LAIR: Integration, Active Reading (August 11)

Recommended content:

1. "Active Reading Strategies" by the McGraw Center

2. Introduction of the "19th Century" article on Wikipedia.

"The 19th century (1 January 1801 – 31 December 1900) was the century marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Napoleonic, Holy Roman and Mughal empires. This paved the way for the growing influence of theBritish Empire, the Russian Empire, the United States, the German Empire, the French colonial empire and Meiji Japan, with the British boasting unchallenged dominance after 1815. After the defeat of the French Empire and its allies in the Napoleonic Wars, the British and Russian empires expanded greatly, becoming the world's leading powers. The Russian Empire expanded in central and far eastern Asia. The British Empire grew rapidly in the first half of the century, especially with the expansion of vast territories in Canada, Australia, South Africa and heavily populated India, and in the last two decades of the century in Africa. By the end of the century, the British Empire controlled a fifth of the world's land and one quarter of the world's population. During the post Napoleonic era it enforced what became known as the Pax Britannica, which had ushered into unprecedented globalisation, Industrialisation, and economic integration on a massive scale."

3. Excerpt from "City Life in the 19th Century" by the Library of Congress:


"Between 1880 and 1900, cities in the United States grew at a dramatic rate. Owing most of their population growth to the expansion of industry, U.S. cities grew by about 15 million people in the two decades before 1900. Many of those who helped account for the population growth of cities were immigrants arriving from around the world. A steady stream of people from rural America also migrated to the cities during this period. Between 1880 and 1890, almost 40 percent of the townships in the United States lost population because of migration.

Industrial expansion and population growth radically changed the face of the nation's cities. Noise, traffic jams, slums, air pollution, and sanitation and health problems became commonplace. Mass transit, in the form of trolleys, cable cars, and subways, was built, and skyscrapers began to dominate city skylines. New communities, known as suburbs, began to be built just beyond the city. Commuters, those who lived in the suburbs and traveled in and out of the city for work, began to increase in number."

4. Excerpt from the Introduction of "Spalding's Official Athletic Almanac" by J. E. Sullivan (1905):

"The Olympic games of 1904, held in the stadium of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, at St. Louis, were without question the greatest athletic games ever held in the world. This was the third Olympic gathering under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, of which Baron Pierre DeCoubertin of Paris is the President. To Baron DeCoubertin is entirely due the idea of the revival of the Olympic games’ as well as the organization of the International Olympic Committee. The first Olympic games approved by the International Committee were held at Athens in 1896, the second at Paris in 1900, and it was decided by the International Committee to hold the third Olympic meeting in the city of Chicago during 1904. When it became apparent that the World’s Fair was to have a well established Department of Physical Culture, with athletic games of all descriptions, it suggested itself to those interested that it would not do to have in America during the year 1904 two large athletic gatherings, as one must necessarily suffer. Chicago had organized an association for the conduct of this meeting and had also appointed committees, and it looked at one time as though there was a possibility of a conflict. This, however, was averted mainly through the instrumentality of Mr. A. G. Spalding and Mr. Frederick J. V. Skiff, both Chicago men, Mr. Skiff being the Director of Exhibits at the World’s Fair. The result was that Chicago gave way and recommended to the International Committee the giving of the games to St. Louis, which was agreed to. There is no necessity here of dwelling at any great length upon the Olympic games contests or upon the success of future Olympic games. It is fair to say, however, that to America must be given the absolute credit of carrying to a success the Olympic games, the like of which will never again be equaled until the Olympic games are brought back to America, as America has set a standard that certainly will be hard for other countries to follow."