Sanitary conditions in the West were practically non-existent. In the cities, horse manure covered the streets. Housewives emptied garbage, dishwater, and chamber pots into the middle of the city streets where free-roaming pigs devoured the waste. The pigs left their urine and feces on the streets. It was not easy to wash clothes. Many people had clothes splattered with manure, mud, sweat, and tobacco juice. Privies, or necessary houses were often to close to the homes with a very noticeable odor on hot and/or windy days. If a family had a kitchen, all the members washed at the sink each day, without soap, rubbing the dirt off with a coarse towel. Eventually, many cold bedrooms had a basin, ewer (pitcher), cup, and cupboard chamber pot. Bed bugs and fleas covered many of the travelers’ beds. “Isaac Weld saw filthy beds swarming with bugs.” These insects followed the travelers, crawling on their clothes and skin.
Alcohol consumption was at an all time high at the late 1820s. “Elbridge Boyden, architect and builder, said that alcohol was used as commonly as the food we ate.” It was a symbol of hospitality and fellowship. Drinking and fighting (a knock-down) went together. The violent fights involved “gouging,” in which a person looses an eye.
Early America was sexually active. One third of the brides were pregnant on their wedding day. Sexual relations were a part of courtship. “Bundling was the custom that allowed couples to sleep on the same bed without undressing.” “Erastus Worthington, a local historian, noticed the custom in 1828, of females admitting young men to their beds, who sought their company in marriage.” In large cities, prostitution became more common and was priced according to location.
Tobacco usage was wide spread because it was cheap, homegrown, and duty free. Short, thick, clay pipes were used, although snuff and powdered tobacco were inhaled.
Most people point to wars, Presidents or the economy when asked to describe the history of the United States, but what about alcohol. Social history in general has always taken a back seat to political and economic history, mostly because many aspects of social history are not exactly bright spots from the past. Alcohol, for example, is actually a much bigger aspect of our history than one may expect. As a matter of fact, early America was centered around drinking as a kind of social event. William Rorabaugh’s book Alcoholic Republic outlines how prevalent drinking really was during the years after the Revolutionary War. Rorabaugh argues that post-colonial Americans should be considered alcoholics. However, the evidence Rorabaugh uses
The Jazz Age which is also referred to as the Roaring Twenties began after World War I took place and lasted until 1929, when the Great Depression began. The 1920s opened up a world of change to Americans; some did not approve and others, especially those in the big cities, celebrated with music and dance every day. There were numerous inventions that were being created throughout the 1920s and because of nationwide advertisement; people all over America were able to buy all the same stuff as one another. But unfortunately, times were different for those that lived in Colorado.
During these times, domestic violence was commonplace and many blamed alcohol as the culprit. Reformers also noticed that alcohol decreased efficiency of labor and thought of alcohol as a menace to society because it left men irresponsible and lacking self control. One reformer, named Lyman Beecher, argued that the act of alcohol consumption was immoral and will destroy the nation. Document H depicts the progression of becoming a drunkard from a common m...
After the Civil War, Americans abandoned the sectional emphasis caused by slavery and developed a national focus. During the period from 1865-1890, Americans completed the settlement of the West. For the farmers and ranchers, the American West was a land of opportunity because land was cheap and the Homestead Act provided land to farmers, including immigrants and blacks, in order to grow crops, raise cattle and make a profit. The American West was also seen as a land of opportunity for miners due to the gold and silver rush in the far west which they believed would make them rich. However, both groups faced many challenges and few achieved great wealth.
Marriage is another aspect of families in the 1700's that is very different from today. Most girls in the 1700's married extremely early around th...
Over the years, the idea of the western frontier of American history has been unjustly and falsely romanticized by the movie, novel, and television industries. People now believe the west to have been populated by gun-slinging cowboys wearing ten gallon hats who rode off on capricious, idealistic adventures. Not only is this perception of the west far from the truth, but no mention of the atrocities of Indian massacre, avarice, and ill-advised, often deceptive, government programs is even present in the average citizen’s understanding of the frontier. This misunderstanding of the west is epitomized by the statement, “Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis was as real as the myth of the west. The development of the west was, in fact, A Century of Dishonor.” The frontier thesis, which Turner proposed in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition, viewed the frontier as the sole preserver of the American psyche of democracy and republicanism by compelling Americans to conquer and to settle new areas. This thesis gives a somewhat quixotic explanation of expansion, as opposed to Helen Hunt Jackson’s book, A Century of Dishonor, which truly portrays the settlement of the west as a pattern of cruelty and conceit. Thus, the frontier thesis, offered first in The Significance of the Frontier in American History, is, in fact, false, like the myth of the west. Many historians, however, have attempted to debunk the mythology of the west. Specifically, these historians have refuted the common beliefs that cattle ranging was accepted as legal by the government, that the said business was profitable, that cattle herders were completely independent from any outside influence, and that anyone could become a cattle herder.
In the beginning moving West was the majority of the barriers and obstructions that the setters had to face. Indian attacks, blizzards, tornadoes, flash floods and just being ill prepared among and numerous other hard ships took many settlers lives and were tough to over come. The journey was across a uniform, dusty, wind-swept, treeless nothingness. The temperatures would very a lot between 110 and below freezing. Not to mention that there was no trees for shade or cover from the storms.
For those who were not fortunate enough to possess an indoor latrine, chamber pots were used. Emptying the chamber pots into the streets or cesspits along the streets was a common practice during this era, often from high windows. The ancient Juvenal wrote that a poor unfortunate soul may be the recipient of the chamber pot’s contents raining down on them as they walked along the streets. Likewise for this s...
The story of the American West is still being told today even though most of historic events of the Wild West happened over more than a century ago. In movies, novels, television, and more ways stories of the old west are still being retold, reenacted, and replayed to relive the events of the once so wild and untamed land of the west that so many now fantasize about. After reading about the old west and watching early westerns it is amazing how much Hollywood still glorifies the history and myth of the old west. It may not be directly obvious to every one, but if you look closely there is always a hint of the Western mentality such as honor, justice, romance, drama, and violence. The most interesting thing about the Old West is the fact that history and myth have a very close relationship together in telling the story of the West.
America is apart of the winning side in the 1st World War. Lots of troops came home and we stopped all the rations in america. It was a time of partying and having fun. Like nowadays drinking was a social thing to do at parties. As soldiers came home the more they partied, the more they drank. People started to see the effects of alcohol, so a group of people formed a movement called the Temperance Movement. The Temperance movement blamed alcohol for many of society's ills, especially crime and murder. Saloons, a social haven for men who lived in the still untamed West, were viewed by many, especially women, as a place of debauchery and evil. (history1900s.about.com) During 1916 many states had banned alcohol and the U.S government recognized it and started a amendment to prohibit any form of drinking alcohol in the U.S. The amendment would be the 18th amendment that stopped the sale and manufacture of alcohol. This amendment took effect on January 16, 1920.
Elliot West writes, "We can think of western history as one of conflicting narratives. Just as people have fought for control of resources and for dominance of institutions and values, so the West has been an arena where stories have contested to command that country's meaning and thus to influence how the West is treated." In 1860, America was “divided” in two; the eastern half and the western half. For many years Native Americans have lived in the Midwest; it was home to them. It gave them farming land, animals for hunting, land for gathering and a place to build a home, but when European settlers came to America to call it home everything changed. There are many different stories about the west, they all very depending on who wrote it
History. Social attitudes toward prostitution have changed through the ages and go on changing. It is difficult to generalize about primitive societies in which prostitution was generally obviated by an early age of marriage, the existence of polygamy or ease of divorce, and the sexual freedoms of some peoples. Instances of prostitution of slaves captured in war are reported, as are customs providing for the earning of dowries by prostitution. In a few African and American Indian tribes, parents
In the US alcohol has been consumed ever since the days of the pilgrims and some say that they had wine and beer on their ships. Since milk and water were scarce and coffee and tea were expensive, settlers turned to beer and cider as their everyday beverages (“Historical Background of Alcohol in the United States”). During these times though, alcohol was consumed responsibly and there was no room for immod...
The level of violent in the old west was due to the Indians people, more than highly death in the west side. The late 1800s the settlers and the railroad construction come to the Great Plains conflicts the Indians following of the civil war. The old west was violent there was a murder a day because there was 100 people died and that was buried in Benton Wyoming. The cow towns, railroads town and the Indians war was most violent in the west.
Tobacco and smoking were not always used how they are today. Back around 600 to 900 A.D. many cultures grew tobacco and Native Americans would smoke and use it within religious ceremonies and for medical uses (History of Tobacco). Toward the middle of the 1800’s American’s started to smoke tobacco occasionally either from a pipe or a cigarette; not like people smoke today was very occasional stated in the History of Tobacco. The first main stream production of cigarettes began in 1865 but were made for soldiers in the Civil War. In 1881 that is when business picked up and everyone started smoking more frequently due to the mass amount of cigarettes being produced and the access to them (History of Tobacco).