New Century Perspectives Athens to New York Prof. Pearson.

New Century PerspectivesNew Century Perspectives

Athens to New York

Prof. Pearson

At the end of the last century, At the end of the last century, America was changingAmerica was changing

• Spanish American and Philippines wars made America and Imperial power

• American immigration was at its height• Despite the Panic of 1893, economy was

expanding in unprecedented ways• Age of the “Robber Barons” • Age of peonage, child labor -- and resistance

The Debate about America’s The Debate about America’s Purpose was FundamentalPurpose was Fundamental

• Economic structure, role in the world

• Ethnic and racial tension

• Worries about Materialism

• Family Structure, Role of Women

• Role of Technology

• Education

• Environment

Economic StructureEconomic Structure

• Largest industrial economy,

• Largest agricultural economy, the highest per capita income

• Highest level of education

• For the first time, US is a real economic player in the world

The Spanish American WarThe Spanish American War

• Mc Kinley wanted Philippines as American base for Asian markets

• 1898 Spain defeat took 14 days

• Debate ensued over whether to free the Philippines

War in the PhilippinesWar in the Philippines

Mc Kinley told church leaders:

"I am not ashamed to [say] that I went down on my knees and prayed to Almighty God for light and guidance....And one night it came to me: that there was nothing left to do but take [the Philippines] and educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize them... “

A Brutal WarA Brutal War

“..an American soldier, had been found murdered outside this village with his stomach slit open. And the American commander immediately orders that everyone in this Filipino village be executed... a thousand men, women, and children were executed in reprisal for the murder of this one American soldier”

-- Walter LeFaber, historian, referring to a story related in an American soldier’s letter

Brutality sparks US protestBrutality sparks US protest

• Anti Imperialist movement draws support from suffragettes, civil rights leaders and even industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, who offers to buy islands and free them

Ethnic and Racial TensionEthnic and Racial Tension

• Most African Americans in 1900 were "still serfs bound to the soil or house servants.".

• Radical action needed.

• W.E.B. DuBois

Du Bois’ Phila NegroDu Bois’ Phila Negro

• First work in urban sociology, published in 189, example of scientism9

• Blacks migrated to Philadelphia to escape racial violence, found segregation, disease and death.

• Small middle class of entrepreneurs: church as central cultural, political and economic institution

LynchingLynching

• 1882-1930 height of lynching era:90% of victims black

• Time of disfranchisement• Failure of the Populist movement• The Cape Fear Massacre• "The white south had always used violence to

control the slaves and continued to use it to control the freedmen”

• Source: http://home.waidsoft.com/personal/barry/papers/thesis/welcome.html

• Largest period: 1880-1920

• 15,000 Chinese immigrants in San Francisco alone

• By 1900, nearly one-third of NY people

foreign-born

Ethnic tension:ImmigrationEthnic tension:Immigration

Hard timesHard times

• Immigrants crowded into ghettos, working 12-16 hour days, 6 days/week, for as $1.25/day. Child labor common

• Coal companies and others send agents to various European countries to recruit. They pay for passage and make promises, but on arrival, the promises go unkept.

• United Mine Workers, other unions start

Despite the turmoilDespite the turmoil

…Democratic Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan is unable to get support for his campaign to curb American imperialism and reign in corporate trust. The rich worry that their wealth will be threatened and working people worry that their jobs will be threatened.

Women are changingWomen are changing

• The Gibson Girl was a new feminist icon, but women are still dependent on men. Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944) used his wife as a model for these images, drawn for Life magazine.

Female pioneersFemale pioneers

• Ida Wells Barnett, (1867-1931) anti-lynching pioneer and suffragette, publishes The Red Record

Female pioneersFemale pioneers

• Frances Benjamin Johnston - White House photographer --her photo “Civics class at the Hampton institute is at right

Role of technologyRole of technology

• Cross-country travel in 6 days common

• Telephone more common

• Electricity spreading, but feared

• X-rays• Most inventions in 15-

20 years

Role of TechnologyRole of Technology

• Motion pictures• Indoor plumbing• Sound recording

EducationEducation

• Land grant colleges growing

• More women, people of color getting undergraduate and graduate degrees

• Disciplines of economics, sociology, political science, anthropology and psychology emerging

• Scientism as the cure for all social problems

Environment:The Conservation Environment:The Conservation MovementMovement

• Rapid industrialization destroyed wilderness

• Advocates such as John Muir (1838-1914), a pantheist, spurred “Back to Nature movement”

• 5 national parks by 1900