The United States during the 1890s heralded a dramatic break between America’s past and future. It was a decade of extreme contradiction. The unmatched cultural advancement was accompanied by intense economic unrest. While this decade saw the rise of cities, advanced technology, and rollercoasters, it also saw economic depressions, the invention of detection, and the birth of America’s serial killer. The World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 highlights the contradictions of United States culture, the same culture that brought us innovativeness and hope and the one that brought fear and panic. This paper will analyze the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 and the life of serial killer H.H. Holmes to contextualize the many contradictions of United States culture in the 1890s.
In 1890, a majority voted that Chicago be the home for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893. The architects and city planners of Chicago envisioned a city that would “surpass the brilliance of the Paris …show more content…
It witnessed Fredrick Jackson Turner’s The Significance of the Frontier in American History as well as Fredrick Douglas, who used his platform to present a speech that both indicted Columbus and criticized the fair (McGarry 10/2016). The White City was seen as the epitome of western civilization.
For the first time, visitors were able to view anthropological exhibits where they could measure their own skulls. Because the Midway had a variety of intriguing exhibits and different forms of entertainment, such as hydrogen filled balloons that could carry visitors into the sky and the Ferris wheel it had a pull that the White City did not (Larson 267). As fascinating and intriguing the Midway had been in exposing the “barbarism” of ethnic cultures from around the world. The true manifestation of barbarism was only a train ride away from the populated
In 1890, a majority voted that Chicago be the home for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893. The architects and city planners of Chicago envisioned a city that would “surpass the brilliance of the Paris …show more content…
It witnessed Fredrick Jackson Turner’s The Significance of the Frontier in American History as well as Fredrick Douglas, who used his platform to present a speech that both indicted Columbus and criticized the fair (McGarry 10/2016). The White City was seen as the epitome of western civilization.
For the first time, visitors were able to view anthropological exhibits where they could measure their own skulls. Because the Midway had a variety of intriguing exhibits and different forms of entertainment, such as hydrogen filled balloons that could carry visitors into the sky and the Ferris wheel it had a pull that the White City did not (Larson 267). As fascinating and intriguing the Midway had been in exposing the “barbarism” of ethnic cultures from around the world. The true manifestation of barbarism was only a train ride away from the populated