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ARTIFACTS FROM NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA Recent Titles in Daily Life through Artifacts Artifacts from Ancient Rome James B. Tschen-Emmons Artifacts from Medieval Europe James B. Tschen-Emmons Artifacts from Ancient Egypt Barbara Mendoza Artifacts from Modern America Helen Sheumaker Artifacts from American Fashion Heather Vaughan Lee ARTIFACTS FROM NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICA Elizabeth B. Greene Daily Life through Artifacts Copyright © 2023 by ABC-CLIO, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Greene, Elizabeth B., author. Title: Artifacts from nineteenth-century America / Elizabeth B. Greene. Description: First edition. | Santa Barbara : Greenwood, 2022. | Series: Daily life through artifacts | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022030980 (print) | LCCN 2022030981 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440871863 (hardback) | ISBN 9781440871870 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Material culture—United States—History—19th century. | United States—Social life and customs—History—19th century. | United States—Antiquities. | Americana. Classification: LCC E161 .G747 2022 (print) | LCC E161 (ebook) | DDC 973.5—dc23/eng/20220727 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022030980 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022030981 ISBN: 978-1-4408-7186-3 (print) 978-1-4408-7187-0 (ebook) 27 26 25 24 23 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available as an eBook. Greenwood An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC-CLIO, LLC 147 Castilian Drive Santa Barbara, California 93117 www.abc-clio.com This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America CONTENTS Preface vii 14 Corset 99 Introduction ix 15 Mourning Jewelry 107 How to Evaluate Artifacts xiii 16 Native American War Shirt 113 Chronology of Events xix 17 Shaving Mug 117 18 Beaver Fur Top Hat 123 COMMUNICATIONS HEALTH AND MEDICINES 1 Cartoon on Yellow Journalism 3 19 Civil War Surgical 2 Telegraph Key 11 Instruments and Case 131 3 Telephone 19 20 Nightmare Turtle Magic 4 Valentine’s Day Card 25 Lantern Slide 137 21 Patent Medicine—Cocaine COOKING AND FOOD Toothache Drops 145 22 Phrenology Head 151 5 Butter Churn 33 6 Cookstove Advertisement 39 HOUSEHOLD ITEMS 7 Oyster Plate 45 23 Electric Light Bulb 159 ENTERTAINMENT 24 Reclining Chair Patent Model 167 8 Baseball Card 53 25 Sampler 173 9 Buffalo Bill’s Wild 26 Sewing Machine 179 West Poster 61 27 Sideboard 187 10 Godey’s Magazine 67 11 Piano 75 POLITICAL AND CIVIC LIFE 12 Souvenir from the Centennial Exhibition 83 28 Civil War Draft Wheel 193 29 Confederate Battle Flag 199 GROOMING, CLOTHING, 30 Frederick Douglass AND ACCESSORIES Frontispiece 205 31 Political Equality Spoon 213 13 Portable Bathtub 91 v vi Contents RELIGIOUS LIFE TRANSPORTATION AND TRAVEL 32 The Fall of Man Title Page 219 45 Bicycle Pin 313 33 Birth and Baptismal 46 Covered Wagon 319 Certificate 225 47 Steamboat Sketch 325 34 Christmas Tree Ornament 231 48 Transcontinental Railroad 35 Shaker Chair 241 Gold Spike 333 SLAVERY AND SERVITUDE WORK AND EDUCATION 36 Cotton Gin 249 49 Lowell Offering 37 Indenture Document 255 Title Page 343 38 Slave Ankle Shackles 261 50 Indian Boarding School 39 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Drawing of George Title Page 267 Washington 349 51 Scrimshaw Sperm TOOLS AND WEAPONS Whale Tooth 357 52 Student’s Writing Slate 363 40 California Gold Rush Balancing Scale 275 Glossary 369 41 Gatling Rapid Fire Gun 283 Selected Bibliography 375 42 John Wilkes Booth’s Index 385 Deringer 289 43 Typewriter 297 44 Whiteley Harvester Patent Model 305 PREFACE It may be a cliché to say that during the 19th century American society was transformed, but of course it was. Consider this—what was the daily life like for a farmer in Pennsylvania in 1800, as compared to a New York City office worker in 1900? What tools were available in 1900 that made life easier? By that year, a middle-class New York City resident had access to central heat, running water, telephone, electric light and electric appli- ances, long-distance trains and short-distance trolleys, safety bicycles, and typewriters. The farmer in Pennsylvania in 1800 still toiled with simple tools like the butter churn, and without the time-saving help of the mechanical reaper. The population of the United States in 1800 was 5,308,000 (of which 893,600 were enslaved) according to the U.S. Census. In 1900, it had grown to 76,212,000. In 1800, only sixteen states comprised the United States; by 1900, there were forty-five, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific and fulfilling the goal of Manifest Destiny. The California Gold Rush in 1848 enticed approximately 300,000 eager prospectors to take the long, treacherous trek across the country to search for gold, setting the stage for California to become the first Pacific state to join the union in 1850. In 1800, slaves were still being imported from Africa through the transatlantic slave trade. And with the invention of the cotton gin in the early 19th century, more slaves were demanded for the harvest of the lucra- tive cotton crops in the Deep South. By 1900, slaves had been officially emancipated for thirty-five years, and Reconstruction had introduced civil rights to African Americans. However, by the turn of the 20th century, the reaction against civil rights had begun and the racist Jim Crow laws were already entrenched. The artifacts in this book illuminate the transformation that took place in the United States during the 19th century by examining objects in a broad swath of classifications. This volume is organized into twelve categories, vii viii Preface and within those categories are the artifacts themselves, which are listed alphabetically. The categories are the following: Communications Cooking and Food Entertainment Grooming, Clothing, and Accessories Health and Medicines Household Items Political and Civic Life Religious Life Slavery and Servitude Tools and Weapons Transportation and Travel Work and Education Within each of the categories is a selection of objects that tell a story about what was happening in the lives of Americans at that particular time. Some of the artifacts are transformational to society, like the telephone, telegraph, or transcontinental railroad. Some of the artifacts are deeply personal objects that explain something about the life of the user, like a corset or a shaving mug. A humble item like a corset can make a statement about the woman who wore it and what her life must have been like. Some artifacts, like the slave shackles included here, can explain a little bit about the horrors of slavery. The crude surgical instruments of a Civil War doctor explain a lot about the state of medical care at the time, though we ascertain through further research how the wide-ranging experience gained by the surgeons during the war was able to transform the medical profession. A simple piece of mourning jewelry explains how death was accepted and embraced in the 19th century, something that may be difficult to appreciate in today’s death-phobic society. All these carefully chosen artifacts tell us something significant about the person who used them, or the person who invented them, or the person who made them. In this book we examine each artifact by describing it in detail and then broadening the examination to include its significance and its historical context. INTRODUCTION At the dawn of the 19th century, the United States was a fledgling nation, a rural expanse with a small population scattered along the East Coast. It was weak militarily and economically dependent on Europe for its manufactured goods. The United States was still seen in Europe as a fruitful source of raw materials, as it had been for centuries. The Industrial Revolution was underway in Britain, and the United States was lagging behind. But by the end of the century, the United States had become the leader of the world in manufacturing output, surpassing Britain for the first time. A technological revolution was taking place at the end of the century that modernized all aspects of American society. The concept of Manifest Destiny emboldened the young country to surge inexorably westward in a feat of expansionism that was believed to be both justified and preordained. The 19th century was an indisputably transformative period in the history of the United States, and in this volume we will examine a selection of artifacts that can help explain what was taking place in this dynamic new society. The relentless industrialization of the country during the 19th century was sparked by a number of crucial inventions that had a momentous influence on American society. A transportation revolution was underway beginning with the invention of the steamboat by Robert Fulton, which allowed for transportation of goods up the Mississippi River and stimulated the development of the Midwest. Even more significant was the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, which knit together the disparate regions of the now-massive expanse that made up the United States by the sec- ond half of the 19th century. Nearly forgotten today is the importance of the introduction of the safety bicycle in the 1880s that transformed personal travel, demanded better roads, and presaged the development of the automobile. A revolution in long-distance communications took place with the introduction of the telegraph in the 1840s. The invention of the telephone in 1876 was the next critical step in the communications revolution. On another front, over the span of the century, the nature of work was transformed. A once-rural and agricultural economy metamorphosed into ix