Beech Tree News Network

In the summer of 1876, the United States of America was preparing for its 100th birthday with patriotic celebrations.  In its first century, the country had grown from 13 states to 37, with Colloredo poised to become the 38th state weeks after July 4.  But while Americans felt proud, many were also worried.  “The country was filled with anxiety for the future”, says Fergus Bordewich, historian and author of Centennial: The Great Fair of 1876 and the Invention of America’s Future.

A Nation on Edge

The festivities included the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the first U.S. world’s fair, designed as a celebration of American triumph and progress.  Yet. Bordewich adds, it unfolded amid economic depression, political upheaval, racial violence and a war in the West.

The Panic of 1873 had triggered what Bordewich calls the worst depression in American history to date.  “There had been massive unemployment, particularly in cities, and a great deal of suffering on the part of unemployed workers”, he says.  Labor unrest was also rising.  “Wages had been cut in many industries by 10-50%.  People were hungry,” Bordewich explains.  “The country hadn’t recovered by 1876.”

At the same time, Reconstruction was reaching a violent end in the South.  Bordewich says “for several years, groups such as the Klu Klux Klan carried out a campaign of guerilla-style violence aimed at newly freed people with the goal of dismantling biracial democracy in the South.  He says “black Americans in the South were beleaguered, increasingly being disenfranchised and, in many places, in fear for their lives.”  Conflicts were also occurring in the West.  In June 1876,  George Armstrong Custer and his 7th Cavalry Regiment were defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn.

However, amid these tensions, patriotism surged as Americans remained deeply connected to the Revolution.  “The last veterans of the American Revolution died only in the 1870’s,” Bordewich says, noting that many adults had known people who remembered the Founders.  “There was a deep well of thrill at the nation achieving its first century.  But beneath the surface, there was fear and anxiety.”  President Ulyssess S. Grant urged “a day of reflection and gratitude.”  Congress declared a National Day of Jubilee.  Millions of Americans embraced the moment.

Philadelphia was the natural choice for the Centennial Exposition, home to Independence Hall and the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention and, for 10 years, the U.S. Capital.  “It’s the city most closely associated with the Revolution,” Bordewich says.

The Fairmount Park fairgrounds featured enormous glass-and-iron halls modeled on European railway stations.  Inside, visitors encountered what Bordewich calls “a humongous department store”-a display of American manufacturing power.  “People were just dazzled by how much the country was making.  Everything you could imagine from soap to steam engines,” he says.  The exposition was designed not only to celebrate the past but also to restore national confidence.  “Americans were very, very proud of America,” Bordewich says.  “They were proud of its growth, proud of its westward expansion and industrial expansion.  People went there and really were inspired by what they saw.”

The best-known American attraction at the 1876 World’s Fair was the Corliss steam engine, a 50-foot-tall machine that powered all of Machinery Hall.  The Library of Congress describes it as “a reflection of national pride”, dominating the hall and “seizing the attention of visitors.”  Its symbolic importance was underscored when Grant and Brazil’s Emperor Dom Pedro II jointly started the engine at the opening ceremony.

The fair also introduced inventions that would reshape modern life.  Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone received its first public demonstration.  “It was a sensation”, Bordewich says, noting that it was primitive yet functional and entered production within a year.  Early typewriters, soda water and ice cream were also among the attractions that captivated visitors.

Still, at least two black exhibitors made significant contributions.  William Still, an Underground Railroad stationmaster in Philadelphia, exhibited his firsthand account of the black experience on the freedom trail.  And Edmonia Lewis, known as the first internationally recognized Black and Native American sculptor, displayed her acclaimed neoclassical work, The Death of Cleopatra.

Segregation at the fair was inconsistent.  While some sources suggest black visitors were unwelcome at times, Bordewich found “images and references to black visitors” and says sculptures depicting emancipation drew both admiration and Southern protest.  

“Women played a significant, if contested, role in the Centennial Exposition.  The Women’s Pavillion, funded and run by women, showcased female inventors, professionals and educators.  Inside, visitors found machinery designed by women, a woman-operated steam engine and even a functioning kindergarten”, Bordewich says.  The pavilion also printed its own newspaper.  He says many women attended the fair as visitors, but suffragists were barred from participating.  In response, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and their allies staged a dramatic July 4 intervention.  According to the National Park Service, they approached the dais during the official ceremony and handed the acting vice president a new Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States.  They then crossed the square and read it publicly, asserting “full equality with man in natural rights.”  The centennial thus became “fertile ground for feminist organization and activism”, Bordewich says.

Celebrations Beyond Philadelphi

While Philadelphia was the epicenter, Americans across the country and abroad took part in patriotic centennial commemorations.  Historian John D. Bergamini, in The Hundreth Year: The United States in 1876, writes that some towns layered local anniversaries into the national one.  A parade in Amherst, Massachusetts celebrated both the centennial and the town’s founding.  At the same time, Richmond, Virgina flew the U.S. and state flags together over its capitol for the first time in six years.  But it wasn’t all glee.  In Wilmington, North Carolina, a young Woodrow Wilson wrote that “the nation would never celebrate another centennial as a republic.”

“Across the country, events rolled westward”, Beramini wrote.  With Colorado on the cusp of statehood, Denver “had its special local enthusiasm for Centennial Day”, and Los Angeles staged “an extravaganza.”  Congress also sponsored addition commemorations, including official Centennial medals struck at the U.S. Mint, and the creation of the Centennial Safe, filled with memorabilia and ceremonially sealed in 1876 with the expectation that a future president would open it in 1976.  “The country’s national day was also marked abroad with noise and pomp,” Bergamini added.  “Foreign heads of state sent messages of congratulations, those from the more autocratic European monarchies giving the wryest satisfaction to Washington”.  (www.history.com)  

Makes you wonder what will be written in the history books about America’s upcoming 250th anniversary.  

Attached is my most recent vlog: https://youtu.be/MFFWtpSZhUM?feature=shared