Social and Cultural Trends American History
Goals Students will be able to: Determine how new industry, technology, and business changed the economy Analyze changes as the United States became an industrial society Relate works in the arts to the periods in which they were created Analyze the cultural effects of transportation, trade, and communication Terms to know: Gilded Age, conspicuous consumerism, mass culture, Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, Horatio Alger, vaudeville
Consumerism The last decades of the nineteenth century is referred to as the Gilded Age This time period is characterized by shopping, sports, and reading popular magazines and newspapers During the Gilded Age more people began to earn a salary in places other than a self owned farm This pushed the U.S. into becoming a lifestyle of conspicuous consumerism This is a system where people bought the goods they desired in a market This consumerist lifestyle lead to many changes in how goods were sold Advertising for goods became common place with companies offering money back guarantees, sending out catalogues, trademarking distinctive logos, and branding name goods
Higher Standards of Living With the rise of the consumer society, many Americans started to measure success based upon the possessions they possessed In this era cost of living decreased as more goods became mass produced and as technology improved The use of premade clothing and prepackaged food gave housewives a break from those mundane tasks This however did push women into spending more time on cleaning and cooking
Mass Culture As goods became more standardized throughout the country, Americans became more and more like each other People wore the same clothes, bought the same toys, and household goods This culture became known as mass culture Between 1870 and 1900, the number of newspapers almost tripled Joseph Pulitzer was a major pioneer in the newspaper industry as he pushed for newspapers to be a medium that informed people and stir upped controversy Pulitzers' newspapers highlighted political corruption, comics, sports, and illustration
Literature and Education The literature of the Gilded age explored the harsh realities of the world Mark Twain wrote books that explored the world of reconstruction, racism, and a changing world Others, like Horatio Alger, wrote about characters who succeeded through hard work During this timer period, the education systems in the North grew rapidly and in the South grew very slowly In most places grade-school became compulsory and the number of high schools exploded Schools taught science, woodworking, draft, industry skills, civics and business, and English
Popular Entertainment This era saw a rise in entertainment for the masses People began to attend theme parks and theme shows One of the most popular of the time period was the wild west show of Buffalo Bill Attendance at sport events also began to rise as baseball became more populara A major form of entertainment during the time period was something known as vaudeville These were variety shows that showcased musical drama, songs, and off-color comedy