Transcript Social and Cultural Changes 1877-1900

Social and Cultural Changes
1877-1900
American life seemed much the same in 1877 as it had been
a century earlier. Most Americans were white Anglo-Saxon
Protestants, who owned their own homes and led quiet,
generally healthy lives. But urbanization and
industrialization were changing all aspects of American life.
Manners and Mores
• Late 19th century
– Victorian morals
– Middle class
– Behaved “properly”
• Religious values
– Reform movements
• Alcohol
• Pornography
• Political corruption
Leisure and Entertainment
• Free time
– At home playing cards,
croquet or other games
• Music
– Ballads, ragtime
• Circus, organized sports
(baseball, football,
basketball)
• Street Lights changed
American’s leisure habits
Changes in Family Life
• Poor Lower Class
– Family life disappeared
• Middle Class
– Father commuted
– Mother-made home a
domestic refuge
– “just a housewife” was
almost shameful,
domesticity never fully
honored
• I have a little boy at home,
• A pretty little son;
• I think sometimes the world
is mine
• In him, my only one…
• ‘Ere dawn my labor drives
me forth
• ‘Tis night when I am free
• A stranger am I to my child;
• And stranger my child to me
Changing Views:
A growing assertiveness among
women
• “New Women”
– Demanded the
elimination of laws
that discriminated
against them
– Spoke openly about
topics that had long
been considered
taboo
Educating the Masses
• States required young to
attend school
– Only to 6th grade
• Teaching
– Unimaginative
– Routine
– Students were NOT
encouraged to be active
• South-Segregation, Rural
poverty
– 1896- “Separate but
equal” school systems
Higher Education
• Colleges flourished
– Medicine
– Nursing
• Women accepted
• Racial discrimination
persisted
– Booker T.
Washingtonconcentrate on
vocational education
– WEB DuBois-wanted
equal quality education
Booker T.
Washington
WEB DuBois
Higher Education for African Americans
Booker T. Washington
WEB Du Bois
• Ex-slave
• Founded the Tuskegee
Institute
• Stressed patience, manual
training & hard work
• Focus on economic gains. Go
to school to learn skills
• Acknowledge white
domination.
• Rather than fight, show they
are worthy of their rights
•
•
•
•
Attended Harvard University
Civil Rights activist
More aggressive strategy
Worked his way up and used
sociology to study the effect of
urban life on blacks
• Focus: change the environment
and people will change
• Urged African Americans to
aspire to professional careers
– Fight for their rights
– Get a college education
– Called for integration of schools and
equal opportunity