(Evidence) APUSH Chapter 17: Making Modern American Culture

1880-1917

telegraph

(1837) an invention by Samuel Morse that allowed for quicker communication across great distances

telephone

(1876) invented by Alexander Graham Bell, revolutionized communication and allowed for instant communication across great distances

the Pullman Palace train car

(1864) the first train car that allowed passengers to travel in luxury, shows the era’s higher standard of living and new consumer culture

Plessy v. Ferguson

(1896) a crucial Supreme Court case in which the Supreme Court made segregation legal and gave the states the power to impose segregation laws

“Seperate but Equal” theory

(late 1800s-1960s) the idea that whites and colored people should exist in separate but equal spaces

Jim Crow Era

(late 1800s-1960s) the era of legal, state-sponsored segregation, specifically in the South

the Gibson Girl

(late 1800s, early 1900s) a popular image that promoted the ideal of an active woman

Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)

(founded 1874) a female organization that advocated for widespread sobriety to keep women and children from having to deal with rampant male alcoholism

National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA)

(founded 1869) led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was the leading women’s rights and suffrage group of the Gilded Age

National Association of Colored Women

(founded 1896) fought for female suffrage for African American women; supported temperance, public health, founded elderly homes, and cared for orphans

Realism

(1860s-1910s) an artistic movement in which art captured the reality of life, rather than romanticizing it

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

(1884) Mark Twain’s famous novel in which he criticized slavery, the idea of progress, imperialism, and Christianity

Social Darwinism

(1870s-1900s) the idea that human society advances through ruthless competition and the survival of the fittest; this is NOT something that Darwin himself proposed

eugenics

the idea that mentally deficient or unfit people should not be allowed to reproduce

Nativism

the belief that immigrants should be kept out, and all the good things that a country has to offer should be saved for the native people of that country

American Protective Agency (APA)

(1880s-1900) an anti-Catholic organization that sought to keep Catholics out and ensure that schools were staffed only by Protestants

Social Gospel movement

(1870s-1920s) a response to modernism at the time that advocated for charity work as a way to live out Christian faith

Fundamentalism

(1870s-1970s) a response to other growing religions, advocates extreme Christianity and a return to all the fundamentals of a religion