Untitled Flashcard Set

American Dream

The belief that anyone can improve their life through hard work, opportunity, and economic success.

Minstrel Shows

19th-century entertainment where mostly white performers portrayed Black people using racist stereotypes.

Penny Papers

Cheap newspapers that cost about one cent and made news available to working- and middle-class Americans.

P.T. Barnum

Famous showman and promoter known for spectacles, entertainment, and his circus.

Victorianism

Cultural values emphasizing morality, respectability, modesty, and proper social behavior.

Separate Spheres

The belief that men belonged in the public world of work and politics while women belonged in the private world of home and family.

Cult of True Womanhood

The belief that women should be religious, pure, submissive, and focused on the home and family.

Godey’s Lady’s Book

Popular 19th-century women's magazine that promoted fashion, domestic life, morality, and traditional women's roles.

Seneca Falls Convention

1848 women's rights convention that produced the Declaration of Sentiments and called for greater rights for women.

New Woman

A woman who challenged traditional gender roles by pursuing education, careers, independence, sports, and political involvement.

Buffalo Bill Cody

Showman who created Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, which presented a popular version of the American West.

Teddy Roosevelt

Progressive Era president associated with the Square Deal, conservation, trust regulation, and the Strenuous Life.

Baseball

Sport that became increasingly popular, organized, and commercialized in the late 19th century.

Football

College sport that became popular in the late 19th century but was known for being rough and dangerous.

Careful Primitivism

The idea of using controlled physical activities and outdoor recreation to promote health and a return to a simpler, more natural lifestyle.

Strenuous Life

Teddy Roosevelt’s belief that Americans should live actively, work hard, show courage, and participate in physically demanding activities.

Coney Island

New York entertainment destination that developed through three phases: resort, amusement area, and major mass entertainment destination.

Progressives

Reformers who wanted to fix problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, political corruption, and inequality.

Muckrakers

Journalists who investigated and exposed corruption, poverty, unsafe conditions, and abuses by businesses and government.

Jacob Riis

Journalist and photographer who exposed poor living conditions in New York City tenements through How the Other Half Lives.

James Naismith

Physical education instructor who invented basketball in 1891.

Phonograph

Early device used to record and play back sound; associated with Thomas Edison.

Jane Addams

Progressive reformer who helped immigrants and the urban poor and co-founded Hull House.

Hull House

Settlement house in Chicago founded by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr that provided education, social services, and assistance to immigrants and poor residents.

Nickelodeon

Early movie theater where admission usually cost five cents, making movies accessible to working-class audiences.

Blues

African American musical genre that developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in the American South.