Chapter 11: Technology, Culture, & Everyday Life
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Transcript of Chapter 11: Technology, Culture, & Everyday Life
Chapter 11:Technology, Culture, & Everyday Life
Section 1
•Focus Question: What technological improvements increased industrial productivity between 1840-1860?
•Big Picture: ▫Technology improves lives, agriculture, and
the economy at a price.
Just Think About It
•How does technology improve our daily lives?
•How does technology improve our lives, but comes at a price (consequences)?
Agriculture
•1834: Cyrus McCormick—Mechanical Reaper
•1837—John Deere—Steel Tipped Plow▫Both assisted farmers harvest “frontier”▫Civil War
•Farmers could work more land▫Downfall: purchased land & loans = debt▫Farm land without conservation
Technology & Industry•1800—Eli Whitney began metal tool
production▫Cotton gin & interchangeable parts▫Most parts still purchased from BR
•1840-1860’s—U.S. creates “American System” (H.Clay)▫U.S. less reliant on European goods▫Tariffs for manufacturing (N)
Encouraged entrepreneurs & inventions▫RR & Canals for trade (W)
Communications for business—telegraphs ▫No plans for agricultural south
Railroad Boom• 1850’s—American rail 3x’s faster than
BR Dangerous Conditions Improvements: Time zone invented +
• 1860—Chicago major RR shipping hub to connect East to Midwest (replaced NO)
Depression of 1830’s slowed down RR creation
1850’s led to RR boom = stock exchange
Prosperity•New technologies = more efficient working
= lower prices▫Small artisans could not compete▫More wages = more buying = more demand▫Growth of cities (more $ = expanding)▫Women & children had opportunities to work
and supplement farming family income▫Urbanization in N & W = economic
opportunites for all
Section 2
•Focus Question: How did American pastimes and entertainment change between 1840-1860?
•Big Picture: ▫People have more educated, have more
leisure time, and are forming social groups.
Dwellings
•Urban Setting: Brick row-homes▫Working class homes sectioned off and
popular among immigrants (Irish) and free blacks
•Middle class: building odd shaped houses▫Fancy, lots of wood, & upholstered
•Rural poor class: poorly constructed cabins
1840-1850 Life ImprovesConveniences Inconveniences
• Transportation & industry• Coal stoves• Railroads• Pipes & aqueducts for
fresh water in urban areas▫ NY
• Coal dust & carbon monoxide
• Fresh fruits/veggies only available to wealthy
• Salted pork• Lack of running water• Conditions
▫ Body odor▫ Hogs as street cleaners▫ Poor sanitation
Diseases & Health
•Epidemics—rapidly spreading diseases▫Cholera & Yellow Fever killed 1/5 of New
Orleans▫High infant mortality▫Distrusted doctors b/c they could not cure
•Quarantine—separate sick from society
Diseases & Health
•1840—Health Advancements▫Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) anesthetic▫Sulfuric Ether in surgery▫Lack of sterilizing equipment
•Health Movements▫Water Cure 1840s (Europe)▫1832—Sylvester Graham▫Abstinence & utopian communities
Phrenology•Orson & Lorenzo Fowler 1830s
▫“bumps” in head are connected towards personality
▫Exercising “bumps” = improved character▫Popular for helping pick mates &
employees
Section 3
•Focus Question:
•Big Picture: 1830-1860 allowed Americans higher wages = more leisure time
Newspapers•3-4 pages, paid for by political supporters•1830s—steam driven press
▫James Gordon Bennett & penny press▫NY Sun & NY Herald
•Included daily events & “stories "of crime
Theater
•50 cents/seat & crowded•All classes, even prostitution allowed•Astor Place Riots•Melodramas like Shakespeare & short
performances
Minstrel Shows•1840-1850—shows depicting stereotypical
blacks▫“dancing, stumbling, poor language” ▫Whites painted faces▫Popular shows traveled across the U.S.,
even the White House
P.T. Barnum
•From CT, journalist, & “crook”•1834—began career in “circus shows”
▫Books 80 yo black woman who claimed to be GW nurse (169 yo!)
•1841—purchased the American Museum in NY▫Typical museums had stuffed animals▫Barnum displayed “oddities”
Magicians, Tom Thumb, Mermaid, albinos
Tom Thumb
Section 4
•Focus Question: How did Americans express their distinctiveness in their literature in art?
•Big Picture: Move from “fancy” writing/art to more accessible material for the masses/
Roots of the RenaissanceEconomic & Philosophical Fiction & Poetry
• Transportation Revolution = ideas of fiction and unknown
• Prior to 1800s▫ Classicism—educated
writers showing off understanding of Ancient literature.
• During 1800’s▫ Romanticism▫ Popular b/c more were
educated and now had access to new type of literature.
▫ Books taught morals with interesting and identifiable characters
Authors Subject Titles
Cooper Focused on adventure & saving nature
Last of the Mohicans
Emerson Nationalism (pride in nation )Transcendentalism—God & nature is in writing
Poetry with optimism
Thoreau “Civil Disobedience” 1849– defending rights against unjust laws.
Walden 1845
Fuller Free thinking/spirit, inspired by Emerson
Whitman Democratic thinker, against slavery
Leaves of Grass
Focus on Novels
Focus on Poetry and Essays
Authors Subject Titles
Hawthorne Fiction 1840-1850, explored human motivation
Scarlett Letter 1850—NE witch trials
Melville Pessimistic writer, interested in psychology v society
Moby Dick
Poe Short stories & poetry, connection to human struggle
The Fall of the House of Usher
PaintersHudson River School
Central Park
• Interpreted nature & landscapes
• NA & Hudson River
• 1858• Frederick Law Olmsted &
Calvert Vaux• Nature inside a city
Changes in Society Reflected in Literature