Rutherford B. Hayes, Nineteenth U.S. President
(1877-1881)
U.S. Census Overview 1880
U.S. Census Fast Facts 1880
Population: 50 million
Source: Foundations of American Education,
Sixth Edition page 156 / L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha. Published by Pearson Education. 2010
Education: Secondary (High School)
"In the years after the Civil War, a number of factors came together to create a greater demand for secondary education: population growth
due in large part to increased immigration and a rapid growth in industry and technological change, which intensified the demand for skilled workers."
A dramatic increase in the number of public high schools went from about "500 in 1870 to 6,000 in 1900. During the 1880s the number of high schools
increased tenfold and surpassed the number of academies. By the end of the century, free public high schools had pushed out the majority of fee-paying academies.
Although still only a small percentage of the eligible population attended high school, in 1900 more than half a million students were enrolled
and 62,000 graduated."
Source: Foundations of American Education, Sixth Edition page 137 / L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha. Published by Pearson Education. 2010
Education: Higher (College)
"By 1880 almost one-half of the colleges and universities admitted women. In
the end, teaching remained the most accessible and socially acceptable career
option for women. Some historians have called the period between the end of the
Civil War and the beginning of the 20th century the "Age of the University."
During this period more than 200 colleges were established in the United
States."
Source: Foundations of American Education, Sixth Edition page 142 / L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha. Published by Pearson Education. 2010
see 1884 for next event...
- Entertainment:
Game of Football invented by Yale Student
While an undergraduate, Walter Camp (B.A. 1880) develops the modern game of football from the rough game of rugby. Camp, now known as the father of American football, introduced the down, the eleven-man team, and the 100-yard field marked off in a gridiron.
Natural Resources:
Florida Everglades in late 19th Century
50,000 hides per year harvested for shoes and handbags
(alligators from fresh water, crocodiles from salt water)
and Heron plumes for hats
BBC Atlas of the Natural World
North America "Land of the Eagle" Documentary 2006.
Technology:
"The economic growth (tenfold) of the United States during this period (post-Civil War to pre-World War I), was even
more profound than the population growth (fourfold). This was a period of rapid growth for the railroads and other transportation and communication
industries. The expansion of the railroads brought an end to the frontier and linked all parts of the nation, as did an ever-expanding network of telephone lines.
At the same time, the trans-Atlantic cable and transworld shipping linked America with other nations. The expansion in the industry opened
up new markets for the growing agricultural and manufacturing industries. By 1920 the United States had become the largest manufacturing nation in the world."
Business leaders who helped bring about the growth were often called "robber barons," because of their abuses of workers (including children) "in factories, unsafe and unsanitary working conditions... industrial accidents and poverty-ridden slums...
Workers sought to improve their plight through labor unions. By 1920 one-fifth of all nonagricultural workers in the nation were organized (unions)."
Source: Foundations of American Education, Sixth Edition page 156-157 / L. Dean Webb, Arlene Metha. Published by Pearson Education. 2010
Brooklyn Bridge
Being built, 11 years down, 3 to go to finish.
It's magnificent twin towers, breathtaking span, cutting edge
technology, and sheer beauty make Brooklyn Bridge the grandest,
and perhaps the most important structure built in America during
the nineteenth century. It was called "the eighth wonder of the
world."
Curlee, Lynn Brooklyn Bridge New York: Atheneum Books, 2001.
World Fair celebrating the discovery of
Australia
Sydney, Australia 1879-80 & Melbourne, Australia 1880-81
(17 October 1879 - 20 April 1880) & (October 1880-May 1881)
Location: Sydney
(15 acres) and Melbourne (63 acres)
Architectural Wonder: Garden palace in Sydney was in the
shape of a Greek cross with a dome at the crossing.
Visitors: 1.1 million in
Sydney, 1.3 in Melbourne
Novelties: Passenger elevator
Mattie, Erik World's Fairs Princeton Architectural Press, 1998, New York: New York.
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