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The Expanding Middle Class
The growth of large industries and corporations created new jobs for millions of white-collar workers, including middle management roles and specialized professions.
The increase in salaried jobs, such as salespersons, accountants, and clerical workers, contributed to the rise of the middle class, which made up over a fourth of all non agricultural employees by 1910.
The Gospel of Wealth
Andrew Carnegie's "Gospel of Wealth" argued that the wealthy had a moral responsibility to use their fortunes to benefit society.
Carnegie believed that the wealthy should engage in philanthropy, funding projects like libraries, universities, and public institutions to improve society.
He defended unregulated capitalism but emphasized the duty of the wealthy to use their wealth wisely.
Carnegie's philosophy was criticized as paternalistic, but he distributed over $350 million to various causes.
Working Women
By 1900, one in five adult women worked for wages, primarily young and single women, as only 5% of married women worked outside the home.
Women moved into clerical positions such as secretaries, bookkeepers, and telephone operators, with some breaking into professions like medicine and law.
Jobs in feminized fields like nursing and teaching often paid less and had lower status.
Impact of Urban Development
Growth of Suburbs
Middle-class families moved to suburbs due to low-cost land, inexpensive transportation, new construction methods, ethnic and racial preferences, and the desire for privacy and detached homes.
Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed suburban communities with curved roads and open spaces, promoting the American ideal of single-family homes.
Private City Versus Public City
Initially, private enterprise shaped city development, providing services like streetcars and utilities.
Increasing issues like disease, crime, and pollution led to municipal improvements such as water purification, sewerage systems, and public parks.
The "City Beautiful" movement in the 1890s aimed to remake cities with tree-lined boulevards and public cultural attractions.
Changes in Education
Public Schools
Elementary education emphasized the "3 Rs" and moral values, with new compulsory education laws increasing enrollment and literacy rates rising to 90% by 1900.
Public high schools expanded to offer vocational and citizenship education alongside traditional college preparatory curricula.
Higher Education
The number and size of colleges grew, supported by federal Morrill Acts, wealthy philanthropists, and advocates for women's education.
College enrollment increased from 50,000 in 1870 to over 600,000 by 1920, with new curricula including modern languages and sciences.
Social sciences like psychology, sociology, and political science emerged, applying the scientific method to social issues.
Growth of Popular Culture
Growth of Leisure Time
Factors promoting leisure activities included higher incomes, reduced work hours, improved transportation, advertising, and the decline of restrictive social values.
Popular Press
Mass-circulation newspapers like Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's publications gained popularity with sensational stories.
Mass-circulation magazines like Ladies' Home Journal sold for as little as 10 cents, supported by advertising revenues.
Spectator Sports
Professional sports like baseball became urban pastimes, with leagues organized similarly to industrial trusts.
Football started as a college activity in 1869, and professional leagues formed in the 1920s.
Basketball, invented in 1891, quickly spread to schools and colleges, with the first professional league forming in 1898.
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