Apush Ch 10 Notes
America: Past and Present
Chapter 10: The Triumph of White Men’s Democracy
You wanna see democracy in action? Then check out the hotels of the 1820s and 30s. The poor and the rich stayed in rooms next to each other, ate at the same tables, and walked in the same halls. However, there were limits to this type of equality…especially if you were not white. In theory, you got in if you could pay. But this was true only for white men.
DEMOCRACY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
Democracy came to reflect the idea of popular sovereignty
Also social leveling and the decline of deference
Opportunity and self-made men were the order of the day
The founding fathers considered democracy to be direct rule of the people
A concept they feared and rejected
Jacksonians considered “the voice of the people” to be “the voice of God”
Democracy and Society
No one could expect social privilege because of family ties
European visitors noted the lack of first class accommodations
The word “servant” was disappearing; in its place was “help”
Domestic workers were not considered a social subclass
Members of different earning groups dressed similarly
Democracy expressed itself in medicine, law and religion
Unorthodox “healers” were given place alongside doctors
Local bars allowed lower standards in some areas
The clergy came under more control of the laity
The popular press became increasingly important
Written and read by common people
Many small venues and a few influential papers with large readership
Democratic Culture
Democratic expression in literature and art
Popular taste v. elite or traditional culture
Romanticism was “adapted” to sentimentalism in popular literature
Formulaic gothic novels sold well
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