Social Darwinism

The belief that only the fittest survive in human political and economic struggle. Critics argued that it was simply an excuse for the worst excesses of industrialization.

Eugenics

study of factors that influence the hereditary qualities of the human race and ways to improve those qualities. Eugenisists argued that mentally deficient people should be prevented from reproducing. Associated mental unfitness with "lower races".

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American Protective Association

An organization created by nativists in 1887 that campaigned for laws to restrict immigration. Expressed outrage at the existence of desperate Catholic schools while also demanding all public school teachers be protestants. prefigured the revived Ku Klux Klan of the 1920's.

Social Gospel

The goal of renewing religious faith through dedication to justice and social welfare. Goals were epitomized by Charles Selfons novel In His Steps that told the story of a congregation that resolved to live by Christ's precepts for one year.

Fundamentalism

Conservative beliefs in the Bible and that it should be literally believed and applied.

Realism

A 19th century artistic movement in which writers and painters sought to show life as it is rather than life as it should be.

Modernism

A movement which rejected traditional canons of artistic taste. Questioned the whole idea of progress and order. Focused on the subconscious and primitive mind. Sought to overturn convention and tradition. Became the first great literary and artistic movement of the twentieth century.

Plessy v. Ferguson

a 1896 Supreme Court decision which legalized state ordered segregation so long as the facilities for blacks and whites were equal. Brought by civil rights advocates on behalf of Homer Plessy who was a New Orleans resident, 1/8th black and was arrested for refusing to leave the part of a first class car and move to the "colored" part of the train.

Jim Crow

Segregation laws, named for a stereotyped black character who appeared in minstrel shows, clearly discriminated, but the Court allowed them to stand. These laws were applied to public schools, parks. and emerging commercial spaces.

Young Men's Christian Association

one of the earliest and most successful promoters of athletic fitness, promoted muscular Christianity and combined evangelism with gyms (YMCA). First focused on white collar workers. Developed a substantial industrial program after 1900. Later became a place where middle class and working class customs blended-or existed in uneasy tension.

Negro Leagues

All-African American professional baseball teams where black men could showcase athletic ability and race pride. The leagues thrived until the desegregation of baseball after World War II.

Sierra Club

American environmental organization. (1892) Helped promote the protection of the environment and nature.

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National Park Service

A federal agency founded in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson that provided comprehensive oversight of the growing system of national parks.

Antiquities Act

passed in 1906, which allowed president Roosevelt to protect areas of scientific or historical interest on federal lands as national monuments. Used these powers to preserve 800,000 acres at Arizona's Grand Canyon.

Comstock Act

An 1873 law that prohibited circulation of "obscene literature," defined as including most information on sex, reproduction, and birth control. Won support for the law in part by appealing to parents fears that young people were receiving sexual information through the mail, promoting the rise of "secret vise." A committee of the NY legislature declared Comstocks crusade "wholly essential to the safety and decency of the community. But Comstock had little success in stopping the trade in contraceptives.

Atlanta Compromise

Argument in 1895 put forward by Booker T. Washington that African-Americans should not focus on civil rights or social equality but concentrate on economic self-improvement.

Maternalism

The belief that women should contribute to civic and political life through their special talents as mothers, Christians, and moral guides. Maternalists put this ideology into action by creating dozens of social reform organizations.

Woman's Christian Temperance Union

Founded after a series of women's grassroots campaigns in 1874. spread rapidly after 1879, when charismatic Frances Willard became its leader. Launched women into reform.

National Association of Colored Women

An organization created in 1896 by African American women to provide community support. Through its local clubs, the NACW arranged for the care of orphans, founded homes for the elderly, advocated temperance, and undertook public health campaigns.

National American Woman Suffrage Association

a group formed by leading suffragists in the late 1800s to organize the women's suffrage movement.

Feminism

1910's. Women's full political, economic, and social equality.

Billy Sunday

Moody's successor who helped bring evangelism into the modern era. Took political stances based on his Protestant beliefs. Condemning the "booze traffic" was his greatest cause. Always denounced unrestricted immigration and labor radicalism.

Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)

Americas most famous author; wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn to expose the horrors of slavery; before his death he denounced Christianity and laid the foundation for modernism

Thomas Edison

operated an independent laboratory rather than working for a corporation; Shrewd entrepreneur who focused on commercial success. He and his colleagues helped introduce such lucrative products as the incandescent light bulb and the phonograph.

John Muir

(1838-1914) Naturalist who believed the wilderness should be preserved in its natural state. He was largely responsible for the creation of Yosemite National Park in California. Most famous voice for wilderness. Founded the Sierra Club in 1892.

Booker T. Washington

Born a slave. Emerged as the leading public voice of African Americans. Focused on industrial education. Hoped that economic achievement would erase white prejudice. Gained national fame in 1895 with his Atlanta Conpromise address.

France Willard

an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist; influenced the 18th and 19th amendment. Became the leader of The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879.

Ida B. Wells (1862-1931)

After being denied a seat on a railroad car because she was black, she became the first African American to file a suit against such discrimination. As a journalist, she criticized Jim Crow laws, demanded that blacks have their voting rights restored and crusaded against lynching. In 1909, she helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).