Key Terms (page 501-518)
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12-27-10
Development of Professional Fire Departments: Major cities like Boston, Chicago, San
Francisco, and Baltimore suffered “great fires” in downtown areas where many buildings
were still constructed of wood. These great firs caused lots of damage especially the
earthquake in 1906 that caused a huge fire. These great fires led to the encouragement of
building fire proof buildings as well as the development of professional fire departments
Air Pollution: In the late nineteenth century there was a major increase in respiratory
infection and related diseases due to the constant air pollution caused by factories and,
stoves and furnaces in offices, homes and other buildings mainly in the cities rather than
in rural areas
Public Health Service: This organization was created by the federal government to prevent
occupational diseases such as tuberculosis and anemia and carbon dioxide poisoning
which were common in industries of trade. It also created common health standards for all
factories
Salvation Army: began operating in America in 1879 and concentrated on religious
revivalism rather than the relief of the hungry or homeless which caused tensions
between protestant philanthropists and catholic immigrants
High Crime Rates: The was a lot of minor crimes but from 1880 to the end of the century
the rate of murders increased from 25 murders for every million people to 100 murders
for every million people
Graft and Corruption: This was a strategy that helped politicians make money because if
politicians knew beforehand where a new road or street car line would be built they could
buy land near there so that when the government was to fund the construction of it they
would need to buy the land from them so they profit as well as profiting after that
because the value of the property would go up due to construction.
Reasons for Boss Rule: Many factors influenced the existence of Boss Rule like the power
of immigrant voters because they were more concerned about gaining services that
machines provided and reformers did not rather than the ideas of middle class politicians.
Also since many political organizations and the more wealthier citizens were connected to
the bosses to profit as well they were less likely to overthrow them
Rising Income: In the industrial era many incomes raised for almost everyone although at
uneven rates. It was important for the middle class to be growing as a whole and increase
its prosperity. Salaries for clerks, middle managers, accountants, and “white collar”
workers rose on an average of about a third between 1890 and 1910. Even the working
class with iron workers saw increases by about a third in salary but for industries where
there were large amounts of female, African American, or Mexican employees there were
very small increases
New Merchandising Techniques: The new mass market led to an increase in the amount of
affordable products so it was more available to a wider range of consumers
Chain Stores: Smaller stores began to face competition from chain stores like The Great
Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (The A & P) which grew into a national network of grocery
stores in the 1850s and expanded quickly after the Civil War
Social Consequences of Mail-Order Catalogs: It took a long and slow process for chain
stores to reach the rural areas so most people had to rely on poorly stocked and very
expensive country stores until Montgomery Ward and Richard Sears introduced a new
way of selling consumer goods. They were traveling salesmen who would bring with them
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bulky catalogs of consumer that offered thousands of items at low prices to farmers in the
Middle West and even beyond. This brought the idea of trends of fashion, home décor,
new available tools, and machinery to people who had been isolated in the West
Impact of the Department Store: The creation of department stores made shopping a
more glamorous activity because it brought together everything within the same building
where as they used to be in all different types of stores
National Consumer League: It was formed in 1890s under Florence Kelley in an attempt to
create a powerful role of women as consumers therefore they would also force retailers
and manufacturers to improve the wages for female employees. By creating a place for
them in the economic life they have taken on an active role in public life
Simon Patten: He wrote The Theory of Prosperity and The New Basis of Civilization where
he challenged the old beliefs of the scarcity of goods in a normal civilization
Public Leisure: In the twentieth century many people thought of leisure time as time to go
out and entertain. Many people used to go to public places not just for the attractions but
because of the public atmosphere/crowd/ For example in New York City many people
would go to Coney Island in the evening not just for shows but for the excitement in the
crowd, just like others who sometimes preferred to spend their leisure time in concert
halls, movie theaters, vaudeville houses, or in Central Park
Major League Baseball: After the Civil War there had been an increase of interest in
baseball. Over 200 amateur or semiprofessional teams existed and there were even
professional teams that developed. The Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first salaried
team who had joined an association called the National League which was where they
would agree upon standard rules. Later on the American League appeared and was the
rival of the National League. The American league had disappeared but emerged again and
replaced the National League in 1901. Only two years later, in 1903, the first modern
world Series was played where the Boston Red Sox defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates
Growth of College Football: Football used to be more similar to what rugby is today. As
college football became more popular it spread to the west where more schools in the
west began to compete with the eastern schools however standard rules had to be made
regarding eligibility to maintain fairness
Gambling and Sports: Gambling was very common amongst sports because they went
hand in hand. Usually there was elaborate betting organized by underground gambling
syndicates mostly on baseball and football then it became popular on boxing and
horseracing as well
Ethnic Theater: In many communities theaters were common but they were not general
theaters. They were often built in communities where they had a focus on a specific
ethnicity like the Italian community had theaters where they were mostly interested in
Italian opera
Vaudeville: This was a form of theater that was influenced by French models. It was
inexpensive to produce and consisted of a variety of acts such as musicians, comedians,
magicians and jugglers. It would often appear in small community theaters because it was
inexpensive and common
The Birth of a Nation: D.W. Griffith had been known for his technology in films and created
a new era in motion pictures with his silent epics. Usually films did not have a plot or
storyline because it was just to show off the technology but in Griffith’s films there were
plots and elaborate productions, one of which was called The Birth of a Nation which
became very famous. It was about the Ku Klux Klan and included demanding pictures of
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the blacks and also contained racist messages but it had fit the audiences because they
audience was typically white
Importance of the Saloon: Saloons contributed to leisure time because in many
communities there were saloons specific to a certain ethnicity. Saloon keepers were
crucial to urban political machines because they had regular contact with the men within
the neighborhood
Importance of the Fourth of July: During the twentieth century there were six day
workweeks and no regular vacations so full day leisure were very uncommon and the
fourth of July would be one of the few like Sabbath although during Sabbath there were
often laws restricting activity
Dime Novels: These were cheaply bounded novels that told tales of the Wild West,
detective stories, sagas, scientific adventure, and “moral uplift” (Horatio Alger) which was
also a form of leisure for those who enjoyed not going out and just staying home to
entertain with reading or poetry. This became very popular as a leisure activity after the
Civil War
Social Realism: In late nineteenth to early twentieth century American literature a popular
topic was realism and the effort to re-create urban social reality. Many writers like
Stephen Crane wrote about things like the working class and urban poverty. Others like
Theodore Dresier addressed ideas like abandoning old traditions and focus on more recent
ones
Ashcan School: members of the ashcan school began to turn towards a new academic
style where they would focus on trying to create in their portraits the same grim aspects
often focused upon In literature. John Sloan portrayed dreariness; George Bellows caught
vigor and violence of prize fights
“Natural Selection”: In the late nineteenth century the most intellectual development was
the understanding and acceptance of evolution. Darwinism claims that humans have
evolved from earlier forms of life on Earth and evolved through natural selection to
become who we are today and have attributes that help accommodate us to survive. This
theory had often been neglected and resisted against by many educators, theologians, and
even scientists but by the end of the century many evolutionists had converted many
people of the educated classes to believe in it
“Pragmatism”: the idea that society should not rely on information that is passed down
and inherited but instead from scientific inquiry. Nothing should be claimed to be valid
unless it is tested by experience
Spread of Public Education: There had been free primary and secondary education which
led to an increase in public high schools from 100 in the entire U.S. in 1860, 6000 of them
by 1900 and over 12000 of them by 1914
“Land Grant” Institutions: In the late nineteenth century the Morrill Land Grant of the Civil
War era had the government donate land to the states for establishment of universities
and colleges however the law had been taken advantage of so it was removed within the
last few decades of the century
Women’s Colleges: There had been a steady acceptance of females into high school but it
was rare amongst higher education. They were present in only a few universities and then
began to grow in many of the school that had been funded by the land grant. Eventually
there were universities that opened that were just for women specifically rather than coeducational