Violet's first book begins in 1877, and it was during the mid-1870s that the United States was rapidly growing.

Like all their fellow countrymen in the 1870s, the Travillas and the Dinsmores must have felt the excitement of America's expansion and the rise of new industries and opportunities. The number of people in the country tripled in that time. In the official census of 1830, the number of Americans was slightly less than 13 million; by 1870, the count was approaching 39 million, and it exceeded 50 million in the 1880 census.


The country was enlarging geographically as well. By August of 1876, the number of states had grown to thirty-eight including California and Oregon on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, and the western territories were being settled rapidly. Another six states, all in the West and Northwest, would be added over the next twenty-five years.



The country was also growing in terms of opportunity. By 1870, the range of jobs available was enormous, and the chance to make a good living or even a fortune seemed open to all hard-working men. (Women, African-Americans, and Native Americans were excluded by law and tradition from this aspect of the American Dream.) Immigrants-most of them from European countries-poured into the U.S. in the hope of making better lives for themselves and their children.



The country needed workers to man its new iron and steel mills, build its railroads, manufacture its clothing, till its fields and process its food, mine its coal and other natural resources, herd its cattle, and so on. American workers were not usually well paid, but jobs were plentiful, and Americans were driven by a strong work ethic. If the mine owners and railroad builders took advantage of their workers through poor pay and dangerous working conditions, the workers themselves cherished the notion that they might someday rise up the ladder of success and achieve wealth and power. A lucky few-like Andrew Carnegie, a poor Scottish immigrant who started working at age thirteen and became the richest steel manufacturer in the world-did live out the dream and became role models for their ambitious countrymen.



Some were excluded from the dream. African-Americans in the South lost their hope for real equality with the end of Reconstruction and were deliberately kept in poverty and ignorance. As white Americans moved westward, Native American Indians were driven from their lands and deprived of their livelihoods, traditions, and cultures. Over decades of bloody conflict, the Native American peoples saw their numbers reduced and their freedoms virtually eliminated as they were pushed into reservations overseen by corrupt government agencies and officials. Women, whatever their color, had access to few of the opportunities open to men, but more and more women were speaking up and demanding legal and economic equality. Education for girls and young women was becoming a rallying cry for the mothers and daughters of the country, and slowly but surely women began to enter the traditional male professions of medicine, law, and religious ministry.



The idea that all children should be sent to school was just beginning to take root. By the middle 1870s, all states provided some level of public elementary school education and were debating and passing laws that required school attendance. Public high schools were growing in number, and under a law called the Morrill Act, the federal government gave large tracts of land to each state for the establishment of colleges of agriculture and mechanical arts. (Many of today's great public universities evolved from these land-grant colleges.) But not everyone benefited from such educational opportunities. Poor children were often sent to work in factories and on farms before they reached their teens. Children were valued as workers because they were paid much less than adults, and there were no legal restrictions on the hours they could work and the health and safety of their workplaces. For impoverished families, there was often no choice but to put their children to work.



New Ideas

The last half of the 19th century was an age of innovation and invention. Many of the conveniences that people now take for granted were first developed during those decades. Almost simultaneously, British inventor Joseph Swan and America's Thomas A. Edison hit upon the idea of an incandescent light bulb powered by electricity, patenting their inventions in 1878 and 1879 respectively. It took some years for the electric light to become more than a curiosity, but it is hard to imagine life today without the humble light bulb. Our comfortable central heating systems evolved from the coal-burning and then steam-producing furnaces that warmed middle- and upper-class homes in Violet's day. Indoor plumbing was introduced into many homes, including piped water, bathtubs, and "water closets" (flush toilets). Mothers in the 1870s cooked on wood or coal-burning "ranges," which allowed the preparation of more varied meals than the old method of cooking over open fires.



The growth of American manufacturing meant that many new products were available to American consumers. For example, a family with a good income could buy packaged soap instead of making their own, though people continued to make many of their household materials including tooth powder, shampoo, cleansers, and polishes. (Detergents were not invented until the 1890s.) Cosmetics of the type used today were not available, but mothers and daughters followed family recipes to create their own face and hand creams, hairdressings, and perfumes. The sewing machine had been used for some time, but in the 1870s, the new knitting machine helped add to a family's wardrobe. And steam-powered washing machines with wringers eased the labor of wash day.



Keeping a house clean was an endless and backbreaking job, but the invention of the mechanical carpet sweeper by Anna and Melville Bissell of Michigan was considered a revolution in housekeeping. (Even Queen Victoria of England ordered Bissell sweepers for her palace.) Linoleum flooring, a British invention, fascinated visitors to the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition and promised an end to the dirty, daily chore of washing and sweeping rough wood floors. Since most people could not afford to pay for such expensive appliances outright, a new kind of buying was developed-the installment plan by which people paid for items over a period of time, much like our modern credit cards.



Advertising for such innovations was everywhere, as sellers touted the virtues of their wares in newspapers and magazines and on billboards. Not all new products were what they claimed, however, especially in the area of health remedies. Americans had learned to associate dirt and dust with illness, but as yet they did not know about germs and bacteria. Soldiers in the Civil War were often treated for diseases such as dysentery and typhoid with patent medicines, and the country as a whole turned to these commercial remedies with zest after the War. The makers of tonics, syrups, poultices, and healing devices made extravagant promises and sometimes associated their products with Indian remedies, which Americans tended to trust. The medicine show-a kind of traveling outdoor performance whose purpose was to peddle medicines-was a welcome entertainment in rural and western towns. Almanacs filled with ads for remedies were published by medicine-makers and distributed to millions of homes. Advertisements called "picture cards" were handed out by druggists and eagerly collected by children like today's sports trading cards. Unfortunately, most of the bottled medicines and healing devices had little or no curative value, and some were actually harmful. Many contained high concentrations of alcohol and narcotic substances including cocaine. The medicines "worked" because the alcohol and drugs made people feel better, not because they had any health benefits.



Still, many 19th century inventions and technologies did deliver on their promises to make life better. Among the items and devices that were invented, developed, or popularized in this period were hand-pushed lawn mowers, rubber garden hoses and fire hoses, ready-mixed paints, paper bags, safety matches, toilet paper, photo film, can openers, filter coffeepots, vacuum thermos bottles, aluminum cookware, dishwashers, safety razors, and metal zippers. Potato chips, graham crackers, cracker jacks, chewing gum are just a few of the edibles we have inherited from the 19th century, along with clothing items including blue jeans, dress tuxedo suits, and zippers. Even printed Christmas cards come from the 19th century.



It's hard to imagine America without baseball, football, and basketball-sports that were formalized and enjoyed by young men in the 1800s. Girls, however, were discouraged from most sporting activities, though with the invention of steel blades, ice-skating was considered suitably lady-like. Adventurous girls might try activities like rowing, fishing, and bicycle riding, so long as they weren't seen by disapproving elders. Even so sedate a game as croquet, played by men and children, was considered improper for women in their long skirts. Sports were divided along class lines as well: poor people bowled, for example, and rich people played golf. But whatever the sport and the restrictions, a great many ordinary Americans in the second half of the 19th century at last had the necessary free time to enjoy leisure activities.



Real Problems

Despite the many new conveniences and improvements, life was not easy for most Americans. The cities of the eastern states were growing as people sought employment in manufacturing. In major cities like New York, poor people were forced to live in over-crowded housing and could not afford decent medical treatment, even when it was available. The pressures on city services such as water and sewer systems, transportation, and fire-fighting services were often more than city leaders could handle. Fatal fires and outbreaks of diseases due to poor sanitation were all too common. Because there were no laws regulating workplaces, accidents were frequent, yet employers usually felt no obligation to pay for the care of their injured workers or provide support for the families of workers who died.



With the growth of business and industry, the gap between rich and poor widened. The last half of the 19th century saw the beginning of labor movements to protect workers and of social movements to improve the lives of the poor and of children in particular. It was not until the 20th century, however, that these efforts achieved real reform for poor and working-class Americans.



And so it is during this time, the late 19th century, where we enter Violet's life and experience this amazing portion of American history with her. As Vi's story progresses, we will see that she becomes increasingly aware of the poor living and working conditions of the lower-class people in her sphere of influence. It was this type of social injustice that inspired Violet to do something to help. Part of Violet's legacy is that she makes strides to improve these conditions, leading the way for even greater changes to be made in the 20th century. Violet is truly an ordinary girl who accomplishes extraordinary feats for the Kingdom of God.