Unit 4 Regionalism & Naturalism (1870-1910)

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the Gilded Age

CULTURAL INFLUENCES: As the 1800s drew to an end, a very small group of men controlled the vast majority of industry, including the enormously profitable steel, railroad, oil, and meatpacking sectors. Captains of industry (such as John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt) enjoyed showing off their vast fortunes, building palatial mansions, draping their wives and daughters in diamonds, and throwing extravagant parties--they did everything but actually coat themselves in gold. Writers dubbed this period __________.

Naturalism

CULTURAL INFLUENCES: More and more, the individual seemed helpless, at the mercy of forces beyond his or her understanding or control. Life became a constant struggle, and the world appeared to be a harsh, uncaring place. These feelings found their voice in a literary movement called __________. These writers were concerned about the impact of social and natural forces on the individual, and tended to portray characters victimized by brutal forces and unable to control their lives.

labor unions

CULTURAL INFLUENCES: People knew they were missing out on the prosperity that others were enjoying. They formed __________, hoping to make the government more responsive to workers' needs.

the Have-Nots

CULTURAL INFLUENCES: Unfortunately, the Gilded Age was not so shiny for many other Americans. The settling of the West forced Native Americans off their land and onto reservations. Life was hard for freed African Americans--the failures of Reconstruction left many poor and powerless, held down by segregationist Jim Crow laws and forced to work as sharecroppers under conditions much like slavery. Immigrants seeking a better life also suffered--many worked 16-hour days in airless sweatshops for minimum wages. There was a clear line that separated the haves from __________.

Regionalism

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Although Americans were glad to move past the divisiveness of the war years, they regretted losing their regional identities and were unsettled by the many changes taking place in the country. These circumstances influenced writers of the time to begin trying to capture the customs, character, and landscapes of the nation's distinct regions--a type of writing that would come to be called __________.

Reconstruction

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: The Civil War left the South in ruins. Its primary labor system, slavery, had been abolished. Freed African Americans lacked money, property, education, and opportunity. Farms, factories, and plantations had been destroyed, and rail lines were unusable. The federal government had to come up with a plan to solve these problems and to readmit the Southern states to the union. That plan was called __________.

progressive

IDEAS OF THE AGE: A __________ movement emerged, which aimed to restore economic opportunities and correct injustices in American life. These folks did not see inequality as the way of the world; they believed that social change was possible and necessary and that it was the job of the government to make laws to protect people.

laissez-faire (French for "allow to do")

IDEAS OF THE AGE: Various thinkers of the day felt that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection (survival of the fittest) could be applied to human society. Some used these ideas to justify the huge gap between rich and poor and to push a government policy of __________, meaning that business should not be regulated, because the law of nature would ensure success for the fittest and inevitable failure for everyone else. This self-serving philosophy infuriated many Americans.

Women

LITERATURE: Breaking social barriers. >Writers tended to be realists, so wrote as realists and naturalists. >Roles shifted. >Suffrage movement (the right to vote) reemerged. >University education became more available. >Writing reflected society's limitations.