REALISM AND

NATURALISM IN

AMERICA

Pierce Ciccone and Hana Hall pd. 8

Progressive thinking started to take over America, which was making everything the best it could be and outside of the box thinking.

This era held a range of economic, political, and social reforms.

Progressive Era (1890’s-1920’s)

History

Equality for: Unions

Workers

known as

scabs would

take the place

of those on

strike, which

made it hard

for the strikes

to be

successful.

Workers began to fight for better conditions

in the workplace.

Going on strike was one way workers showed

their frustration and desires for a safer work

environment.

The Supreme Court struck down on a New

York banker by prohibiting the owner to

make an

employee work an

excessive amount

of hours.

Equality for:

Women

Renowned

women

activists

during this

time were

Jane Addams,

Elizabeth

Cady Stanton,

and Eleanor

Roosevelt.

The fight for

equality, including

suffrage, started as

women began to

change roles

society outside of

the home.

Equality for: Race

Slaves “freed” by the Emancipation Proclamation were still segregated against throughout all of the United States while slavery still existed in the South.

Small acts of protest would occur.

The Battle of Wounded Knee was the last battle with Indians as they were consolidated out west.

San Francisco nullified their action

which segregated Japanese, Chinese, and Korean children due to pressure from the

President.

Equality for: Social Classes

Monopolies and unfair business practices were eliminated by the Federal Trade Commission.

Wealthy business owners JP Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie dominated every industry while

creating corruption

among the

government and a

wretched working

environment.

World Relations

To answer the Venezuelan Crisis, Roosevelt announced the Roosevelt Corollary to prevent the invasion of European Powers.

The Gentlemen’s Agreement

limited the number of

immigrants from Japan to the

United States.

The sinking of the Lusitania

contributed to the United

States entrance into WW1.

Philosophy

Social Darwinism

• Idea that only the strong and wealthy survive and thrive while the weak and

poor die off.

Progressive Thinking

• Outside of the box thinking to make everything the best is could be and

figuring out how to improve all aspects of life.

Led to the increased production of goods, causing

ripple effects among society.

Ideas

Theodore

Roosevelt

Theodore

Roosevelt

succeeded

President

William

McKinley after

he was

assassinated in

Buffalo, New

York circa

1901.

Lively and young, he

brought excitement and

power while leading

Congress and the

American people toward

progressive reforms and

prominent foreign policies.

Roosevelt fought for the

common workers against the

oppressive business owners.

Jane Addams

Advocate for many causes.

Dedicated her life to helping aid the

poor in the cities.

A proponent for women’s suffrage and

rights as well as labor reforms.

She worked tirelessly to eliminate

tenements and sweatshops, give rights

to immigrants, and get rid of corrupt

business owners.

Herbert Croly and Charles Merriam

Herbert Croly was progressive

philosopher, especially in politics and

stressed the need for concentrated

power in the executive branch.

Charles Merriam was a political activist

and progressive philosopher.

Naturalism and Realism Impact on Science and Technology

Scientific and Technological

Theory of

Naturalism

Naturalism was

the strong

belief in finding

truth through

nature; nature

was the key to

knowledge and

true

understanding

of everything

The natural world and its properties

explained all phenomena or “miracles”

or simply discredited them

Depiction based on accurate description

of detail

Specific Naturalism Theories:

Two main types-

Methodological naturalism: The only true knowledge

comes from applying the scientific method to all

hypotheses. Principles in nature will weed-out unscientific

hypotheses.

Ontological Naturalism: All knowledge comes from a

specific scientific area such as physics or biology and

requires repeatable tests.

NOTE: They cannot stand-alone – they must combine to

provide substantial information.

Contributors to Naturalism and Realism

August Comte (1798-1857): “Father

of Sociology” developed theory of

Positivism; he believed in studying the

inner-workings of nature through

precise observation

Charles Darwin (1809-1882):

publishes Origin of Species in 1859;

evolution is based on those adept

enough to survive

Influential Technology

Typewriters

Already were invented but

new model called the

Daugherty Visible emerged in

1891

First front stoke typewriter –

keys rested in front of paper

and pressed upward to type

Produced by the millions

Naturalism and Realism Impact on Literature

Literary

Literary Character Profiles

Usually uneducated and lower class citizens whose

life was the result of heredity, impulses and

environment.

When try to exercise free will, usually stopped by

forces beyond their control.

Themes in Literature

The fight for survival in an indifferent universe that does not care about one’s fortune or failures; conflict usually “man against man” or “man against nature”

Nature is indifferent to human life

Personal success restricted by two inherent factors: heredity and environment

Internal brute nature in everyone just waiting to be released

Authors and Sample Novels

Theodore Dreiser and Frank Norris

Dreiser An American Tragedy (1925)

Norris McTeague (1899), The Octopus (1901), and Vandover and the Brute (1895/1914)

Focused on social change and the individual during urbanization and the growth of big business

Mark Twain

Pudd’nhead Wilson (1894)

More Authors and Sample Novels

Jack London

The Call of The Wild

(1903) and The

White Fang (1906)

Explored the brute

nature imbedded in

animals and humans

Upton Sinclair

and John

Steinbeck

The Jungle

(1906)

Brought a

socialist

progressive

ideology to the

public’s mind