The Inuit vs. the steamboat: Human exhibitionism and popular concerns about the effects of the market revolution in the Early Republic
In the early nineteenth century, a new form of human exhibitionism spread through eastern American cities. While public displays featuring live human beings had existed since the colonial era, these new shows specifically focused on Native Americans. This paper examines one such show, the Inuit Exhi...
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | unknown |
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JMU Scholarly Commons
2016
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| Online Access: | https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/124 https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/context/master201019/article/1079/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf |
| Summary: | In the early nineteenth century, a new form of human exhibitionism spread through eastern American cities. While public displays featuring live human beings had existed since the colonial era, these new shows specifically focused on Native Americans. This paper examines one such show, the Inuit Exhibition of 1820-1821, as a case study of this phenomena. Primarily through the use of contemporary newspaper accounts, this project argues that shows like the Inuit Exhibition occurred within a cultural context that legitimized the practice of human exhibitionism as a genuine, post-Enlightenment method of educating citizens about the natural world. Furthermore, so-called “Indian Exhibitions” were not popular solely for their novel content, but also appealed to contemporary middle class concerns about social changes brought about by the market revolution, such as increased foreign and domestic trade, the growth of cities, and early industrialization. Objectified, supposedly “primitive” Native Americans, such as the Inuit, served as symbols that simultaneously celebrated, and cautioned against, notions of “progress” in the Early Republic. |
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