In the midst of the United States' immense economic growth in the 1850s,
Americans worried about whether the booming agricultural, industrial,
and commercial expansion came at the price of cherished American values
such as honesty, hard work, and dedication to the common good. Was the
nation becoming greedy, selfish, vulgar, and cruel? Was there such a
thing as too much prosperity?
At the same time, the United States felt the influence of the rise of
popular mass-circulation newspapers and magazines and the surge in
American book publishing. Concern over living correctly as well as
prosperously was commonly discussed by leading authors and journalists,
who were now writing for ever-expanding regional and national audiences.
Women became more important as authors and editors, giving advice and
building huge markets for women readers, with the magazine Godey's
Lady's Book and novels by Susan Warner, Maria Cummins, and Harriet
Beecher Stowe expressing women's views about the troubled state of
society. Best-selling male writers--including novelist George Lippard,
historian George Bancroft, and travel writer Bayard Taylor--were among
those adding their voices to concerns about prosperity and morality and
about America's place in the world. Writers and publishers discovered
that a high moral tone could be exceedingly good for business.
The authors of this book examine how popular writers and widely read
newspapers, magazines, and books expressed social tensions between
prosperity and morality. This study draws on that nationwide
conversation through leading mass media, including circulation-leading
newspapers, the New York Herald and the New York Tribune, plus
prominent newspapers from the South and West, the Richmond Enquirer
and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Best-selling magazines aimed at
middle-class tastes, Harper's Magazine and the Southern Literary
Messenger, added their voices, as did two leading business magazines.
