Saving the National Soul

I. Morality

A. The Breakdown of the American Family

1. Divorce--Roosevelt was disturbed by the lack of marital commitment among he people of his class--the so-called "better" people, and the ease at which it had become possible to obtain a divorce.

a. Laura B. Corey--obtained a "quickie" Reno divorce (Nevada only had a six month residency requirement to obtain a divorce) because of her   husband's infidelity; but her case touched  off a great national debate about implementing stricter divorce laws.

2. Spousal abuse--Roosevelt advocated public flogging for husbands found guilty of spousal abuse or non-support of children. A number of states did institute such punishments, particularly those in the South, where African Americans disproportionately suffered these floggings. The result was not to decrease spousal abuse, but to make wives unwilling to file complaints

3. Race Suicide--Roosevelt argued that those people of his class were committing what he termed to be  "race suicide" because the fertility rates among the upper class fell dramatically during the last quarter of the  19th Century, while other "races" continued having children at what Roosevelt considered  an alarming rate.

a. Again, Roosevelt was not simply alarmed that African Americans were producing children at an alarming rate, but that all immigrant groups were producing children at a higher rate than the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, who Roosevelt saw as "real Americans."

II. Sex

A. Prostitution--immigration at this point in history was largely populated by single males--or, at least, males unaccompanied by female relatives, which meant that there was a great deal of business for prostitutes.

1. Garden-variety prostitution--the world's oldest profession did a booming trade around the turn of the century because of the conditions mentioned above.

2. White slavery--holding women against their will to serve as prostitutes is known as white slavery. While this certainly was a despicable practice, it was a very small problem that was sensationalized well beyond  its importance in American life.

a. Mann Act--made it a federal crime to transport women across state lines for "illicit purposes."  Two of the most famous "violators" of this act were the African American boxer Jack Johnson and the African American musician Chuck Berry

B. Pornography

1. Anthony Comstock--was the leading anti-pornography force in the United States, eventually gaining an appointment as a special postal inspector, where he could work against the dissemination of pornography--as well as information on birth control,  venereal disease, or anything else that Comstock defined as obscene.

2. French postcards--pictures of naked women that we would  recognize today as pornography (if of a rather mild sort).

3. Sensationalized news--the rise of the "yellow press" led some news outlets to play up lurid stories that involved sex.

a. National Police Gazette--began publishing in 1845, ostensibly publishing news of interest to police--but in fact regularly ran stories  about sensational murders (particularly if they involved torture), as well as engravings of pictures of prostitutes, burlesque dancers, or any other women they could find scantily clad.

b. "The Trial of the Century"--publications like the National Police Gazette had little trouble finding sensational news to print, as the Stanford White/Evelyn Nesbit/Harry K. Thaw love triangle proved. White, the most prominent architect of his day, and the man the Roosevelt's hired to remodel the White House, seduced the then 15-year-old Nesbit by plying her with champagne and asking if she would like to go to his apartment to see his etchings (yes--really. That's his creation). White then moved on to seduce other young virgins, while Nesbit agreed to marry railroad heir Harry K. Thaw of Pittsburgh, Nesbit's hometown. Thaw became obsessed by what he viewed as White's theft of his wife's virginity (denying him of that treasure), and this obsession eventually drove Thaw to shoot White three times in the face after shouting at him "You've ruined my wife! (according  to witnesses--the police report claimed he shouted "You've ruined my life!). Thaw's family used their considerable resources--and promises to Nesbit of a quiet divorce (which she got) and a million dollar settlement (which she didn't) to testify on Thaw's behalf. Thaw plead not guilty  by  reason of temporary insanity, and was sent to an asylum from which he escaped several times, before he was "rehabilitated."

III. Building American Pride

A. Creating American English--Roosevelt's obsession with simplifying spelling had as much to do with creating a uniquely American style of English as it did with the idea of making spelling simpler and more phonically reasoned.

B. American Art

1. Frederick Remington--Remington's idealized western art found a ready patron in the White House

2. Folk Music--encourage John Lomax to collect cowboy song as a form of  folk music, and wrote the forward for the subsequent book.

3. Arts and Crafts movement--found a fan in the White House. Roosevelt was in sympathy with the "democratization" impulse of much of the Arts and Crafts movement, and its emphasis and simplicity and natural beauty.

a. Elbert Hubbard

b. Gustav  Stickley

c. Frank Lloyd Wright