In 1873 Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner published a novel called The Gilded Age, thus giving a name to the era. The novel satirized the morality of the time, a morality of surface glitter concealing greed. In 1893 Stephen Crane's Maggie: A Girl of the Streets revealed the harsh realities of the urban slum. The emergence of literary realism and naturalism and the rejection of the genteel tradition are found in several novels. William Dean Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885), deals with business success. Frank Norris portrayed lack of business scruples in The Octopus (1901) and The Pit (1903), and Theodore Dreiser's Sister Carrie (1900) deals with lack of scruples in sex.

The American History Slide Collection offers in its Group L, American Cities and Towns, 222 slides, many from the last third of the nineteenth century. Other urban photographs are to be found in Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives (1890). Other urban photographs with a stress on architecture can be found in Clay Lancaster and Edmund V. Gillon, Jr., Old Brooklyn Heights: New York's First Suburb (1980); Mary Black, Old New York in Early Photographs, 1853-1901 (1988); Joseph Byron and Clay Lancaster, New York Interiors at the Turn of the Century (1987); and Peter Vanderwarker, Boston Then and Now (1982). The PBS video series America by Design has a sixty-minute segment, The Street, that describes how highways, streets, roads, and various forms of transportation have shaped and connected the North American continent and, on occasion, fostered civic pride.
Document Set 19-1

Responses to The Urban Challenge: Social Innovation

1. Jacob Riis Appeals to Christian Conscience, 1890
2. Jesus as a Model for Personal Conduct, 1898
3. Walter Rauschenbusch Outlines the New Social Gospel, 1907
4. Robert Treat Paine, Jr., Reports the Results of Private Philanthropy, 1881
5. Jane Addams Defines the Social-Settlement Movement, 1892
6. Reverend J. J. Fleharty Explains the Moral Purity Crusade, 1875This unit enables instructors to encourage discussion of some responses to the "social question" of the late nineteenth century. These materials are especially rich in evidence of uneasiness over economic inequity and the potential for class conflict. Instructors may therefore wish to initiate discussion with a question relating to the fears of the predominantly middle-class commentators.Another obvious theme is the relationship between Christian moralism and pressure for social reform. Exploration of this connection should produce discussion of the moral imperative expressed in the Social Gospel movement. The topic also provides an opportunity to establish past-present linkage by tying the movement to modern debates over the role of religion and religious groups in divisive social issues.Other approaches to the urban crisis included philanthropic activity, the social-settlement movement, and the professionalization of social work. Using the Addams reading as a point of departure, instructors might have students compare the settlements with other responses to the "social question," with emphasis on the unique features of the new approach. Students may be asked to outline the advantages and limitations of settlement work as a solution to social problems.An outgrowth of this debate could easily be an examination of the reform role of women, as reflected in the settlement movement. In preparation for this discussion, middle-class women's social roles may be examined in a lecture or a research assignment to each student. The research option might involve individual biographical essays on female reformers, whose names would be provided to students by the instructor (an alternative could be a group research task). Students might use their biographical subjects as points of comparison with Jane Addams and her background, noting the preponderance of middle-class females in settlement work. Addams's comments will also provide rich source material on the objectives and operative philosophy of the movement.Discussion of women's status might also be associated with the goals of the moral-purity movement. The text introduces the topic, preparing students for analysis of the Reverend J. J. Fleharty's denunciation of social impurity. Since sex and sexuality are so central to Fleharty's thesis, students might be asked to consider the origins of Victorian standards as well as the reality of their violation; such discussion might begin with speculation on the reasons for the commentator's apparent obsession with the matter. Finally, an effort should be made to identify and evaluate Fleharty's solutions to the moral degradation that he decried.Religious commitment and Christian moralism are thematic in this chapter. By focusing on varied attempts at social amelioration, these documents reveal the inner workings of the national conscience confronted by a challenge to the democratic promise.

Recommended Readings for Document Set 19-1


Paul S. Bover. Urban Masses and Moral Order in America, 1820-1920 (1978).

Ruth H. Crocker. Social Work and Social Order: The Settlement Movement in Two Cities, 1889-1930 (1992).

Alan F. Davis. American Heroine: The Life and Legend of Jane Addams (1973).

------. Spearheads for Reform: The Social Settlements and the Progressive Movement, 1890-1914 (1976).

Peter Frederick. Knights of the Golden Rule: The Intellectual as Christian Social Reformer in the 1890s (1976).

Lori Ginsburg. Women and the Work of Benevolence (1991).

Nathan Irvin Huggins. Protestants Against Poverty: Boston's Charities, 1870-1900 (1971).

Henry F. May. Protestant Churches and Industrial America (1949).

Robyn Muncy. Creating a Female Dominion in American Reform (1991).

David Pivar. Purity Crusade: Sexual Morality and Social Control, 1868-1900 (1973).
Audiovisual Resources for Document Set 19-1


American Women and American Cities and Towns. Sets 123 and 222 of the American History Slide Collection. Instructional Resources Corporation, Laurel, Md.
Document Set 19-2

The Cult of Domesticity and The Reaction: True Women and New Women

1. Jane Swisshelm's Personal Crisis, ca. 1850
2. Orestes A. Brownson Defines Woman's Sphere, 1873
3. Senator George Vest Endorses the Protection of Women in Their Sphere, 1887
4. The Supreme Court Reinforces the Cult of Domesticity, 1873
5. Laura Curtis Bullard on the Enslavement of Women, 1870
6. Charlotte Perkins Gilman Indicts the American Home, 1903
7. Grover Cleveland's Defense of True Womanhood, 1905An important theme in Chapter 19 is the transition from a widely held acceptance of the cult of true womanhood to the emergence of the socially active new woman at the turn of the century. This unit is designed to familiarize students with the concept of separate spheres as well as the rising resistance to the cult of domesticity and the social restrictions that it entailed. Instructors may use the documents to highlight social and cultural tensions that appeared as women began to test the limits of the nineteenth-century value system.A logical point of departure would be discussion of the cult of true womanhood, as outlined in Barbara Welter's seminal article (see "Recommended Readings"). Discussion of true womanhood can lead to an exploration of the origins of traditional standards and spheres. The documents have been chosen with an eye to the search for explanations. As the class expands its inquiry, most will note the evidence of male definitions of female status, a development also likely to spark discussion.Especially provocative are the eloquent objections to the status quo, as expressed in the extracts from Jane Grey Swisshelm, Laura Curtis Bullard, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. These documents indicate that the cult of domesticity did not go unchallenged, and that the dissenting arguments require analysis. Instructors might encourage discussion of the repressive effect of the dominant social prescriptions on persons of independence and sharp intellect, as revealed in the words of the dissenters.This topic also opens the question of majority and minority opinion on the matter of separate spheres. Assuming that the critics expressed a minority view, female acquiescence provides still another subject worthy of careful examination. Instructors may wish to explore the hegemonic power of long-accepted cultural, social, and religious ideas as factors in the successful limitation of female autonomy.To test the depth and breadth of resignation, instructors might assign students to report on the ideas of individual female activists. Similarly, research projects might explore editorial comment in nineteenth-century mass magazines produced for the women's market. Both topics could be combined in a discussion of the class basis for dissent against and/or acceptance of the cult of domesticity.This exercise can result in a better student grasp of the historical roots of modern ideas. Moreover, the documents should sharpen awareness of the attitudinal transition under way as a new century opened.

Recommended Readings for Document Set 19-2


Catherine Clinton. The Other Civil War: American Women in the Nineteenth Century (1984).

Nancy F. Cott. The Grounding of Modern Feminism (1987).

Carl N. Degler. At Odds: Women and the Family in America (1980).

Peter Filene. Him/Her/Self: Sex Roles in Modern America (1974).

Harvey Green. The Light of the Home: An Intimate View of the Lives of Women in Victorian America (1983).

Patricia Marks. Bicycles, Bangs, and Bloomers: The New Woman in the Popular Press (1990).

Elizabeth Pleck et al., Restoring Women to History: Materials for U.S. II (1984).

Sheila M. Rothman. Woman's Proper Place: A History of Changing Ideals and Practices, 1870-Present (1978).

E. Anthony Rotundo. American Manhood (1994).

Barbara Welter. "The Cult of True Womanhood." American Quarterly 18 (1966): 151-174.
Audiovisual Resources for Document Set 19-2


The Feminist Revolution (photographs). Documentary Photo Aids, P.O. Box 956, Mt. Dora, Fla. 32757.

From Courtship to Marriage (audiotape--30 min.). Audiotape Program 13, Annenberg/CPB Project Legacies Series. Annenberg/CPB Project, 1111 16th Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036.

Hearts and Hands (videotape--60 min.). New Day Films, 22D Hollywood Ave., Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J. 07423.

Master Smart Woman (videotape--28 min.). University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Audiovisual Collection, Elton S. Karrmann Library, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Platteville, Wis. 53181.

One Woman, One Vote (videotape--120 min.). PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Va. 22314-1698.
Document Set 19-3

Ethnicity in The Graphic Arts: Middle-class Notions of Immigrant Life


Group 1 The Irish Menace

Group 2 The Imperial Church

Group 3 The Vulnerable Worker

Group 4 The Unwelcome Asian

Group 5 The Immigrant Threat

Chapter 19 places substantial emphasis on the middle-class/upper-class assault on working-class culture. In so doing, it devotes much attention to middle-class morality and the threat to the dominant social norms from the values of a growing immigrant working class. A good introduction to the issues raised in this document set would be a lecture on the leisure activities that were central to urban, working-class culture and the reasons why native-born Americans found aspects of that culture offensive.

These documents offer fascinating insight into the social and cultural history of Gilded Age America. Based on a more extensive and comprehensive exploration of ethnic and racial stereotyping by John and Selma Appel, this unit uses the graphic arts of the late nineteenth century to probe the divide between middle-class and working-class Americans and the cultures they created. For an even deeper examination of the middle-class response to social, ethnic, and demographic changes, instructors might screen the Appels's innovative slide presentation, The Distorted Image: Stereotype and Caricature in American Popular Graphics, 1850-1922. A very effective approach to the topic is in-class discussion of the slides, with students reacting to the images projected by nineteenth-century artists, cartoonists, and illustrators.

Another avenue of discussion would be an exploration of the modern relevance of the visual images rooted in nineteenth-century characterizations of immigrants and other working-class groups. Students may be asked to identify in the documents stereotypes that are recognizable from their own backgrounds and lives. Such discussion may lead to analysis and understanding of misperceptions related to the typical paucity of interaction across class and cultural lines in any society, including their own. Equally provocative will be a discussion of similarities and differences between the experiences of immigrants in their own time. A wonderful opportunity for self-analysis exists as students are forced to ask how much more sophisticated and generous they are than were men and women of previous generations. In short, this exercise offers a good opportunity to establish past-present linkage and inquire into the extent of real change over time.

On another level, these documents enable instructors to expand their students' understanding of historical documentation. This exercise focuses exclusively on nontraditional evidence, which permits students to glimpse the deep social and class divisions that existed in the late nineteenth century. Moreover, students may gain valuable experience in critical analysis as they learn to "read" the visual images before them. Discussion and dissection of these materials can contribute to greater visual literacy.

Still another avenue toward discussion would involve further inquiry into working-class culture. Discussion of leisure-time activities might help students to understand the native-born, middle-class fears that lay beneath the rising nativism of the late nineteenth century. It could also lead students to better appreciate social history as an important and instructive aspect of the overall historical record.

Finally, the immigrant roots of some cartoonists and illustrators, such as Thomas Nast and Joseph Keppler, pose an important question. Instructors might ask students why these illustrators criticized immigrant culture. With some judicious assistance from instructors, students may be guided toward an appreciation of the assimilation/acculturation process. As they come to better understand the experience of "becoming American," students may explore the extent of assimilation and its cultural costs. Depending on the ethnic composition of the student's own community, it may be especially relevant to encourage discussion of the "melting pot" as myth or reality. Once again, the documents can be used to lead students from past to present.
Recommended Readings for Document Set 19-3


John Bodnar. The Transplanted: A History of Immigrants in Urban America (1985).

Perry L. Curtis, Jr. Apes and Angels: The Irishman in Victorian Caricature (1971).

Perry Duis. The Saloon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920 (1983).

Stephen Hess and Milton Kaplan. The Ungentlemanly Art: The History of American Political Cartoons (1975).

John Higham. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925 (2d ed., 1963).

Morton Keller. The Art and Politics of Thomas Nast (1968).

Lawrence Levine. Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America (1988).

David Nasaw. Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Popular Amusements (1993).

Kathy Peiss. Cheap Amusements: Working Women and Leisure in Turn-of-the-Century New York (1986).

Roy Rosenzweig. Eight Hours for What We Will: Workers and Leisure in an Industrial City, 1870-1920 (1983).
Audiovisual Resources for Document Set 19-3


Coney Island (videotape--60 min.). From The American Experience Series. PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Va. 22314-1698.

The Distorted Image: Stereotype and Caricature in American Popular Graphics, 1850-1922 (slides), by John J. and Selma Appel. Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 315 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016. This unit is based on the idea introduced by the Appels in The Distorted Image.

God Bless America and Poland, Too (videotape--60 min.). From The American Experience Series. PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Va. 22314-1698.

Immigration (slides). Documentary Photo Aids, P.O. Box 956, Mt. Dora, Fla. 32757.

Journey to America (videotape--60 min.). From The American Experience Series. PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, Va. 22314-1698.