Soc. St. 8B
Name _____________________________________
Per.___ Score ___/18
21-4 Study Guide
Public Education and American Culture, pp. 617-621
When completed, this assignment will form a study guide for this section of the textbook. You should make
corrections as we go over the material in class and do a final check using the key posted online.
Below is a brief summary of the section to help you when you review. Reading the summary does not
replace reading the section nor can it be used to properly answer all the questions.
SUMMARY
In the years after the Civil War, growing industries needed educated people to work in their stores and factories.
States responded by improving their public schools. New education laws required children to attend school. Schools
began special programs to educate students for jobs in business and industry. More colleges and universities opened.
As more Americans learned to read, reading habits changed in the late 1800s. Americans read more newspapers,
magazines, and books. Many newspapers began to publish with the immigrant audience in mind. They introduced bold
headlines, illustrations, and comics. To grab reader attention, they reported on crimes, gossip, and scandals. Critics
called this kind of reporting yellow journalism. Newspapers also published sections meant to attract women readers.
New technologies, such as the mechanical typesetter, made books cheaper. Low-priced magazines and adventure
novels gained many readers.
A new group of American writers appeared in the late 1800s. They were known as realists because they attempted
to show life as it really was. Stephen Crane wrote about the Civil War and city slums. In the Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain captured local color—the special features of a region and the way its people spoke.
Some American painters were also realists. They, too, showed the reality of modern life in their work.
Directions: First read the section in your text book. Then answer the questions and complete the tasks. Your responses
should incorporate the question or task, and should be written in complete sentences.
1
How did American education change in the late 1800s?
There were several changes in American education in the late 1800s. In the North, states required children to go to
school (compulsory education). In the South, communities built grade schools. Many states built free or low-cost
universities.
2
Why did the number of American newspapers grow rapidly?
As the populations of cities grew the number of American newspapers grew rapidly to meet readers' demand for news.
Compulsory education also created more readers, many of whom went on to be readers of newspapers.
Directions: Briefly answer the questions that follow based on the information in the textbook. You do not have to use
complete sentences. Write neatly. You are also responsible for knowing the meaning of all the terms.
3
What three things did kindergartens teach? cleanliness, politeness, and obedience
4
Before 1870, what portion of American children went to school? fewer than half
compulsory education (p. 617)
education requirement that children attend school to a certain grade or age
5
Which region of the country first passed compulsory education laws? the North
parochial (p. 617)
church sponsored; often used to refer to church-sponsored school
6
The typical school lasted from when to when? 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.
7
What were the "three Rs"? reading, 'riting, & 'rithmetric
8
What did schools emphasize? discipline & obedience
9
How did students have to sit? upright in their seats, often with their hands folded
10
What could the punishment be for whispering (talking in class)? a cuff on the head
11
What could the punishment be for arriving late? paddling
12
What was taught at Chicago's Manual Training School? courses in "shop work" such as electricity and carpentry, as
well a few academic subjects
Chautauqua Society (p. 618)
Methodist summer school for Bible teachers and traveling adult education program in the 1800’s
13
Besides religious instruction, what did Chautauqua Societies offer? lectures about art, politics, philosophy, & other
subjects
yellow journalism (p. 619)
news reporting, often biased or untrue, that relies on sensational stories and headlines
14
Who were the two major newspaper publishers that used yellow journalism, and what were the names of their New
York newspapers? Joseph Pulitzer published the New York World,
William Randolph Hearst published the New York Journal
15
Who was Nellie Bly and what did she do? Bly was a newspaper reporter, she had herself committed to mental hospital
and wrote articles about the cruel treatment of patients
dime novel (p. 619)
in the late 1800s, low-priced paperbacks offering adventure stories
16
What was the theme of most Horatio Alger novels? "rags to riches" stories, the idea that even the poorest person could
succeed in the U.S. by working hard
realist (p. 620)
writer or artist who shows life as it really is
17
Who the most famous and popular American author of this time period? Mark Twain
local color (p. 620)
speech and habits of a particular region
18
Identify one realist painter of this time period and what he or she painted?
Winslow Homer – realistic paintings of the New England coast
Thomas Eakins – sports scenes and medical operations
Henry Tanner – black sharecroppers
Mary Cassatt – bright colorful scenes of people in everyday life, especially mothers and children