Life At The Turn Of The 20 th Century Honors US History.

Life At The Turn Of The 20Life At The Turn Of The 20thth Century Century

Honors US History

Section 1: Objectives

• By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:

• 1. Describe the impact of technological advances on turn of the century urban planning.

• 2. Summarize turn of the century communication innovations.

Section 1: Science and Urban Life

• Main Idea: Advances in science and technology helped solve urban problems, including overcrowding.

• Why it Matters Now: American cities continue to depend on the results of scientific and technological research.

• Key Names:• Louis Sullivan• Daniel Burnham• Frederick Law Olmsted

• Key Names: (cont)• Orville and Wilbur Wright• George Eastman

This is how I feel about three day weekends:

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1. Great! More time to watch history channel!

2. Good! I can read my History book in bed!

3. Not so good. I miss History class!

4. Horrible! I was going through History class withdrawal.

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Science and Urban Life:

• By the turn of the 20th century, four out of ten Americans lived in cities

• By 1900, NYC had 3.5 million people living there (Today 8.3 million)

• In response to urbanization, technological advances began to meet communication, transportation, and space demands

Skyscrapers:

• Skyscrapers emerged after two critical inventions: elevators (Elisha Otis and Werner Von Siemens) & steel skeletons that bear weight

• Famous examples include; Daniel Burnham’s Flatiron Building in NYC, Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building in St. Louis

• The skyscraper was America’s greatest contribution to architecture and solved the issue of how to best use limited and expensive space

• Symbolic of prosperity and opportunity

Why were skyscrapers important for city growth?

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1. They were a great use of space

2. They were inexpensive

3. The people liked the look of them

4. All of the above

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Electric Transit:

• Changes in transportation allowed cities to spread outward

• By the turn of the century, intricate networks of electric streetcars – also called trolley cars –ran from outlying neighborhoods to downtown offices & stores

El’s and Subways:

• A few large cities moved their streetcars far above street level, creating elevated or “el” trains

• Other cities built subways by moving their rail lines underground

• By 1890, the city of Chicago expanded from 17 square miles to 178.

Bridges and Parks:

• Steel-cable suspension bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge, also brought cities’ sections closer (Idea created by John Roebling)

• Some urban planners sought to include landscaped areas & parks

• Frederick Law Olmsted was instrumental in drawing up plans for Central park, NYC. (Also…Boston, DC, and St. Louis)

More About: Central Park

• The park officially opened in 1876 and is made up of 840 acres of land (in the middle of NYC!!!)

• It was designed to be a haven in the center of a busy city.

• Featured: Bike paths, tennis courts, zoo, and boating

• Millions of people every year now use the park as a place to get away from it all.

Why is Central Park important to the residents of New York City?

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1. It offers them a place to “get away from it all”

2. It conserves the land in the center of the city

3. It is much different than the area that surrounds it

4. All of the above are true

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City Planning: Chicago

• Daniel Burnham oversaw the transformation of Chicago’s lakefront from swampy wasteland to elegant parks strung along Lake Michigan

• Today Chicago’s lakefront is one of the most beautiful shorelines in North America (good planning)

New Technologies:

• New developments in communication brought the nation closer

• Advances in printing, aviation, and photography helped speed the transfer of information

A Revolution in Printing:

• By 1890, the literacy rate in the U.S. was nearly 90%

• American mills began to produce huge quantities of cheap paper from wood pulp

• Electrical web-perfecting presses (William Bullock) printed on both sides of paper at the same time

• Faster production and lower costs made newspapers and magazines more affordable (most papers sold for 1 cent and magazines were a nickel)

Photography Explosion:

• Before 1880, photography was a professional activity

• Subjects could not move and the film had to be developed immediately

• George Eastman invented lighter weight equipment and more versatile film

• In 1888, Eastman introduced his Kodak Camera

• The $25 camera came with 100-picture roll of film

• You returned the camera to Eastman’s factory and they printed the pics for you!

• Millions of Americans became amateur photographers!1888 Kodak Camera

Airplanes:

• In the early 20th century, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, experimented with engines and aircrafts

• They commissioned a four-cylinder internal combustion engine, chose a propeller, and built a biplane

• On December 17, 1903 they flew their plane for 12 seconds covering 120 feet

• Within two years the brothers were making 30 minute flights

• By 1920, the U.S. was using airmail flights regularly

Did We Meet Our Objectives?

• Can You:• 1. Describe the impact of

technological advances on turn of the century urban planning.

• 2. Summarize turn of the century communication innovations.

Section 2: Objectives:

• By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:

• 1. Analyze the expansion of public education at the turn of the 20th century.

• 2. Describe the growth of higher education.

Section 2: Expanding Public Education:

• Main Idea: Reforms in public education led to a rise in national literacy and the promotion of public education.

• Why it Matters Now: The public education system is the foundation of the democratic ideals of American society.

• Key Terms:• Tuskegee Normal and

Industrial Institute• Niagara Movement

• Key Names:• Booker T. Washington• W.E.B. Dubois

Expanding Public Education:

• Between 1865 and 1895, 31 states passed laws requiring 12 to 16 weeks of annual education for students ages 8-14, but the curriculum was poor and the teachers were usually not qualified

• Most teachers focused on discipline not teaching (Kids were MISERABLE)

• However, the number of kindergartens expanded from 200 in 1880 to 3,000 in 1900

High School Enrollment Soars:

• High schools expanded their curriculum to include science, civics and social studies and literature

• Industrialists needed people who could perform well at managerial positions

• By 1900, 500,000 teen-agers were enrolled in high schools

• They had both vocational (similar to ACC) schools and traditional high schools.

Education For Immigrants:

• Unlike African Americans, immigrants were encouraged to go to school

• In fact less than 1% of African-Americans attended high school in 1890

• Most immigrants sent their children to public schools

• Also, thousands of adult immigrants attended night schools to learn English (Americanization)

Expanding Higher Education:

• In 1900, less than 3% of America’s youth attended college

• Between 1880 and 1920 college enrollments more than quadrupled

• Professional schools were established for law and medicine

• Colleges now offered courses in Psychology, Sociology, Economics, and Engineering

Today’s Objectives:

• By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:• 1. Describe several of the key players in the

educational reform movement.• 2. Identify how W.E.B. Dubois and Booker T.

Washington pushed for increased schooling for African Americans.

Racial Discrimination:

• African Americans were mostly excluded from secondary education

• In 1890 less than 1% attended high school

• By 1910 that figured had reached only 3%

African American Universities Formed:

• After the Civil War, thousands of African Americans pursued higher education despite being excluded from white institutions

• African-Americans founded Howard, Fisk, and Tuskegee Universities (founded by Booker T. Washington)

• W.E.B. Dubois founded the Niagara Movement, which sought liberal arts educations for African-Americans

Booker T. Washington

Did We Meet Our Objectives?

• Can You:• 1. Analyze the expansion

of public education at the turn of the 20th century.

• 2. Describe the growth of higher education.

Section 3 Objectives:

• By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:

• 1. Trace the historical underpinnings of legalized segregation and the African American struggle against racism in the United States.

• 2. Summarize the turn of the 20th Century race relations in the North and the South.

• 3. Identify discrimination against minorities in the American West.

Section 3: Segregation and Discrimination:

• Main Idea: African Americans led the fight against voting restrictions and Jim Crow laws.

• Why it Matters Now: Today, African Americans have the legacy of a century long battle to civil rights.

• Key Terms:• Poll Tax• Grandfather Clause• Segregation• Jim Crow Laws• Debt Peonage

• Key Terms / Cases:• Plessy vs. Ferguson• Lynching

Section 3: Segregation and Discrimination:

• By the turn of the 20th century, Southern States had adopted a broad system of legal discrimination

• African-Americans had to deal with voting restrictions, Jim Crow laws, Supreme Court set-backs, and physical violence

What is Discrimination?

• Discrimination involves: • Beliefs : "This group of

people is inferior because"

• Emotions : "I hate this group of people."

• Actions : "I will deny opportunity/hurt/kill members of this group."

Voting Restrictions:

• All Southern states imposed new voting restrictions and denied legal equality to African Americans

• Some states limited the vote to those who could read, other states had a poll tax which had to be paid prior to voting

More Voting Restrictions:

• Since there were some white men that couldn’t pass the simple “watered down” literacy test, a Grandfather Clause was created.

• Grandfather Clause – Men were allowed to vote if he, his father, or his grandfather had been eligible to vote before January 1, 1867.

• This date is important because before that time, freed slaves did not have the right to vote yet.

• This clause helped only the illiterate white male.

Jim Crow Laws:

• Southern states passed Segregation laws to separate white and black people in public and private facilities

• These laws came to be known as “Jim Crow Laws”, named after an old minstrel song

• Racial segregation was put into effect in schools, hospitals, parks, and transportation systems throughout the South

Plessy vs. Ferguson:

• Eventually a legal case reached the U.S. Supreme Court to test the constitutionality of segregation

• In 1896, in Plessy v. Ferguson the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of races was legal and did not violate the 14th Amendment

• “Separate but equal”• This decision permitted

legalized racial segregation for almost 60 years.

Plessy v. Ferguson 2

• Homer Plessy was 1/8th African-American and was denied a seat on a “white only” railcar.

• He challenged the concept of segregation and it reached the Supreme Court

• 14th Amendment: Anyone born in US is a legal US citizen (not violated according to SC)

• Separate but Equal=Not Equal

Race Relations:

• African-Americans faced legal discrimination as well as informal rules and customs

• Meant to humiliate these “rules” included;

• 1. Whites never shaking the hand of an African American

• 2. African-Americans had to yield the sidewalk to whites

• 3. African-Americans also had to remove their hats in the presence of whites

Violence:

• African Americans who did not follow the racial etiquette could face severe punishment or death

• Between 1882-1892, more than 1,400 black men and women were shot, burned, or lynched

• Lynching (illegal executions) peaked in the 1880s and 90s but continued well into the 20th century

Discrimination in the North:

• While most African Americans lived in the segregated South, many had migrated to the North in hopes of better jobs & equality

• However, the North had its own brand of racism

• African-Americans got low paying jobs and lived in segregated neighborhoods (de facto segregation)

Discrimination in the West:

• Discrimination in the west was most often directed against Mexican and Asian immigrants

• Mexicans were often forced

in Debt Peonage – a system of forced labor due to debt

• Asians were increasingly excluded from mainstream society

Did We Meet Our Objectives?

• Can You:• 1. Trace the historical

underpinnings of legalized segregation and the African American struggle against racism in the United States.

• 2. Summarize the turn of the 20th Century race relations in the North and the South.

• 3. Identify discrimination against minorities in the American West.

Section 4: Objectives:

• By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:

• 1. Give examples of turn of the century leisure activities and popular sports.

• 2. Analyze the spread of mass culture in the United States at the turn of the 20th Century.

• 3. Describe turn of the century innovations in marketing and advertising.

Section 4: The Dawn of Mass Culture:

• Main Idea: As Americans had more time for leisure activities, a modern mass culture emerged.

• Why it Matters Now: Today, the United States has a worldwide impact on mass culture.

• Key Terms:• Joseph Pulitzer• William Randolph Hearst• Mark Twain

• Key Names:• Ashcan School• Rural Free Delivery (RFD)

Section 4: Dawn of Mass Culture:

• Many middle class Americans fought off city congestion and dull industrial work by enjoying amusement parks, bicycling, tennis and spectator sports

• American leisure was developing into a multi-million dollar industry

Amusement Parks:

• To meet the recreational needs of city dwellers, Chicago, NYC and other cities began setting aside land for parks

• Amusement parks were constructed on the outskirts of cities

• These parks had picnic grounds and a variety of rides

Bicycling and Tennis:

• After the introduction of the “safety bike” in 1885, Americans increasingly enjoyed biking

• By 1890, 312 companies made over 10,000,000 bikes

• Tennis also was very popular in the late 19th century

Spectator Sports:

• Americans not only participated in new sports, but became avid fans of spectator sports

• Baseball and boxing became profitable businesses

• Mark Twain called baseball, “the very symbol of the booming 19th century”

Mass Circulation Newspapers:

• Mass-production printing techniques led to the publication of millions of books, magazines, and newspapers

• Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst were two leading publishers whose competition led to more and more sensational newspaper reporting (yellow journalism)

Hearst

Pulitzer

Here is an example of Yellow Journalism. The aim was to try to outdo the competition

Promoting the Fine Arts:

• By 1900, free circulating Public libraries numbered in the thousands

• By 1900, most major cities had art galleries

• In the early 20th century, the Ashcan School of American Art painted urban life

Title: Dempsey and Firpo, 1924 Artist: George Wesley Bellows

Popular Fiction:

• “Dime” novels were popular & inexpensive

• Most of these focused on adventure tales and heroes of the west

• Some readers preferred a more realistic portrayal from

authors Mark Twain and Jack London

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is famed as one of the classics.

Mark Twain

Growing Consumerism:

• The turn of the century witnessed the beginnings of the:

• 1. Shopping center• 2. Department and chain

stores• 3. The birth of modern

advertising

The Department Store:

• Marshall Field of Chicago brought the first department store to America

• Field’s motto was “Give the lady what she wants”

• Field also pioneered the “bargain basement” concept – less expensive but reliable.

Chain Stores:

• In the 1870s, F.W. Woolworth found that if he offered an item at a low price, “the consumer would purchase it on the spur of the moment”

• By 1911, the Woolworth chain had 596 stores and sold $1,000,000 per week

Advertising:

• Expenditures for advertising was under $10 million a year in 1865, but increased to $95 million by 1900

• Ads appeared in newspapers, magazines and on billboards

Catalogs and Rural Free Delivery:

• Montgomery Ward and Sears were two pioneers in catalog sales

• By 1910, 10 million Americans shopped by mail

• In 1896 the Post Office introduced a Rural free delivery (RFD) - system that brought packages directly to every home

Did We Meet Our Objectives?

• Can You:• 1. Give examples of turn

of the century leisure activities and popular sports.

• 2. Analyze the spread of mass culture in the United States at the turn of the 20th Century.

• 3. Describe turn of the century innovations in marketing and advertising.