05316nam 2200829Ia 450 991096210700332120200520144314.097866138954009781283582957128358295397802520922200252092228(CKB)2670000000240943(EBL)3413992(SSID)ssj0000711668(PQKBManifestationID)11428793(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000711668(PQKBWorkID)10722803(PQKB)10951941(OCoLC)811409087(MdBmJHUP)muse23741(Au-PeEL)EBL3413992(CaPaEBR)ebr10593664(CaONFJC)MIL389540(OCoLC)923494589(MiAaPQ)EBC3413992(Perlego)2532667(EXLCZ)99267000000024094320081028d2009 ub 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrParadoxes of prosperity wealth-seeking versus Christian values in pre-Civil War America /Lorman A. Ratner, Paula T. Kaufman, and Dwight L. Teeter, Jr1st ed.Urbana University of Illinois Pressc20091 online resource (170 p.)Description based upon print version of record.9780252034534 0252034538 Includes bibliographical references (p. [129]-142) and index.Communicating the prosperity-morality paradox during the mid-nineteenth-century publishing boom -- New York's newspaper giants during the anxious 1850's -- Two newspapers, south and west -- Harper's magazine and the Southern literary messenger : self-styled guardians of the republic -- Godey's lady's book : the guide for middle-class women -- Merchant magazines : the businessman's guide and conscience -- Women writers : defending the Christian republic -- Male writers : wrestling with the marketplace -- Past times and faraway places.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. JournalismSocial aspectsUnited StatesHistory19th centuryAmerican newspapersHistory19th centuryAmerican periodicalsHistory19th centuryBooks and readingUnited StatesHistory19th centuryPublishers and publishingUnited StatesHistory19th centuryWealthSocial aspectsUnited StatesHistory19th centuryEthicsUnited StatesHistory19th centuryUnited StatesSocial life and customs1783-1865United StatesIntellectual life1783-1865United StatesMoral conditionsJournalismSocial aspectsHistoryAmerican newspapersHistoryAmerican periodicalsHistoryBooks and readingHistoryPublishers and publishingHistoryWealthSocial aspectsHistoryEthicsHistory071.309034Ratner Lorman1796950Kaufman Paula T1806595Teeter Dwight L1806184MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910962107003321Paradoxes of prosperity4355858UNINA