LIFE AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN AMERICA

SCIENCE AND URBAN LIFE By the turn of the 20th century, four out of ten Americans lived in cities In response to urbanization, technological advances began to meet communication, transportation, and space demands Artist Annie Bandez

SKYSCRAPERS Skyscrapers emerged after two critical inventions: elevators & steel skeletons that bear weight The skyscraper was America’s greatest contribution to architecture and solved the issue of how to best use limited and expensive space Flatiron Building - 1902

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

Central Park is an oasis among Manhattan’s skyscrapers BRIDGES & PARKS Steel-cable suspension bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge, also brought cities’ sections closer Some urban planners sought to include landscaped areas & parks Central Park is an oasis among Manhattan’s skyscrapers

Actual photo of Wright Brother’s first flight 12/17/03 AIRPLANES In early 20th century, brothers Orville & Wilbur Wright, experimented with engines and aircrafts On December 17, 1903 they flew their plane for 12 seconds covering 120 feet Within 2 years the brothers were making 30 minute flights By 1920, U.S. was using airmail flights Actual photo of Wright Brother’s first flight 12/17/03

EXPANDING PUBLIC EDUCATION Between 1865 & 1895, states passed laws requiring 12 to 16 weeks of annual education for students ages 8-14, but the curriculum was poor & teachers usually not qualified 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 & social studies By 1900 500,000 teen-agers were enrolled in high schools Elroy High School Photo 1906

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 school in the south about 1920

EDUCATION FOR IMMIGRANTS Unlike African Americans, immigrants were encouraged to go to school Most immigrants sent their children to public schools Also, thousands of adult immigrants attended night schools to learn English

AFRICAN AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES FORMED After the Civil War, thousands of African Americans pursued higher education despite being excluded from white institutions Howard, Fisk, & Tuskegee Universities (founded by Booker T. Washington) W.E.B. Dubois founded the Niagara Movement, which sought liberal arts educations for all blacks W.E.B. Dubois

Booker T. Washington Booker T. Washington: prominent African American educator, believed that racism would end once African Americans acquired useful labor skills and proved their economic value to society. Headed Tuskegee National and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) Focus on education now and then equality later, must have education first

W.E.B. Dubois 1st first African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard (1895) Disagreed with BTW’s gradual approach Founded Niagara Movement, insists that African Americans should seek a liberal arts education so that the African American community would have well educated leaders Work to achieve immediate equality, don’t have to prove ourselves All are created equal

SEGREGATION AND DISCRIMINATION By the turn of the 20th century, Southern States had adopted a broad system of legal discrimination Blacks had to deal with voting restrictions, Jim Crow laws which limited rights of African Americans , Supreme Court set-backs, and physical violence

VOTING RESTRICTIONS All Southern states imposed new voting restrictions and denied legal equality to African Americans preventing the 15th Amendment Some states limited the vote to those who could read (literacy test), other states had a poll tax which had to be paid prior to voting

PLESSY v. 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 & did not violate the 14th Amendment

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 peaked in the 1880s and 90s but continued well into the 20th century

NORTHERN DISCRIMINATION WESTERN DISCRIMINATION While most African Americans lived in the segregated South, many blacks had migrated to the North in hopes of better jobs & equality However, the North had its own brand of racism as blacks got low paying jobs and lived in segregated neighborhoods 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 Anti-Asian Cartoon

DAWN OF A 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

1897 Baseball team picture Kansas State University 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” 1897 Baseball team picture Kansas State University

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 Hearst (above) and Pulitzer initiated what was known as “Yellow Journalism”

Characteristics of Yellow Journalism included huge, sensational, exaggerated headlines Some contend that Hearst and Pulitzer’s Yellow Journalism was responsible for the Spanish-American War in 1898