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278 Cards in this Set

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1
Mark Twain and Will Rogers were extremely popular public figures. Twain lived from 1835 to 1910 and Rogers lived from 1879 to 1935. Both are similar to John Stewart and Steve Colbert.
2
Twain's work came exclusively from American culture and was highly connected to American values and a politics. He had three distinct writing styles: Vernacular (everyday speech), one that centered on sophisticated political rhetoric, and one that was a straightforward journalistic style.
3
Will Rogers was a satirist/political commentator. He was known as the Mark Twain of the screen due to his incredible performances as an actor. He used his screen personas to promote political and cultural reform. As active participants in performance industries, Twain and Rogers worked to change American culture and politics--like Stewart and Colbert.
4
A THESIS is an answer to a debatable question.
RADICAL PERIOD

5
The Radical Period in American History lasted from the 1930s to the 1940s.
CONSENSUS PERIOD

6
The Consensus Period in American History lasted from the 1950s to the 1960s.
MULTICULTURAL PERIOD

7
The Multicultural Period in American History lasted from the 1970s to the 1980s.
TRANSITIONAL PERIOD

8
The Transitional Period in American History began in the 1990s and is still going on today.
ID number 1

Culture is that complex hole that includes...

9
ID Number 1

Culture is that complex hole that includes artifacts, beliefs, art, and all the other habits arrived at by the actions of humans in a society.
10
AMS came out of the the 1930s as a way of attributing meaning. In the early decades of the 20th century, American Literature was not widely recognized by college English departments as a serious discipline worthy of intense study. As the 1930s progressed, universities began to look at ways to solve the problems of racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc. Thus, universities began to study the everyday lives of people and at understudied texts that were once considered irrelevant.
ID: Vernon Louis Parrington

Vernon Louis Parrington was the creator of ...


11
Vernon Louis Parrington was the creator of American Studies. He taught at many different universities, but was never really settled. He decided to write a book called "Main Currents of American Thought."
12
In Parrington's "Main Currents of American Thought," he studied American history, biography, economics and literature. He won the Pullitzer prize in 1928.
13
Parrington's main contribution came through the method he used to study American history. He constructed what he called a "useable past," a past not only relevant to the present but a past which would help create order and direction for the country.
14
Consensus Period developed after World War II. American Studies courses, then called American Civilization courses, were created all across the country. The president wanted universities to preserve the culture that American troops were fighting so hard to preserve..
15
The AMS movement was also associated with progressive development--democracy, individualism, etc. Large think tanks also contributed grants to create AMS programs in American universities to help safeguard America from Communism and Totalitarianism.
ID: CONSENSUS ERA

This era was called the Consensus Era because writers took a symbol and described it as a ___ for all of

16
This era is called the Consensus Era because writers would take a symbol and describe it as a metaphor for all American Culture
AMERICAN STUDIES KEY CONCEPTS PART 1

In contrast to other studies, the point of departure for American Studies is the ___ ___. American Studies also looks at some relationships between the ___ ___ and other ___.

17
In contrast to other studies, the point of departure for American Studies is the UNITED STATES. AMS also looks at some relationships between the UNITED STATES and other countries.
AMERICAN STUDIES KEY CONCEPTS PART 2

AMS practitioners hope to recover hidden and forgotten ___ and ___. AMS practitioners read about and study people and things that have been studied as ___.

18
AMS practitioners hope to recover hidden and forgotten VOICES and COMMUNITIES. AMS practitioners read about and study people and things that have not been studied as MUCH.
AMERICAN STUDIES KEY CONCEPTS PART 3

AMS examines the process of change in ___ ___.

19
AMS examines the process of change in AMERICAN CULTURE.
AMERICAN STUDIES KEY CONCEPTS PART 4

AMS looks at things in a ___ and ___ context.

20
AMS looks at things in a LOCAL and NATIONAL context.
21

KEY CONCEPTS 1-4

1.)I,C,T,O,S,T,P,O,D,F,AMS,I,T,U,S. AMS, L,A,S,R,B,T,U,S,A,O,C.

2.)AMS, P,W,T,R,H,A,F,V,A,C. AMS, P, R, A, A, S, T, T, H, B, S, A, M.

3.) AMS, E, T, P, O, C, I, A, C.

4.) AMS, P, L, A, AMS, I, A, L, A, N, C.

21
1.) In contrast to other studies, the point of departure for AMS is the United States. AMS looks at some relationships between the US and other countries.

2.)AMS practitioners work to recover hidden and forgotten voices and communities. AMS practitioners read about and study things that haven't been studied as much.

3.) AMS examines the process of change in American Culture.

4.) AMS practitioners look at AMS in a local and national context.
22
Look at AMS as a framework for what we do in this class.
23
The Guinness Book of World Records is one of the contemporary forms of record keeping that we have today. In the early 1950s, a man named Beaver got in a debate about the fastest game bird and decided to settle the argument by creating the Guinness Book of World Records (1955).
24
Records claim their veracity from factual accuracy.

Technological development leads to the mechanization of record keeping.
25
EXACT DEFINITION OF CULTURE: That complex hole that includes art, artifacts, beliefs and the other habits acquired by by humans as members of a society. It also includes all the products of human activity as determined by cultural habits.
26
The definition of culture comes from a book called "The Concept of Culture."
27
The clock is an object of mechanization.
28
Lewis Mumford was born in Flushing, New York. 1895. He was involved in urban development and studied technology in society. He wrote a book called Technics and Civilization in 1984. In it, he wrote about the shift from a production ethic to a consumer ethic.
29
Mumford envisioned harmony between nature and urban life. The machine's technological and aesthetic value needs to be examined. Does function make the aesthetic more appealing? The Honda Essence is boxy, but is excellent as a camper. Does its excellence as a camper improve its aesthetic value?
30
Scottish Philosopher Patrick Geddess believed that social processes and constructed environments are reciprocal. Mumford agreed with Geddess and believed that technology should enhance life, not restrict it, and that technology should also bring about wealth in democratic ways. Mumford strongly disagreed with the notion of using technology for selfish personal gain. (Like an inventor who gets lots of money from a creation and uses it in selfish ways.)
31
Mumford was disillusioned by the technology used in World War II, and saw post-war technology becoming more dangerous than beneficial. He was very upset by the increasing prevalence of highways.
32
In 1961, Lewis Mumford wrote a book called "The City in History," and said that Americans needed to adopt a new image of the city and a new order to construct it. He did not want to see the construction of a city in which technology reigns, but rather, a city in which technology was harmoniously "balanced by nature."
33
Mumford was an exemplary interdisciplinary writer who practiced AMS before it became a fully developed and recognized study. He refused to join an academic department because he did not want to be locked into one particular area of study.
34
CREATION STORIES are narratives that explain why people exist in a certain place.
35
SECOND CREATION STORIES are stories that try to naturalize how people move into a new space or assume a new identity. Second Creation Stories assert facts that oversimplify a story, use technology to justify the oversimplification of a story, and are verified by a dominant community.
36
Ben Franklin believed that Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility were virtues he should strive to perfect. Franklin created a record to know when he failed to uphold one or more of these virtues.
37
Franklin is using the calender as a way of ordering his life and, essentially, recreating himself. He wants to explore the way he is.
38
Franklin owned a printing press. The Printing Press is central to Franklin's ability to promote himself.
39
The origin of printing go back to 2nd century China. Due to the extraordinary number of characters in the Chinese language, however, their printing was very slow, laborious, and not often used. A movable type of printing was not developed until Guttenberg created it in the 1400s. He conceived individual letters and symbols that enabled publishers to make copies of books much faster than ever before. Before the printing press, books had to be individually scribed or carved into a pressing machine--both of these process took a long time and involved a lot of labor.
40
The painting depicting,"The Death of Jane McCrea," is used as an image of women who were captives and then later went on to tell their stories
41
The Captivity Narrative of Mary Rolandson is considered one of the first if not the first pieces of American Literature.
42
Captivity Narratives are about power and powerlessness. The CN's take on the form of a conversion experience show the author's soul. The CN provided the foundation for a form of literature that is American by origin.
43
Captivity Narratives document the psychological and spiritual trials people go through when captured by Indians. Indians would capture colonists and other Indians to increase their numbers. They would attempt to assimilate those they captured into Indian culture.
44
The authenticity of Captivity Narritives is questionable--keep in mind that that churches play a role in determining the direction of the story.
45
The number one reason a CN was written was to provide women and their families a way to make money.
46
The second reason a CN was written was to provide a way for women to reassert their belief in Puritan Culture and values--to show how devout they were. A woman would use the CN to speak to religious leaders about how much she belonged in the Puritan group.
47
The number three reason a CN was written was to counter the disorganizing and dis-unifying experience of being captured with the organizing and unifying experience that came with writing about it. The CN provided a way for women to make sense of everything they had been through.
48
The number one reason a CN was written was to provide women and their families a way to make money.

The second reason a CN was written was to provide a way for women to reassert their belief in Puritan Culture and values--to show how devout they were. A woman would use the CN to speak to religious leaders about how much she belonged in the Puritan group.

The number three reason a CN was written was to counter the disorganizing and dis-unifying experience of being captured with the organizing and unifying experience that came with writing about it. The CN provided a way for women to make sense of everything they had been through.
49
Mary Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative was published in 1682. It was a highly-read, best-selling novel. This narrative is a second creation story and a way of exploring her existence and legitimizing her Puritan community.
50
Originally, Rowlandson published her CN as "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God."
51
Mary Rowlandson was born in England (1637). In 1639, her parents immigrated to Massachusetts. In 1675, King Phillip's War broke out in the New England Colonies. The Indians who lived in this region were challenging the territorial and religious advances of the colonists upon their civilization. The Indians began to raid towns and kidnap people. Mary Rowlandson was captured on February 10, 1676--and then released four months later.
52
Mary Rowlandson's account exploring how she survived the physical and spiritual ordeal of captivity was made possible by the printing press. The Printing Press made a widespread release possible.
53
James Printer endured captivity with Mary Rowlandson. However, Rowlandson's Second Creation Story stifled the experience of Indians captured in the war.
54
James Printer was an English-speaking Nipmuck Indian who converted to Christianity. In November of 1765, several hundred Nipmuck Indians entered his town and looked to capture colonists. In 1765, he was forced to go along with them so he could enslavement by the English. The Nipmucks threatened to tell the English Printer was a traitor if he failed to comply. Printer's agreement to enter captivity made Mary Rowlandson's release posible
55
The Massachusett's council sent two Christian Indians to negotiate for the release of James Printer, but their negotiations failed. Because the negotiations failed, Printer was then able to successfully negotiate for the release of Mary Rowlandson.
56
Eventually, the Indians allowed Printer to return to the colony. Because James Printer is a Nipmuck Indian, he, in order to be fully re-accepted into the colonies, had to kill Indians and display their scalps as proof of his loyalty. He does this--different from white female way of re-assimilating.
57
After Mary Rowlandson wrote her story, James Printer, ironically, is the one who sets the press for her book. By setting the type for Rowlandson's story, Printer is recreating himself in a way that erases his own story. Thus, this was a narrative that legitimized Puritan existence and deligitamized Indians living among the colonists.
58
Americans told stories that assimilated the environment and technology.
59
The term "American" is a complicated term and applies to people in the United States, North plus South America, and people of the original 13 colonies. People debate whether it is politically correct to call people of the United States "American."
60
The question that has long been asked in America is "how do we reconcile the desire for the power of technology and the beauty of nature?" Do we enjoy the shade of trees or the power lines which provide electricity?
61
The European colonists truly believed the natural environment was in need of improvement via human intervention. To cultivate the land was to do a great service to it--cultivation was thought to improve the land.
62
The colonists saw themselves as creating order for a chaotic natural environment. The use of tools and machines on the land was thought to assimilate nature--rather than destroying it.
63
Secondary Creation Stories prioritize one story over another. Technologies are often used to explain the trajectory of human civilization--to connect what took place historically to the moral values of the present age. Ben Franklin did this with his "13 Virtues." Mary Rowlandson, through the printing press, put forth an historical account connected to Puritan culture.
64
Technology seems to promise the audience a better future. Technologies are incorporated into stories that produce a better future. Technology is associated with politics, economics and every other facet of American culture.
65
In the 17th century, there were very slow changes in technologies. Changes occurred incrementally by craftsmen who used mostly wooden tools. New technologies mainly consisted of wooden tools--everything was made out of wood. Because interchangeable parts had not yet been developed, everything was made by hand and took a longtime to develop.
66
A modern conflict between technology and nature involves the question of where it is alright to drill for oil.
67
The European Colonist's conception of land was very different from that of the Indians. Indians did not believe you could own land anymore than you could own a star. European settlers believed in two concepts regarding land--NATURAL OWNERSHIP and CIVIL OWNERSHIP.
68
When land was held in common--meaning it belonged to a town or group of people--and had not been developed, Europeans believed this created NATURAL OWNERSHIP.
69
Once individuals or groups cultivate the land, the individuals or groups are said to have CIVIL OWNERSHIP. European settlers believed that if you were developing or cultivating the land, you owned the land.
70
The colonists saw visible changes in the cultivated landscape as an indicator of progress. The changes in a cultivated landscape were representative of the state of human society.
71
The AXE, as a tool, is embedded with a power greater than the ability to fell a tree, to America, it was a symbol of the power of the nation. The axe was tied to the American identity.
72
The AXE was brought from Europe to America. The European Axe had a short handle and a thick, ineffective head. The European Axe got the job done, but it was not very efficient.
73
In the late 18th century, Americans created a new axe. The handle was longer, the wood (hickory) was more flexible, and the metal head was shorter and lighter than the European Axe. With the American Axe, it was possible to cut down 3 times as many trees as the European Axe. The American Axe became associated with the American Identity. Colonists used trees and wood for different purposes--oak for firewood, special wood for ship masts, Cedar for outdoor objects. Wood was also used to make plates.
74
ID

Driving-a-Piece was a deforesting technique that involved crushing all the trees in a particular area. Colonists would cut small chips in little trees surrounding a larger tree, and would then cut down the larger tree. They did this to try and break the fall of the larger tree. If the large tree broke apart or splintered, they would not be able to use as much of the wood. The smaller trees which broke the fall of the larger one would then be burned.
75
Girdling was a deforesting technique that involved clearing a circular strip of bark from a tree trunk and then planting mounds of grain underneath the tree. The tree's leaves, without the bark at the base of the tree, would not be able to receive any water. The leaves would then fall and help the wheat to grow. Eventually the tree would die and rot to the point that it fell over.
76
At this time in American history, natural resources were so abundant that people did not believe deforestation would ever be a problem. However, by the 1790s, naturalists in Massachusetts began to document problems associated with it. In deforested areas, they noted, the soils were drier and less able to maintain cool moisture. Thus, summers in these areas were hotter, while winters were warmer. The soil wasn't able to hold the cold as effectively either.
77
Massachusetts naturalists also noted that flooding became more extensive throughout New England. Then, because the cleared out areas didn't drain as well, lands formerly inhabited by trees became swamps. With the introduction of more swamps, mosquitoes became a huge problem. With more mosquitoes came more cases of malaria.
78
Despite the documented problems associated with deforestation, colonists continued to see cultivation as beneficial for human society.
79
In the 17th century, colonists traded axes with local Indians. Unforseen consequences came about because of this act, though, as axes soon became weapons that were used against humans, not just tools used on trees.
80
In colonial America, the colonists were so dependent on each other that everything was done in communities. To start a town, you had to get a charter from England. With a charter, the colonists who lived there were expected to improve the land within three years. Because of regulations like these, colonists could not just go off by themselves and form their own communities. Colonists also needed each other for the services they provided to each other--shoemaker, blacksmith, teacher, doctor, etc.
81
ID

Oyster Tongs were used by New Yorkers in the 17th century. Fisherman known as Oyster Tongers used Oyster tongs. These fisherman would row out into deeper waters, drop their tongs into the water, and harvest large quantities of Oysters. Oyster Tongs made it possible to catch more Oysters than ever before.
82
Oysters were a staple of Indians long before European settlers arrived. Some coastal Indians used Oysters for trade with inland Indians. Oyster shells could be made into wompom, an Indian form of currency, and most importantly to the colonists, lyme. Oyster shells could also be used to make roads and knives.
83
Oyster shells were burned to make lyme paste, which was then used to make mortar. Demand for lyme paste was very high. Like the clearing of the forest, Oyster Tongs had a profound effect on the natural landscape.
84
Oyster harvesting eroded the food supply of Indians--as demand increase, their food supply became harder to gather. Also, oyster shells were burned to make mortar. Yet, so many of the shells were burned that air pollution began to become a problem.
85
New technologies were connected to the colonists' idea of creating order in nature. To them, using new technologies to cultivate the landscape represented progress. Stories made this progress seem natural.
86
Thesis statements are not arguments in the debate sense, but a way of asserting a position. A good thesis will present a position that changes someone's previous position on the subject. In a thesis, you are asserting a perspective or a position, as opposed to creating a profound, huge argument.
87
Ultimately, a thesis is an answer to a debatable question. Coming up with the question, however, is the hardest part.
88
Martin Heidegger was born in Germany, 1889. He is considered one of the pre-eminent philosophers of the 20th century. He is well known as one of the founders of existentialism.
89
Heidegger was morally concerned with the meaning of "being" in "human being." He addressed this question in 1927 in a book called "Being in Time." later, he joins the National Socialist Party and allies himself with the Nazis. He left the Nazis after a year, but kept political ties to them. Some say you can separate Heidegger from his political beliefs, while others say his political beliefs were tied to his philosophy.
90
Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology" is a foundational text. Heidegger is very sophisticated in his analysis of historical material.
91
Mumford looked at the interplay between technology and social effects. Did Susman look at the author's experience versus the historical experience?
92
Heidegger believes the "question" concerning technology revolves around the issue of that which will saves us from being completely wrapped up in technology.
93
Heidegger introduces the idea that there is a difference between technology and the essence of technology. Technology is either an instrument or a tool. In the anthropological definition of technology, technology is a means to an end.
94
Heidegger says there are four components of technology. MATERIAL--what you start out with. FORM--the sape it takes. END--the result. EFFECT--what happens when the technology goes into the world.
95
The "SACRIFICIAL VESSEL," also known as the chalice, involves all four components sacrificing themselves to become the chalice.
96
Heidegger uses Latin and Greek to define terms because he was fascinated with Aristotle and etymologies. He looks at roots of words and how they've changed over time.
97
"Bringing forth" happens through revealing. Revealing involves making something visible. You reveal the chalice by bringing it up into being.
98
ENFRAMING is the active process of creating a framework, of calling forth resources and of making them most efficient. Enframing is the essence of modern technology.
99
Enframing involves

1. Setting Upon
2. Challenging forth
3. Revealing the Standard Reserve
100
Modern technolgy challenges resources. Cars can be challenged to carry passengers. Your paper is challenged to contain your writing. "Challenging forth"
101
The STANDARD RESERVE means resources. Humans are part of the standing reserve, as are tables, chairs, etc.
102
Heidegger says there is a part or our destiny over which we have no control. Yet, we should not blindly follow technology just because we don't have full control over the course of our lives. Heidegger says that if you are thinking and are aware of the enframing process of technology, you won't get sucked into it.
103
When Heidegger refers to "SAVING POWER" in page 32 of the "Question Concerning Technology," he is referring to the necessity of being aware of the process of technology--to save people from the danger of technology.
104
We have a desire to enframe and protect ourselves. The question concerning technology is how to enframe AND keep our human distance. In early American history, Americans tried to reconcile the growth of Industrialism with the pastoralism of the American Frontier.
105
American citizens were worried about the role that technology should play in their country. The early American republic was tied to agriculture. Civil Ownership, a key concept in America's agrarian identity, viewed an improvement in the land as a reflection of progress made ins society. In the 1780s, it is estimated that 80 percent of Americans worked on farms.
106
Pastoralism is a characteristic of life based in the rural countryside. In PASTORALISM, raising livestock is the primary economic activity. Pastoralism is associated with idyllic innocence and rural idealism. This was central to American's view of America as a massive garden waiting to be cultivated. Ideas of Republican Virtue and Pastoralism were upheld as moral qualities.
107
The definition of pastoralism is close to the definition for civil ownership. Pastoralism is a characteristic based on the rural countryside--where raising livestock is the primary activity. This quality is associated with idyllic innocence.
108
Pastoralism put an emphasis on service to the community--for the common good. Part of the reasonf for its emphasis on the public good came from the colonist's fear that individual pursuits could lead to tyranny. The agrarian landscape was held as the pastoral ideal, yet, colonists were also becoming increasingly excited about the manufactoring associated with industrialism.
109
Colonistst were trying to get away from importing goods from Britain. American manufactoring, therefore, was seen as a way to maintain freedom and liberty. Colonists were encouraged to save their money and not buy extravagant and common items imported from England. "Save your money and you will save the country." In modern times, however, we are taught to spend our money to save the country. The difference comes from the fact that colonial America was in between a production ethic and a consumer ethic, while modern America is solidly based on a consumer ethic.
110
Women were involved in the revolutionary political process. Women were traditionally kept out of politics--while men were seen to have their place in politics. Women were seen to be in charge of household economics. This started with the mentality of recognizing that women could have control over this particular area. Women would dictate where money was spent.
111
Women began to push for the "Buy American" campaign to free the U.S. from English stuff. Men recognized that women were central to the rebellion against England and were astute managers of the economy. Christopher Gaddison firmly believed this.
112
A spinning craze developed in the colonies that aimed to primarily highlight the ability of women to manufacture domestic goods from their own homes. In 1769, 92 women gathered at the home of Ezra Stiles and produced a massive amount of yarn like material for domestic goods. During this particular event, some 70 spinning wheels were in use.
113
Manufacturing goods were important for the domestic fron, but were especially important in a time of war. Manufacturing allowed armies to have ready access to needed supplies like ammunition. During the Revolutionary War, manufacturing was one of the republic's main virtues.
114
Thomas Jefferson was a Virginian that loved the agrarain lifestyle. He lived next to farmers. Jefferson brought up the pastoral image and how ideal it would be for the country--yet, this lifestyle is based on slavery. The myth of the yeomen farmer sanitizes what really takes place in the agrarian lifestyle.
115
Jefferson once said, "Those who labor in the Earth are the chosen people of God." Jefferson believed that farming preserved values. Jefferson didn't approve of what he would call the "artificial" values imposed by an external government. The only values Thomas Jefferson approved of were the values he felt came from one's interactions with the land.
116
Thomas Jefferson admired the technological progress of Europe, but disliked their politics and values. Even though an agrarian based economy would fail to produce as much money as an industrial economy, Jefferson favored an agrarain economy. Jefferson thought an agrarian economy would be best for America because of the values it would promote. Jefferson felt that the Yeomen farmer was the ideal colonist.
116
Both Henry Nash Smith and Leo Marx are part of the coventional school of AMS. The conventioanl school of AMS involves taking a myth/symbolic image and then use the myth/symbolic image to convey a key point.
117
In order for the Garden myth that Henry Nash Smith analyzed to work, the presence of Indians (who owned the land), slaves (who would be used to work the land), and women (who would have to live in the inhospitable frontier) were overlooked.
118
Jefferson was most pleased with scientific innovations that were applicable to the everyday person. A better oil lamp or a better printing press, for example, were things that people would use or come in contact with everyday.
119
In 1815, George Flemming invented a smaller steam engine that could be used in the domestic sphere. Jefferson was overjoyed by this invention and strongly urged Flemming to apply his smaller steam engine to the process of churning butter or washing, or a variety of other day-to-day household activities.
120
Jefferosn loved gadgets. He had a polygraph (different from modern polygraph) which would produce duplicates of everything he wrote. After he retired from politics, he got involved in manufacturing by buying a nail cutter. He developed a strong nail-making industry that produced 10,000 nails per day.
121
Coiled Springs appeared as early as the 700s. Yet, they were not applied to seating furniture until 1822. In 1822, an upholsterer patented a new model of coiling iron springs. This upholsterer then applied these new springs to the production of chairs and couches.
122
Because coil-spring technology was a new technology, people would normally have been afraid of it and reluctant to accept it. Yet, because the coil-springs existed inside of the every-day couch and chair, there existed a magnificent combination of both the familiar old and the unfamiliar new. Partly because of this combination, coil-spring products were able to catch on quickly.
123
Coils were not advertised for their comfort, but, rather, for the appearance they would provide to the chair or couch that used them. When someone sat in an 18th century couch or chair for a period of time, the cushion would sink and temporarily degrade its appearance. Yet, with coil-springs, the cushion would rise substantially faster than chairs or couches not featuring coil springs.
124
Chairs of the 1700s featured straight backs not for comfort but for appearance. The more erect a person sat, the more noble their character was seen to be. Straight backs, therefore, were meant to help people enhance the appearance of their character.
125
Coil-spring chairs were very expensive to produce and quickly became social-status symbols.
126
ID: Thomas Jefferson believed in something he called the "Middle Landscape." Jefferson tried to reconcile the agrarian lifestyle with urban industrialism. Essentially, Jefferson wanted the country to grow, but wanted it do so in a way which respected the natural environment.
127
Under Jefferson's plan, those who could farm (men) should farm, and those who could not (children, women, and the elderly) should work in factories. Everyone, regardless of age or physical ability, was expected to contribute to the good of society. It was not considered immoral to force children or the elderly to work in factories but, instead, highly appropriate.
128
As the nation increased its manufacturing capabilities, there was also an increase in material objects and wealth. People wanted more material goods and wealth because there was more material goods and wealth. For this happen, though, a revision of the Republican Virtue was needed.
129
The Republican Virtue stated that everyone who was able should contribute to the good of society. As the nation's wealth and manufacturing ability increased, the Republican Virtue was modified to state that luxury was a reward for hardwork. Under this revision, wealth was a reward for hardwork. People were not to be looked down upon for being wealthy, but, rather, admired for their hard work. Though it might seem unfair for one person to have wealth and another one not to, the Republican Virtue also stated that if a person became wealthy, society gained far more than that individual ever did. Thus, hard-working, wealthy individuals were the ones who contributed the most to society.
131
Thomas Jefferson saw the middle landscape as a place where the agrarian lifestyle would dominate. Women, children, and the elderly would work in factories, while capable men would work on farms.
132
Patents played a key role in encouraging creativity among America's early inventors. Thomas Jefferson, as secretary of state, had to uphold new patent laws and decide how long patents could be extended. He believed in giving credit where credit is due. The process of inventing something, however, involves a process of passing an invention from one person to another.
133
The notion of giving credit where credit is due is a challenging thing. African Americans were big inventors in the late 1700s and early 1800s, but were not legally allowed to seek patents for their inventions because they were not considered citizens. Slave owners could try to patent the the creations of their slaves, but could not receive any money from the patent since they were not the ones who created the patented item.
134
One slave (Ned) invented a cotton scraper, an invention that could scrape cotton twice as fast. The slave's owner (Thompson) wanted to claim the patent for himself, but was denied because he was not the one who created the cottons scraper.
135
One of the ways the American manufacturing system developed was by the stealing of inventions and ideas from England. America managed to do this despite the fact that England was very protective of its manufacturing secrets.
136
To create a strong incentive to produce valuable inventions, state lotteries were set up to award especially talented inventors.
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Samuel Slater was the first man to escape from England with major secrets. He came to the United States after having been an apprentice of the famed British inventor Richard Arkwright. Arkwright was the first person to develop the cotton-spring machine.
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Samuel Slater memorized the construction of the cotton machine and, upon arriving in America, constructed an exact replica of the machine.
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The American system of manufacturing is not focused or new in terms of production but in terms of the way it did not rely specialized skills. According to the British system of manufacturing, specialized skills were needed to produce products. The American system of manufacturing, on the other hand, was based on unskilled labor. Every worker knew only the part of the process. (ASK)**
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In late 1700s, early 1800s America, there was a small laboring population, an incredible amount of natural resources, and lots of water. Because of the abundance of rivers, water power became the dominant source of power in the United States. There were also large numbers of workers who lacked specialized skills.
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The American system of manufacturing was unique more for its organization than its technology. Eventually, machines in factories became specialized, and education changed with the demand in factories. During this time, it was believed that if you're able to learn something new and adapt, you can be successful.
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People were very successful in New England and Port Towns that saw goods come and go on a frequent basis. Ports also had access to lots or raw materials. Exports also provided ports with sizable revenues.
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The English system of manufacturing involves different craftsmen for every stage of the work--dyers, weavers, printers, etc. Two people were highly important in developing the American system of manufacturing--Eli Whitney and Francis Cabot Lowell.
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Eli Whitney created the Cotton Gin, a device which greatly increased American cotton production. Whitney also created the UNIFORMITY SYSTEM, a system which was based on INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS. Whitney convinced the country that relying on interchangeable parts in the factory system was a good thing.
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In 1798, the Napoleonic wars were going on in France. The U.S. was getting increasingly nervous about a potential French attack on its interests. In response to the government's concern, Eli Whitney writes a letter informing the government that he can convert his factory from a cotton-gin to a gun-making factory. Though Whitney was awarded a contract and did turn his cotton-gin into a gun-making factory, it took him 10 years to create 10,000 muskets
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Whitney was able to get extensions on his contract because of a clever demonstration he gave to key government officials. In one of his presentations, he showed off how the concept of interchangeable parts worked. People had never seen anything like interchangeable parts and were in awe of it. Even though it was later revealed that the parts he showed off had not been created with the purpose of being interchangeable, the potential offered by his presentation won him favor and changed American manufacturing.
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Eli Whitney was also able to reduce the cost of production by introducing a managerial class that oversaw the entire production process. In addition, the managerial class spent more time looking at cost analysis so that they could know how much was being spent on each musket.
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The managerial class also created more social control. At this time, Americans feared that, with the rise of factories, America would become like England--a place Americans felt had become morally corrupted by factories. The idea of having a more organized and regulated factory system reassured people that republican virtue would be maintained.
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Because at this time were water powered, they needed to be placed next to rivers. Rivers were usually located in rural settings. Thus, factories were located in rural settings next to rivers. Because of its location, the factory also fell into Jefferson's definition of the middle-landscape.
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At the turn of the 19th century, there were lots of children. America was experiencing a massive population boom. Because of the abundance of children, it seemed natural for Americans at this time to put them to work.
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According to US census surveys taken in 1980, the average American was 34 years old. During the late 1700s, the average American was 16. Boys and girls were acquainted with labor at a much earlier age. Children worked on farms at ages as young as 8. Factories in England and the United States would relocate families to factories and mills.
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A boarding house system was created to avoid the idea of there being a permanent class of factory workers. With a boarding house system, a rotating class of workers could be formed. Rotating classes were composed almost exclusively of young women. Young women would work for a few years to bring in extra money for families or themselves. The ultimate goal was to create a circulating class--contributing to the core of the supposedly class-less American society.
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A boarding house provided girls a temporary living place and a place to be watched over by the House Matron. Young women were often required to attend religious services and would have there every move monitored. Moral upkeep was expected and the girls would often police each other by kicking out immoral girls.
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From 1825 to 1850, lots of people moved from rural areas to urban areas. This created a great deal of concern because people were not sure how to uphold moral values in an industrial environment. One way factory owners tried to solve this problem was by creating boarding houses--to provide moral guidance. Public Schools were created at least partly for the same reason.
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In 1814, Francis Cabbot Lowell, his brother-in-law Patrick Tracy Jackson, and another man named Appleton, introduced a factory in Waltram Massachusetts. This factory was located near an adequate water source. Thus, all of their manufacturing was able to take place under a single roof. Lowell was also able to produce 3 times as much cotton cloth as England by emphasizing the introduction of individual tasks.
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When Europeans came over to see American factories, they were stunned to see factories located in pastoral settings. They were also amazed by the organization of American factories. Having efficient factories in pastoral environments reconciled the myth of the garden with the myth of the machine.
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The use of mechanized and regulated time was also very important. Before time regulated the work day, people used to work by the number of orders they received for a particular item. Sometimes, under this system, they might have to work 72 hours straight, and other times, they might have long periods where work was much less intense.Yet, with the clock, there is the introduction of work done by the clock---not by the number of orders.
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With the clock, everyone had to be ready to work from sunup to sundown. Bells signaled the start to the day and the end of the day. Some workers were not used to the clock and did not obey it. Even thought the time system is more consistent, it did not lighten the workload or make it easier. The movement to get 10 hour workdays established showed how regulated work had become. 10 hour workdays were seen as a requirement by workers who were sick of working an insane amount of hours.
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Andrew Jackson visited Lowell and was enormously impressed to see every floor performing a different task. He was also amazed by the masses of girls who were all doing the same thing, side by side, over and over again.
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Workers, however, were not happy and began to contradict the claim that they lived in harmony together. They felt very oppressed and exploited. They were also unhappy about the buildings they worked in--many of the buildings were not very well ventilated.
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The Managerial Class was thought to uphold morals, yet, workers claimed that the managerial class also created a hierarchy. With a hierarchy, America was creating a new aristocracy like the ones its people fled from in Europe.
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The Know-Nothing Party was established with the intent to ensure that only natural-born Americans could hold political office.
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In the Lowell Textile Mills, women were forced into a proletariat class. Lowell Mills were designed to be a moral and aesthetic contrast to the dirty and immoral English factories.
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By 1860, 60,000 women were employed in cotton-textile industry in New England.CORPORATE PATERNALISM was established to give managers and owners social control. Under corporate paternalism, women were required to have a curfew, attend church services, and go to a library. At this time, the literacy rate in New England is incredibly high. Even rural people had had a high literacy rate--very different from the largely illiterate south. Also, women had to occasionally attend lectures put on by famous people.
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Women accounted for over 85 percent of the women at Lowell. Out of the 85 percent who were women, fewer than 4 percent were foreign born.
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Most of the women at Lowell were between the ages of 15 and 30. 90 percent lived in boarding houses and stayed at Lowell an average of 4 years. Almost 2/3 of the women came from rural/farming families who were in the middle class. The families of the women at Lowell owned some land, but were not wealthy by any stretch of imagination. They were solid middle class.
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Mill workers worked about 70 hours a week. 13 hours M-F and an additional 8 hours on Saturday. There was lots of group conformity among the women and not much communication with those outside the factory. Factory women also married by the (average) age of 29, 10 years later than non-factory women. Not only did they marry later, but they also tended to break even further away from their rural homes by marrying non-farmers (mechanics, etc.). Once leaving Lowell, the women would usually enter cities instead of returning home.
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As factory work continues, more and more middle-class women were expected not to do labor. Thus, factory owners had to use working-class women instead.
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There is a contradiction between the ideal of what democratic labor should look like and the conditions of people in factories. This creates more class stratification.
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As people began to work outside of their homes, a strong separation between work and play also began. When people worked outside of the home, there was more fluidity in how much time a person was allowed to take off, how much they could drink, how much they could party, etc. In the work environment, sobriety was needed to maintain moral order and insure that machinery was operated safely.
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In response to the separation between work and play (and the need for places to play), theaters, theme parks, music halls, circuses, and other places of amusement come into being.
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Reform Associations were created by middle class people who wanted to reform immigrants and working class people. These people wanted to prevent the less-privileged classes from slipping into moral degeneracy. The Women's Christian Temperance Union was one such reform association.
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A Gardening Society was formed to teach the lower classes how to do housework. The middle class people who formed the group thought that working class people were dirty because they did not know how to do housework. This illustrates the disconnect between the middle class and the working class. The working class were dirty because of the nature of their jobs and the quality of the places they lived--not because they did not know how to do housework.
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In the 1840s, 1.7 million immigrants came to the United States. There was also a huge influx of Irish immigrants who came to avoid the famine in their homeland. In the 1860s, another 2 million immigrated to the United States. When all was calculated, it was revealed 4 million immigrants had come to the United States in 2 decades. Native-born Americans displayed intense hostility towards immigrants.
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The textile industry was tied very closely to the slave trade. Slave labor originally began in the U.S. as a temporary institution (in the 1600s) to harvest cotton. Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin, however, drastically increases cotton production in the 1790s. With the increase in production came an increase in demand for cotton. The increase in demand for cotton perpetuated the slavery crisis.
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During the 1860s, there wasn't much emphasis on learning specialized tasks. Veterans of the Civil War did not want to learn specialized tasks. There was also a strong desire among many to improve their lives INDIVIDUALLY.
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Between 1855 and 1860, the production of Pig Iron grew by 17 percent. During the Civil War, the production grew by 1 percent. Between 1865 and 1870, Pig Iron production grew by 100 percent. Part of the reason for the large increase is due to the widespread construction or railroads.
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In the colonial republic, iron was used for all sorts of things (kettles, etc.). Iron Mills operated by melting iron ore in a blast furnace--the blast furnace would blast oxygen onto the melted ore--which would oxidize the iron and rid it of impurities. After the iron has been purified, it is stronger than non-purified iron and becomes known as Pig Iron.
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The reason Pig Iron is called Pig Iron is due to the fact that when the iron was in liquid form and was running down the channels after being cast--people thought it looked like a line of piglets.
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"Life in the Iron Mills" makes a lot of literary allusions. Rebecca Harding Davis came from a middle class family and attended a seminary. The reason she wrote LITIM is to expose her readers to the horrific conditions of the mills.
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Literary Realism was about getting away from Romantic situations where everything was beautiful and peaceful and, instead, about presenting the gritty realism of life. Rebecca Harding Davis is a predecessor of this movement. One thing she does with her fiction is document the degrading and repetitive labor of capitalist America.
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Hiram Power's statue "Californian" is inspired by the California gold rush. He wanted it to be representative of a young Indian woman in native costume. The statue is holding a scepter of California, representing fortune. In her smooth marble presentation, we're not seeing the everyday realities of gold mining in her figure. The moral of the sculpture is that all gold doesn't necessarily glitter. The "Californian" is very Romantic in form and inspiration.
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William Rimmer's "Falling Gladiator" sculpture tries to show the strain and struggle in the image itself. When it first debuted, some people thought it had been cast from a real person. It is a very realistic representation of the human body.
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Alexis De Tocqueville said that Americans have an almost universal ambitions to get ahead. He observes that Americans are "haunted" by visions of what will be. Americans, he said, are never satisfied with what they are in life; they always want more. American's change their lifestyles to fit the needs (exigencies) of the moment.
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At the height of the Transcontinental Rail Road construction, 10,000 Chinese workers were employed by central pacific. All of the Chinese were paid the same amount of money--an amount less than European workers. They were paid 2 dollars a day, yet, they also set a record by laying 10 miles of track in 10 hours.
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In 1869, the Union Pacific met the Central Pacific in Utah. The Chinese, however, were not invited to the opening ceremony. They were laid off after the construction was completed and had to pay their way back to California. The opening ceremony were called "GOLDEN SPIKE CEREMONY" and took place in Promontory Pass, Utah. The workers in the photo of the ceremony had not been paid in weeks, and, some workers not pictured had begun protesting by gathering on the tracks and preventing the CEO of Central Pacific from getting by until he paid them.
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The transcontinental railroad shortens the amount of time needed to go between the East and the West, and was seen as an object that could unify the United States. Lots of distance separated people at this time, and the rail road was seen as a technology which could unify people. The rail road also further divided markets--keeping the south an agriculturally-dependent region. Also, the speed of the transcontinental rail road (15-20 mph) was exhilarating to Americans.
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Thomas Edison did not invent the incandescent light bulb, but he did make it feasible to use on a mass scale. Edison was one of the most prolific inventors in the United States. During this time, inventors in the United States were rewarded and promoted as national heroes.

In 1847, 495 people claimed patents. In 1869, the year the TRANS RR was completed, Edison received a patent that allowed politicians to press a button and vote. The light would show how the politicians voted.
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By 1887, 20,000 people had patents--up from 495 in 1847. In his lifetime, Edison had 1,093 patents to his name. His life-story contributed to the idea of someone who was able to lift himself up from a meager background to a position of success.
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Edison's first job came from working on a train--while on the job, he saves a 3 year old boy from being run over by a train. Out of gratitude, the boy's father offers him the chance to learn how to use the telegraph. The telegraph stunned people by its ability to send language from one place to another--thereby separating the language from the person.
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In 1868, Edison got a job working for Western Union. In 1870, Edison opened his own telegraph shop and made enough money to be a full time, independent inventor.Between 1878 and 1882, Edison worked to develop electrical lighting. Francis Upton, John Kreusie, and Charles Batchelor worked with Edison.
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Edison did not like the cycles of the day or the clock to determine the amount of time spent at work. He would sometimes work for 24 hours and take cat-naps to re-energize himself.
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Edison wanted to develop a filament capable of carrying an electric current. Carbon was deemed capable of doing so and fitted out the first Edison light bulb. About 20 years later, Tungsten replaces Carbon.
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In the class-film about the manufacturing of early 20th century light bulbs, the graphic background with the old man and the changing people behind him was meant to show history as progress. The Ford logo appears over and over. The part that showed the lady at a desk with a spinning, light-bulb revolving machine showed the necessity of keeping up with her work.
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Edison believed it was important to identify the market for a product before he went about designing something. Businesses had to be willing to pay for his light bulbs for him to even consider developing the light bulb. Edison claimed "anything that won't sell, I won't invent." He created products, but also created companies to go along with those products. For instance, he created a light bulb, and then created an electric company to power his light bulbs. The electric company he created is known today as General Electric.
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Dynamo is a generator that is short for the Dynamo Electric Machine. Edison's electric distribution center provided 8,000 amps of electricity. Edison, however, had little interest in the company--a company which became General Electric.
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Electricity is not just used as a source of power, however, but also as a symbol of wealth. Luxury hotels and high-end brothels begin using light-bulbs to show off and attract wealthy customers.
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Henry Nash-Smith writes about Turner's Frontier Thesis and about United States going into the wilderness. According to the Frontier Thesis, the rise of American Civilization came with westward expansion. To understand this, you have to see the American West as open land waiting for development.
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The land, however, was not as vacant as Turner envisioned it to be. Indians lived in the land, along with lots of animals that depended on it for their survival. Turner also overlooked the power of technology. Technology, specifically the rail road and electricity, made it possible to live int the west.
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When a new technology was introduced to 1800s America, people were quick to embrace its potential, but were also afraid of the changes it was sure to bring.
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Between 1860 and 1900, the number of farms in the United States tripled because of developments in agricultural technology. Irrigation also made it grow more quickly.
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Due to the discovery of different types of ore in western mines, the population of western states continued to boom. During this time, there was also a growing, technologically-driven separation between the working class and the managerial class. Between 1860 and 1900, there were lots of books written that discussed progress and its meaning to late 1800s America.
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John Gast's "American Progress" is perhaps the most famous American painting ever made. A Goddess bringing a telephone line and a train is shown walking across the wilderness and driving away Indians and wild animals. Technology is taming the landscape. The Goddess wears the Star of Progress on her forehead and carries a book which is a symbol of national intelligence. The part of the country where she has already been is bright and sunny (civilized) and the part where she is going is dark and cloudy (uncivilized).
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"American Progress" is a second creation story which is used to explain and justify the displacement of Indians, Buffalo, bears, and other inhabitants. The Goddess is seen as a symbol of liberty and progress. Progress in this painting is tied to technological advancement.
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The painting asserts the dominant culture's vision of the future. The fleeing Indians, who the artist portrays as primitive, is one way this is meant to be shown.
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The painting leaves out the reality of irrigation farming. Much of the west is to arid and rocky to support farming life. This is significant because it directly challenges Jefferson's notion of what America was supposed to look like--an agrarian nation.
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Edison was a master of self promotion. Much of his effort to get the public to embrace new technology dealt with marketing. He once said, "I don't care for fortune as much as I do getting ahead of other people." A video of Edison conducting experiments was once shot outside to make use of natural lighting conditions. This was done despite the fact that Edison never did experiments outside. The experiment was probably staged too. Everything Edison did was meant to improve his marketing position.
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The American System of Manufacturing is built on having a labor pool of individual, unskilled workers. This type of labor system is cheaper and more efficient than a labor system that relies on skilled labor. However, as the American System of Manufacturing sees wider usage, more people start to see themselves as part of a machine. Karl Marx said the workman became "an appendage of the machine."
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There was a real fear that Americans would be turned into a machine. Electricity and the dynamo generator heighten these fears. "The Machine Built Body" looks at how machines have been used to shape the bodies. By incorporating machines into daily lives, the machines become domesticated and acceptable.
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Johan Maisel was the first to patent a talking doll. The doll could say mother and father in French. Edison, too, creates a talking doll by creating a smaller version of the phonograph to be used as the dolls voice.
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Edison was really good at analyzing the market for his inventions. At this time, dolls were a prominent part of the European consumer market. Dolls were not as big in the American market, and, because of this, Edison felt as though he had an opening he could exploit. Edison creates a patent for one of his talking dolls in 1880. In 1890, he created a doll-making factory composed of 250 employees. Edison's dolls were made out of 6 tin pieces molded together. The sound the doll made came from within her chest. Edison imported body parts from Europe and manufactured the phonographs himself. His factory could make up to 100,000 dolls per year.
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Edison's dolls were flawed, however, because were disturbed by the dolls' high pitch voices. The doll also had an ugly and unnatural crank protruding from her back. The crank was what allowed the phonograph to work. The doll was also flawed because it weighed 4 pounds, a weight that was far too heavy for most young children and prevented them from picking it up and playing with it. The doll also cost an exorbitant $10.00, an amount that surpassed what most Americans made in a week.
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1890's Americans were also uncomfortable with how lifelike the doll looked. This discomfort was heightened by the phonograph's playing of words spoken by real people. Americans at this time were spooked by the notion that a person's voice could be heard even after they've died. They felt this was ghostly or other-wordly in one way or another.
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Ultimately, Edison's dolls were not successful and he was forced to shut down the factory which made them. Adding to the reasons the doll failed was the recurring problem of people purchasing a doll that, unknowingly to them, was broken. On one occasion, a woman who returned her doll asked Edison, in a letter, to "teach it to speak properly." The doll, to the woman, was like a human being.
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In the late 1800s, there was an association between inventors and gods because of what they could create. Edison was portrayed as THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK. Edison was seen in a mock drawing as a wizard illuminating the darkness surrounding him.
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At this time, technology was seen not only as an indication of progress, but also as a sign of magic and the unknown--something akin to sorcery. These supernatural connotations were heightened by the introduction of electricity and the danger it posed from electrocution. Electricity was highly symbolic with many images of it in popular culture.
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Despite the destructive potential of electricity, it had also had lots of constructive potential. To emphasize its constructive potential, Edison tried to associate electricity with femininity. In 1892, Edison designed an electricity-celebrating float for a parade. On his float were women electric magic wands and electrified head bands.
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Edison also tried to associate electricity with femininity to make a domesticated technology. Edison said that electricity could be used for housework and could free up women from other household duties--thus, electricity was tied to domesticity. "Electric girls" were also hired to be hostesses at parties.
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A New Year's Eve party hosted by one of Edison's assistants involved a door bell that was rung by stepping on a step and other electrical wonders--all to advertise the wonders of electricity.
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In 1883, at Niblo's Garden Theater in New York, novel lighting effects were employed by General Electric. Girls with electric wands and headbands were also there to positively represent electricity. In 1886, the statue of liberty was illuminated by electric light.
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HUMANS AND MACHINES: In Lewis Mumford's "Technics and Civillization," parts of the body are compared the machine. Arms act as levers, lungs as bellows, eyes as lenses, the heart as a pump, the fist as a hammer, and the nerves act as a telegraph system connected with a central station. People's appearances are compared to the machine when he states "The forms of the machine were no more ugly than the bodies of crippled and battered men and women.
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HUMANS AND MACHINES: The women who were part of the daughters of liberty used a large number of spinning wheels. In "The Machine Made Body", there were analogies between machinery and the functions of the human body. Jefferson's polygraph machine acted as a human secretary--replacing a human body.
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HUMANS AND MACHINES: Oyster Tongs acted as machines which accentuated the power of the human body. The spring-seat chair improved the posture of the person sitting upon it--thus, technology was used to extend the range of the human body. Human bodies also acted as TOTAL INSTITUTIONS because they were organized for order and labor on machines.
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HUMANS AND MACHINES: The printing press was a machine used to reach more human beings than any other form of communication. In the American System of Manufacturing, human beings become part of the machine due to things which they create. With the clock, the daily routines of human life are regulated. HUMANS AND MACHINES: With the light bulb, the daily routines of human life are disrupted. Heidegger, in "The Question Concerning Technology," believed that humans acted as a sort of "standing reserve" for work to be performed by machines.
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According to Warren Susman, American Studies is about different ways of interpreting American history--giving voices to Americans who had not been studied as much, etc. He also discuses American colonial life and how people used second generation stories to justify their life.
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Lewis Mumford, in "Technics and Civilization," looks at how clocks affected human beings and the course of human history. The clock affected how people look at days, weeks, months, etc.
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Martin Heidegger, in "The Question Concerning Technology," discusses his definition of the standing reserve and his negative view of technology. According to Heidegger, enframing and questioning save us from becoming part of the machine.
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Heidegger's definition of the "STANDING RESERVE," is one that involves technology being an intricate part of our lives. Referring to the connection of technology to human life as the "STANDING RESERVE" is a fundamentally negative way of saying that human beings have become a natural resource to be tapped by machines. To get out of the standard reserve, you have to QUESTION EVERYTHING. Everyone, Heidegger says, is part of the standing reserve, and enframing is the only way to get out of it.
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Heidegger says that "Enframing" is an ordering system--a way of looking at the world that frames your view of things.
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Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis" suggested that America is an untapped land where you can go and start again. What makes us American is the fact that we have a frontier to move westward. This, according to Frederick Jackson Turner, is what sets us apart from Great Britain. The Frontier is land that will always be there and will always push us westward.
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The question asked by Henry Nash Smith in his analysis of the "Frontier Thesis" is one that involves whether we are Americans because we go west or create new technologies.
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The Middle Landscape envisioned by Thomas Jefferson is one that made a compromise between the preservation of the land and the pursuit of scientific development.
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Henry Nash Smith also says that the "Frontier Thesis" also states that a persons degree of civility is determined by their distance from England. The closer a person is to England, the more civilized that person is. The farther a person is from England, the less civilized that person is. Because of this, those living on the east coast were deemed more civilized than those living in the west or the frontier. After stating this, Nash asks the question of whether it is better to be more civilized or more rugged.
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The "Frontier Thesis" doesn't work when you looks at how technology precedes man--without the railroad and electricity, it would have been impossible to live in the west.
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According to Leo Marx in "The Domination of Nature and the Redefinition of Progress," progress is the domination of nature. Nature when dominated, would provide wealth and insure the spread of republican government. Yet, degrees of accommodation must be taken to forge the Middle Ground. You must produce in an efficient manner, yet do so by compromising with the natural environment.
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Rebecca Harding-Davis' "Life in the Iron Mills," shows people becoming machines. In her story, people lose their humanity by the dull, repetitive, and dirty nature of their miserable lives. Harding-Davis is a reformer who wanted to expose the harsh conditions of American factories.
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In Carolyn De La Pena's "The Body Electric," she defines Neuresthenia as a depletion of your energy. Neuresthenia could be caused by thinking too much, drinking too much, through masturbation, and through other activities thought to be destructive. According to popular thought, exercise is the remedy for neuresthenia.
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The idea behind Neuresthenia was that you have a source of energy in you, and, essentially, you are giving it away. The big question was--how do you get it back. Exercise was thought to be the most applicable solution. Exerting force with machines gives you your energy back.Gymnastics, which use machines, became popular and encouraged people to use machines. This remedy for Neuresthenia, however, applied exclusively to men. For women, the cure for neuresthenia was thought to come through lots of bed rest and an absence of intellectual stimulation.
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At the time that neuresthenia became a concern for the public, white men were becoming worried about what was going to happen them. They were worried that all the smart, wealthy, and white men would die off and commit racial suicide. White men became obsessed with ways to recover their strength and saw gymnastics, other forms of physical activity, and the creation of the boy scouts as a way to preserve and enhance the strength of white men. Gym memberships were also highly encouraged. If a wealthy or middle class man could become physically stronger than a working-class-factory man, then the wealthier white men felt as though their efforts had paid off. it wasn't just about strength, however, but strength cultivated by machines to serve a particular purpose---showing wealthy-white men to be superior to factory-white men.
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Aunt Jemima's Syrup, Wigley's Juicey Fruit, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, and Nabisco's Shredded Wheat were all introduced at the Chicago Fair of 1883.
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World's Fairs and expositions showed the potential of the future but also caused people to experience anxiety regarding the future. Ultimately, world's fairs were designed to show new technologies. The first world's fair in 1851 did this as well.
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World Fairs between 1876 and 1915 featured technology based on electricity. WF's did not just introduce new technologies, however, but also a new set of cultural values. World Fairs also emphasized the idealism that came from the order, coherence, and cohesiveness they displayed to an America rocked by political corruption, over-worked-factory people, and an huge influx of immigrants.
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World Fairs removed people from their normal routines and placed them in a setting where they could imagine themselves as different people with a higher class standing.
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World Fairs were an upper to middle class view of what the US should like in the future.
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The Centennial Exposition of 1876 took place in Philadelphia. 10 million people went through the turn-stiles. While the fair was mostly for upper and middle class Americans, there were also a number of working class people as well. Some industrial companies like Boston Cotton Mill paid to send their employees to the fair--to boost morale.
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Indoor exhibits at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 had to close by 6pm. Fair organizers feared that gas lights might catch on fire.

In the machinery hall of the fair, the Corliss Steam Engine powered all kinds of drills and other manufacturing equipment. It was 39 feet tall, weighed 680 tons, and produced 2500 horsepower. The Corliss Steam Engine was the most popular attraction of the Centennial Exposition.
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The Federal Patent Office displayed over 5,000 models of patented inventions. In the Woman's Pavillion, 75 women demonstrated how to use the tools they invented. The tools included equipment for ironing, the preparation of food, and other tools designed for domestic use. The Women's Pavilion also highlighted how more women were working outside of the home. One woman operated a massive steam engine, while a group of women operated the Centennial Exposition's Post Office.
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A number of displays at the centennial fair were of people themselves. American Indians were described as relics of the past whose inferior culture and technology rendered them fit to be destroyed.
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The Dewey Decimal System was created because of the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876. Dewey invented a system of organizing books in libraries based on the official organization of the Philadelphia Expo.
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William Blake created 10 different departments as umbrella categories for the Centennial Expo. Each of these 10 sections were then further divided into 100 groups. These 100 groups were then sub-divided into 1,000 classes. Organization and Classification was about creating order and control, and perhaps just as importantly, the appearance of order and control. Blake wanted to create a visual order that people could literally see. Blake's organization of the fair so inspired Melvil Dewey that he created the Dewey Decimal System based on Blake's organization.
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The Colombian Exposition of 1893 took place in Chicago. The grounds of the expo, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, were designed to have an urban appearance. Electricity was used at the fair to demonstrate the evolutionary progress of America. The fair was designed to represent all the steps of progress taken by civilizations across the world.
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Electricity and the light bulb were so dominant at the Chicago Expo that more light bulbs were lit up in it than any other city in America. Also, most people who attended the Chicago Expo saw more light in one night (at the Expo) than they did their whole life previous to that point.
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There were two parts to the Chicago Expo--the White City and the Midway.
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In the White City, buildings were made of cement and illuminated by electricity. The majestic shape, size, and whiteness of the buildings was meant to symbolize an idealized morality which emphasized Christianity, science, and progress.
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When people left the White City, they would go to the Midway. The Midway had many amusement park attractions, the world's first Ferris Wheel, and many other entertainment offerings. The Ferris Wheel could hold 20,000 people.
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Human beings were displayed as curiosities at the Chicago Expo. It dehumanized a tribe of "uncivilized" people from the Phillipines--all in an attempt to show the advanced degree of civilization in the United States. The White City is also thought by some to mean white as in skin, not just the color of the buildings. If this is so, the White City also has strong racial connotations.
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The pledge of allegiance came into existence because of the Chicago Expo. Francis Bellamy wrote the pledge of allegiance and spread it around to public schools with the help of the Federal Board of Education. Bellamy wanted every child in the nation to participate in the inauguration of the Chicago Expo by saying the pledge at the exact same time. Bellamy would then make sure that the expo was inaugurated at the same time the pledges were being made. The pledge was seen as a symbolic act of citizenship.
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Eventually, consumerism and material luxury become a bigger part of American culture. Henry Adams represents the intersection of the modern (consumerism) and anti-modern (anti-consumerism). Henry Adams is the great-great grandson of President John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams.
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Henry Adams became a history professor at Harvard University and had tremendous expectations to fulfill. He writes a book called the Auto-biography of Henry Adams and is posthumously awarded the Pullitzer Prize for his work in 1919.
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Two major themes of history that Adams discusses in The Autobiography of Henry Adams include unity and multiplicity.
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According to Adams, unity encompasses a view of history that captures the symbolic value of the Cathedral and the Virgin Mother.
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Multiplicity encompasses the power of modern technology, like the electricity created by the Dynamo. Ultimately, Adams compares the spiritual power of Cathedrals and the Virgin Mother (UNITY) to the mechanical power created by the Dynamo (Multiplicity).
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Adams ultimately argues that the symbolic power of technology has replaced the motivating force of the church. Though he states this opinion, he does not embrace it as something which is good for humanity. He is disillusioned by the creation of technology for energy's sake, and by the power exercised by the church. He is, ultimately, skeptical of the "progress" ushered in by modernity.
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In the 1890s, people were confronted by a fractured existence. In 1893, a major financial depression struck the United States, and made the problems associated with factory life and immigrants seem that much worse. Increasingly, there was a feeling by the middle and upper classes that financial stability was by no means assured. This combined with the other, aforementioned cultural events made order something that seemed impossible to achieve.
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Adams ultimately felt that people were becoming less autonomous and more dependent on machines. Because of their dependence on machines, Adams felt that people had lost sight of their individual importance (the self). Technology's impact on human life was seen by Adams to be a rupture in humanity's historical narrative.
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The increasing dominance of the clock and other technological advances brought about an increased need for physical comfort. Phrases associated with saving time and organizing time are used more frequently. In the 1870s, the phrase "to be on time" was invented.
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In the 1890s, Americans began to use more and more narcotics. Cocaine, Heroin, and other drugs were used to make life feel easier.
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Adams felt ambivalent towards Republicanism and worried about the United States becoming over-civilized. Jefferson wanted goods tied to everyday projects and wanted men to work on farms while women and children worked in factories.
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Americans began to worry that an increased reliance on material goods would simultaneously undermine America's reliance on republican virtue.
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Craftsmen became symbols of an authentic American experience in the late 19th century. In the late 1800s pre-modern craftsmen represented authenticity in a world featuring hordes of unskilled factory workers. At this time, there was lots of nostalgia for the simple life of the craftsman.
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The nostalgia Americans held for craftsmen was not shared among working class people. It was truly a middle-class and upper-class phenomenon. Middle class and upper class Americans had a fractured view of life.
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John Ruskin was an anti-modernist who said that the American worker was becoming a heap of sawdust. He believed that the misery of the working classes was fueling a socially dangerous situation.
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Ruskin was an advocated a position that involved Britain boycotting goods made by machines. The idea of not buying mass-produced products was important to Ruskin, but he was not entirely opposed to the purchase of machine-made goods. He felt that the morality of machines could be found in how they were used. If they were used to make the working classes miserable--he felt they were immoral. If they were used to mass produce items that had a human touch to them--not a product made by human exploitation--he was okay with it.
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William Morris was influenced by Ruskin. He hated modern civilization. Both Ruskin and Morris represent a nostalgia for simplicity and a connection between human beings and what they produce.
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Ruskin and Morris irrationally imagine happy workers creating useful objects for consumers. These objects were to be created in a commercial workshop.
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Charles Eliot Norton was friends with Ruskin and feared that the working class would revolt. He formed the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts to advocate the purchase of precious but costly items made with human life in them. These crafts were supposedly instilled with the human spirit, not the factory spirit, and were meant for upper and middle class people who could afford them. Art, like crafts, was seen as a way to reform taste and values.
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Gustav Stickley gives an overview of a craft workshop in his famous work "The Craftsman." This book was published from 1901-1916.
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Gustav Stickley feared that the urban poor and immigrants were responsible for an uptick in crime in urban areas. He and other middle to upper class people who thought like he did were disconnected from the struggles being endured by people of the working class. Later, Gustav creates Stickley Craftsman Furniture.