Chapter 2, The sections beginning with The Weakened Springs of Politics, pp. 38 - 53
Chapter 4: A Changing Society and Culture pp. 80 - 124
We have already become acquainted with a number of the changes which this chapter considers, but here the emphasis will be on the psychological effects of these changes, and perhaps on the sociology of change, as well. We will also begin to note that this new society is losing its Victorian flavor and moral attitudes are changing. We'll consider how these changes arise out of the economic and geographic changes we're noticing. We will touch on racism, but we'll return to look at the situation of black Americans in much more detail on Thursday. and also Tuesday of next week.
The last part of Chambers’ chapter four returns to the question of the new consumer culture which we looked at the last few sessions. looked. In fact, there's no subject completely new in this chapter. What is new is a greater attempt to put these the changes into an institutional context. We respond to new environments by either creating new institutions or reforming old ones. We'll se3 a little of both--reformist political parties, new "schools" of education, and many other things, some of which are still with us today. We're also going to spend just a little time looking at war and imperialism...I apologize to the "war buffs"--but we have several other history courses which devote time to the Spanish-American war, so I thought I could safely stint it a bit.
Once again, the Library of Congress outdoes itself in providing world-class resources to the world. The World of 1898is produced by the Hispanic Division. I want you all to do some browsing here.
Second, if your character dwells east of the Mississippi, look at the sections on Cuba and Puerto Rico
If, on the other hand your character lives west of the Mississippi, look at the sections on the Philippines.
Last, Everyone follow the link to American Memory. and findone useful resource from one of the collections there. Add it to your collection of materials.
Ida B. Wells was a pioneer crusader for an end to lynching. She faced threats of lynching herself. Click on her picture to read her biography.
Between 1882 (when reliable statistics were first collected) and 1968 (when the classic forms of lynching had disappeared), 4,743 persons died of lynching, 3,446 of them black men and women. Mississippi (539 black victims, 42 white) led this grim parade of death, followed by Georgia (492, 39), Texas (352, 141), Louisiana (335, 56), and Alabama (299, 48). From 1882 to 1901, the annual number nationally usually exceeded 100; 1892 had a record 230 deaths (161 black, 69 white).Although lynchings declined somewhat in the twentieth century, there were still 97 in 1908 (89 black, 8 white), 83 in the racially troubled postwar year of 1919 (76, 7, plus some 25 race riots), 30 in 1926 (23, 7), and 28 in 1933 (24, 4)
From the Richmond Whig
Caption: One Less Vote
Click Image for a surprise.
I am expecting that some of you will find today's and Friday's readings and discussion profoundly disturbing. In fact, I would be a bit disappointed if this was not the case. All too often we are ready to assume that inter-social conflict is something that happens elsewhere... in Ireland, or Israel, or Afghanistan, certainly not in "civilized" America.
And yet our own record is bloody enough, and surprisingly unknown. There are a number of voices speaking to you today, and it is important that you consider them. Note that popular sentiments divided on this issue, and that for every anti-lynch crusader like Ida Wells there were civic voices raised defending the practice. Note, too, that not all the lynchings were southern, Urbana, Illinois, scene of a late 19th century lynching was home to the University of Illinois. Not all the persons lynched were black. However, in many cases where a white person was lynched the "crime" involved over familiarity with black persons.
Observe, too, the faces in the crowds at those remarkable series of photographs which form the core of Without Sanctuary. Note the dress. Coats, ties, vests--the uniform of emerging middle America. Your character might very well have been a face in those crowds, or if not, a silent encourager of them.
Note the social class implications in this cartoon. Compare this with the photographs on the Without Sanctuary website. What does this comparison suggest about white explanations of lynching and the reality of that explanation?
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 lyrics to the song can be found here. 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.
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. Read it.
This picture to the left links to a prize-wining 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. Choose a chapter which is interesting to you. Add the URL to your resources, I'll give a demonstration.
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. Choose a chapter which is interesting to you. Add the URL to your resources, I'll give a demonstration.
You will find one of these chronology siders by every page on the pages from Rebecca Chamber's Website above. (Currency, Economic Depression, etc.) Next to the white dot you will see a black date. Clinking on the date will bring you to a cartoon. Choose five of them, copy and paste them to a document, and upload them to your resource files. Alternately you can add the link of the cartoon as a URL and and in the box where it says website title write in the title to the cartoon.
