Social and Cultural Changes1877-1900

American life seemed much the same in 1877 as it had been a century earlier. Most Americans were white Anglo-Saxon

Protestants, who owned their own homes and led quiet, generally healthy lives. But urbanization and

industrialization were changing all aspects of American life.

Manners and Mores

• Late 19th century

– Victorian morals

– Middle class

– Behaved “properly”

• Religious values

– Reform movements

• Alcohol

• Pornography

• Political corruption

Leisure and Entertainment

• Free time

– At home playing cards, croquet or other games

• Music

– Ballads, ragtime

• Circus, organized sports (baseball, football, basketball)

• Street Lights changed American’s leisure habits

Changes in Family Life

• Poor Lower Class– Family life disappeared

• Middle Class– Father commuted– Mother-made home a

domestic refuge– “just a housewife” was

almost shameful, domesticity never fully honored

• I have a little boy at home,

• A pretty little son;

• I think sometimes the world is mine

• In him, my only one…

• ‘Ere dawn my labor drives me forth

• ‘Tis night when I am free

• A stranger am I to my child;

• And stranger my child to me

Changing Views:A growing assertiveness among

women• “New Women”

– Demanded the elimination of laws that discriminated against them

– Spoke openly about topics that had long been considered taboo

Educating the Masses

• States required young to attend school– Only to 6th grade

• Teaching– Unimaginative– Routine– Students were NOT

encouraged to be active• South-Segregation, Rural

poverty– 1896- “Separate but

equal” school systems

Higher Education

• Colleges flourished– Medicine– Nursing

• Women accepted• Racial discrimination

persisted– Booker T.

Washington-concentrate on vocational education

– WEB DuBois-wanted equal quality education

Booker T. Washington

WEB DuBois

Higher Education for African Americans

Booker T. Washington• Ex-slave

• Founded the Tuskegee Institute

• Stressed patience, manual training & hard work

• Focus on economic gains. Go to school to learn skills

• Acknowledge white domination.

• Rather than fight, show they are worthy of their rights

WEB Du Bois• Attended Harvard University• Civil Rights activist• More aggressive strategy• Worked his way up and used

sociology to study the effect of urban life on blacks

• Focus: change the environment and people will change

• Urged African Americans to aspire to professional careers

– Fight for their rights– Get a college education– Called for integration of schools and equal

opportunity