The Devil in the White
City takes place in a time period normally overlooked in history classes.
The events of the book occurred in 1893 at the World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago during the Gilded Age, a time period sandwiched between the more often
discussed Civil War and World War I. Most people couldn't even tell you who was
President in 1893 despite there being two correct answers (it was an election
year, Benjamin Harrison was replaced by Grover Cleveland). Nonetheless, the
Columbian Exposition was a major event in the nation's history, even if it is
largely ignored in the history books.
The
Exposition was a world fair held on the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus
"discovering" America. While this was not the first World's Fair held
in the United States (there had been one in Philadelphia and another in New
Orleans), this was hardly a common occurrence. It was much like hosting the
Olympic Games except instead of sports, there was focus on arts, entertainment,
and technology. To give you an idea, Thomas Edison, the original Ferris Wheel,
and Buffalo Bill Cody were all present, though Cody technically performed just
outside of the fair grounds.
As one
might imagine, this fair was significant for the American people. The Civil War
had ended 28 years prior and the nation had not yet fully recovered from the
conflict. For perspective, the American Civil War still ranks as the deadliest in
American history. With a good chunk of the population having personally
experienced and witnessed the events of the war, the American identity was understandably
fractured. The North prospered in the years following while the South struggled
to cope with their most profitable industries unable to utilize slave labor.
Even still, Northerners suffered as two economic recessions hit during the
years following the war, one taking place in the same year as the Columbian
Exposition.
In many
ways, the World's Columbian Exposition was exactly what the United States
needed. The most obvious benefit being that the fair created jobs and was
profitable despite the recession. More importantly, the fair reminded the
American people, after seeing all the horrible things they could accomplish
during the Civil War, that they had accomplished a great deal of positive thing
since. A great deal of focus was placed on technological advancement in the
United States, particularly with electricity-powered devices. It is no
coincidence that the United States to this very day remains a global leader in
the technology and electronics fields.
Sources:
Larson, Erik. The
Devil in the White City. New York: Vintage Books,2003. Print.
This book looked awesome and I wanted to read it so bad. I was previously a Psych major and wanted to study Forensic Psychology but decided to change my major last minute. In a class that I took last year, I studied serial killers and one of them was H.H. Holmes who is in this book. During the fair he had a hotel like building where many people stayed it was like a torture chamber where he murdered hundreds of people. I have no idea why this is so interesting me except I always want to know why killers do what they do, and how they execute these horrific acts. I am constantly asking why and it's probably because no one has an answer. There are different reasons for every one them. I am sure this book is going to be extremely interesting and the background information definitely gives us the setting we need to understand what that time period was like, and how easy it was to act out in violence without getting caught. I like how you said "Most people didn't even know who the president was" because it really gave a feel for how little we know about this time.
ReplyDeleteBrittany, you can still read it, even if it's not assigned. :)
ReplyDelete