To commemorate the 400th hundred-year anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s landfall in the New World, the city of Chicago held a special social exhibition called the World’s Columbian Exposition. “The fair…symbolized the transformation of pre-modern, agricultural America into the last phase of its becoming modern, urban, industrial America” (The Black Presence at “White City”: African and African American Participation at the World’s Columbian Exposition). Giving Chicago a grand stage to show the rest of the world just how far the “windy city” had come both innovatively and culturally. The fair did wonders for the city in terms of recognition and portrayal of strength. Despite this great exhibition of the “windy city”, came the magnification …show more content…
The second component of the ideology describes the fairs efforts to showcase the country’s accomplishments. “The Fair helped change Americans' reactions to technology. It became the vehicle for the hopes and dreams of Americans, as they saw in it a reflection of their own progressive nature and bright future” (The Legacy of the Fair). “The World's Columbian Exposition defined American culture…Historian Frederick Jackson Turner gave his famous paper on the significance of the frontier in American history to a meeting of historians held in conjunction with the fair. Henry Ford saw an internal combustion engine at the fair that fired his dreams about the possibility of designing a horseless carriage. For millions of visitors, the electrical illuminations of the fair were a source of wonder and excitement about the possibilities of illuminating America's farms and cities” (World’s Columbian Exposition). The fair changed people’s views on the possibilities for the America future, giving them hope and fate for years to come. Regardless of the economic impact the fair contributed to Chicago, that hope in and of itself makes the World’s Columbian Exposition a resounding positive event in both Chicago and American
In the book, “The Devil in the White City,” Erik Larson tells the story of two formidable men and their activities during Chicago’s World Fair of 1893. Daniel Burnham is an architect and the fair’s brilliant director. The book takes the reader through the tremendous obstacles and tragedies that Burnham faces in an attempt to create a fair that will give America its fame. However, H.H Holmes is a young doctor, who uses the attraction of the great fair and his charms to lure dozens of young women to their inevitable and tragic deaths. Not only did Chicago’s World Fair of 1893 showcase Daniel Burnham’s success as an able director and H.H. Holmes cunning nature, it changed America as a whole, introduced some lasting inventions, and influenced many historical figures of both that time and our current time period.
From first impression, Burnham found that Chicago had a murky factorial image lined with a “fantastic stink that lingered in the vicinity of Union Stock yards” (41). The dreadful surface that Chicago was maintaining allowed Burnham to be determined to collaborate and recreate its image. His efforts would also make a reputational comeback for America’s poor representation in the Exposition Universelle (15). One major feature that transformed public opinion of the state was to illuminate the entire fair with clean white buildings that outlined the goodness of the area (252). Eye-catching whiteness contradicted the presumed dirtiness of the town. Making a contradiction from what was assumed of the city would allow the fair to generate a much bigger transformation. The lights also gave the fair a unique, whimsical edge. “The lamps that laced every building and walkway produced the most elaborate demonstration of electric illumination ever attempted”, incorporating new technology in a grand-scale way merely to keep the theme of brightness ongoing throughout each day and night (254). Most importantly, it displayed the town’s potential to become a thriving and respected city. The theme of whiteness interlaced with the neoclassical outline in The World Fair’s de...
In 1893, Simon Pokagon spoke at the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition. He was a prominent tribal leader who was known for this speech. So much so, it was printed and turned into an informative pamphlet. The speech encompassed American history and it’s push Westward, detailing the destruction of the Native lands and culture forever. He begins by telling the crowd about how he cannot celebrate with them in this great big new city, because it reminds him of all that was lost. Pokagon states, “where stands this “Queen City of the West” once stood the red man’s wigwams;” (Page 32). A bold statement follows about how nature was plentiful, until pale face came with their
One half of the story was of a man named Daniel Burnham, who was a famous architect of his time. It’s in this half of the story that can you see the good part of the city. Pride can be seen mainly throughout his story. His life in these pages was based on the construction of the World Columbian Exposition which was a fair held in Chicago in 1893. This magnificent fair was in honor of one of America’s most well known discoverers, Christopher C. Columbus. This was the 400th anniversary of his discovery of the new world. Through Burnham’s pride and his determination, he was able to complete the fair in almost a year. However, it was not truly ready for opening day due to a few construction issues, such as the world’s f...
The 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois was a congress authorized, exhibition of the progress of civilization in the New World. Bederman paints a beautiful picture of the racial tension and segregation that is blatantly flaunted. The Columbian Expo was divided
The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.
In a lively account filled that is with personal accounts and the voices of people that were in the past left out of the historical armament, Ronald Takaki proffers us a new perspective of America’s envisioned past. Mr. Takaki confronts and disputes the Anglo-centric historical point of view. This dispute and confrontation is started in the within the seventeenth-century arrival of the colonists from England as witnessed by the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the Wamapanoag Indians from the Massachusetts area. From there, Mr. Takaki turns our attention to several different cultures and how they had been affected by North America. The English colonists had brought the African people with force to the Atlantic coasts of America. The Irish women that sought to facilitate their need to work in factory settings and maids for our towns. The Chinese who migrated with ideas of a golden mountain and the Japanese who came and labored in the cane fields of Hawaii and on the farms of California. The Jewish people that fled from shtetls of Russia and created new urban communities here. The Latinos who crossed the border had come in search of the mythic and fabulous life El Norte.
Erik Larson’s book Devil in the White City is full of magic and madness that has shaped the society of the late 19th century that is specific to in Chicago. The issues that have been handled through this time frame that are addressed in this book is that how Chicago was known to be the black city at first, and how the city hoped that hosting the World’s fair would increase their reputation. Secondly, the magic of a man named Daniel Burnham that did put the plans of the world fair in Chicago into life and the obstacles that he had overcame. Next, once the world fair was complete, it has made Chicago “The White city,” by its dazzling designs and attractions that made it memorable. Then, the madness of H.H. Holmes and how his evil deeds has seemed to undermine the world fair and the things that are going on within it with his murders and treachery that does grip Chicago once his evil deeds have been found out. Finally, the events that happened in the world fair that relate to the issues that occur in the late ninetieth century within the United States. The city of Chicago was in a desolate condition before it hosted the World Fair.
The “White City” was a vast collection of architecture and arts that were put on display in the year 1893. The Chicago World Fair, also called the “White City”, was a major event in American history that impacted America’s culture, economic, and industry. The Chicago World Fair was held to honor Columbus’ discovery of the New World. The real reason why it was made was to proudly have back their wealth and power. Larson said, “the tower not only assured the eternal fame of its designer, Alexandre Gustave Eiffel but also offered graphic proof that France had edged out the United States for dominance in the realm of iron and steel…”(15). To accomplish this, architects led by Daniel Burnham and John Root made numerous buildings and beautiful scenery
The African-American Years: Chronologies of American History and Experience. Ed. Gabriel Burns Stepto. New York: Charles Scribner 's Sons, 2003.
Melendy, Royal. “The Saloon in Chicago,” The American Journal of Sociology, 6 (November 1900): 289-306. Above references with page numbers note an excerpt of this article as published in For the Record: A Documentary History of America from Reconstruction through Contemporary Times. Edited by David E. Shi and Holly A. Mayer. Other references denote the full length article available at:
Traxel, David. 1898: The Birth of the American Century. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1998. Print.
Harris, Leslie M. “In The Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863. New York: University of Chicago Press, 2003. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/317749.html
The fact that the period for planning the exposition spanned more than eleven years meant that political and economic events – namely World War I, the Wall Street Crash of 1921, and the Depression that followed – that occurred during this time altered the decisions of the exposition’s organisers. Indeed, as Morton notes, “the economic realities of the Depression made the colonies more important to France than they had been before the Wall Street Crash in 1929” (2000: 75). The exposition was therefore used as a way of encouraging French businesses to invest in the colonies (Morton, 2000). Another purpose of the 1931 exhibition was to remove any apathy the French public may have felt towards colonial, by justifying French presence overseas through the idea of the mission civilisatrice. The exhibition served as an important part of pro-colonial propaganda, highlighting the exotic nature of the indigenous people, whilst simultaneously demonstrating the disparities between the development of the colonised and the colonisers (Lebovics, 1989). As Maxwell notes, the exposition employed the use of
Immigrants were processed through Ellis Island and flooded the cities in search of the jobs promised by the American propaganda. Cities were becoming over crowded and factory and work codes were not even taken into consideration. Despite these deplorable conditions, the 1893 World’s Fair, also known as the Colombian Exposition or the White City, debuted on May 1, 1893. Here, the best of the best of American innovation was broadcasted to the world. “The world's fair hosted fifty nations and twenty-six colonies,” according to americasbesthistory.com, an impressive feat considering that cars still had not been introduced until 1910. While reading the first part of the introduction of Spreading the American Dream, I felt a bit amazed myself. Considering the time period and the technology that was available to the world, General Electric’s Edison Tower of Light would dazzle me as well. However, as I read the second part of the introduction, particularly the five major features of the ideology of liberal developmentalism, I thought that the Americans’ wish for the world to follow in its footsteps was incredibly narcissistic, if not a bit optimistic. The Americans wished for the world, both first world and third world, to adopt their policies and become more like The States. Interestingly enough, these thoughts are very reminiscent of the great empires, such as the Russian Empire, the Mongol Empire, and, of course,