
For those who celebrate: Happy Passover, Happy Easter Weekend
No readings assigned. Believe it or not, that's the real name of a newspaper published in Tombstone, Arizona, during the gilded age. Like most of my illustrations, it hides something: In this case a link to the a file listing all the newspapers online in the Documenting America collection. I've lighlighted in green those which were active across much of the Gilded Age. The links work, so if you want to browse around you're welcome to do so. You may find things useful for your journal.
