History of Sports in the 19th Century Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

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History of Sports in the 19th Century
Hardly does one mention America’s History without synonymously mentioning sports and contribution of sports towards the development of America’s history and culture. Interest in sports seemingly reaches across dividing lines of geography, gender, age, income, race, and ethnicity. Such, however, was not the case prior to the nineteenth century. Precisely, in the eighteenth century, the word ‘sport’ was a less flattering term as it was used to designate an individual that was a gambler, rake, or a lad who lived by his wits (Davies). By the nineteenth century, nevertheless, the term denoted athletic games guided by clearly defined rules and played by both highly trained amateurs and professionals with spectators cheering on their favorites. With the new understanding of sports, major themes that have shaped the culture of America emerged that were influenced and cultivated with the evolution of sports and games. These themes include religion, nationalism, mass media and technological changes, white supremacy, race, ethnicity, gender and discrimination, amateurism and professionalism, and anglo-colonial patterns of labor, work, and leisure.
Protestant ethics and values such as goal oriented behavior, rational labor, and competitive achievement are referred to as prominent influencers of sports in American society by scholars. During the Victorian era where values such as sedentary lifestyles and domesticity were upheld, Protestant viewed sports as a source of deflection from time that would have been spent in cultivation of one’s faith (Struna). Nonetheless, in the advent of sports and games in the 19th century, men sought the company of fellow men in the active participation in exercise and fraternal lodges. This new culture seemingly emerged in Protestant churches and was referred to as ‘Muscular Christianity” whereby women formed the largest number of church participants (Struna “Puritans and Sports” 15). By appraising the fragility of women and their feminine ways, Christianity promoted Sports and physical culture in America. During that period, the church promoted male participation of sports by affirming that positive values of men were exhibited by their participation in sports. This then led to the development of entertainment, games, and young men’s clubs and organizations. Additionally, the YMCA movement, initiated in the 19th century, strived to show the connection between salvation and physical exercise and health. In this respect, the protestant movement encouraged the organization of outdoor activities such as camping as well as organizing sports in an attempt to build and cultivate masculine bodies that would be able to effectively evangelize (Struna “Puritans and Sports” 19). In their defense, clergies argued that sports were religious in the sense that they promoted discipline and were organized in nature. Further, they believed that sports instilled religious values among participant and spectators alike such as honesty, diligence, integrity, and faith among others.
Another common theme that emerged with the advent of sports was ethnology, a concept associated with factors such as racism, prejudice, and discrimination, whereby Caucasians were thus the only participant in sports and gaming events of the time. With the resurgence of games such as baseball, basketball, and football, there was establishment of African American teams that were consistent of non-white players only (Spalding). Similarly, in games such as horse racing, athletics, basketball, football and bicycling, white sportsmen were pitted against African Americans. However, with increased participation and dominance of African Americans in sports, Caucasians managers and athletes alike banned interracial competition. This was also applicable in sports such as boxing where white boxers insistently refused to fight African Americans upon the defeat of a famous Caucasian boxer. In an attempt to mask there fear of fighting African Americans, whites fabricated numerous reason stating that African Americans suffered from low intelligence, inferior physicality, criminal tendencies, laziness, and a lack of ambition. Such was not only evidence of racism but also white supremacy where whites deemed themselves superior to individuals belonging to other racial and ethnic groups.
Gender segregation was equally apparent in the early 19th century sports. At the time, women were perceived as the weaker sex and were particularly discouraged to participate in sports especially performance endurance sports such as athletics, boxing, cycling, and weightlifting (Struna, “Gender and Sporting Practice” 11). Owing to the fact that women were regarded to as the “weaker sex”, critics argued that sport was harmful to their health particularly their reproductive health. Their implication in this case was that the female body was not designed to sustain sports related shock. Stereotypes such as these fueled gender-based segregation in sports.
Since the occurrence of the first Olympic games in the early 18th century, the concept of nationalism and sports have been closely entwined seeing as the Olympics provided a platform for significant competition among nations (Spirit of the Times). Often, states have used sporting competition to propagate national conflict that reaches beyond sports. Even though involvement of political agendas is against sporting ethos, nations have been known to popularize their political agendas through global sports competition such as the Olympics. Despite raging conflict within a nation, participants and spectators alike were known to putting aside such conflicts during the Olympics where nations were required to compete against each other (Spirit of the Times). Similarly, in the Pan American games, African Americans athletes and sports men and women were allowed to represent America as their performance and presence asserted them as suitable representatives of the state. The Olympics and Pan American games necessitated Americans to shelter their ideologies on white supremacy and racism in order to allow African Americans to represent the state during the games as they had proved to be formidable sportsmen and competitor in games such as athletics and basketball.
In the early 19th century, the affluent in society closely guarded the concept of amateur sports whereby participants actively engaged in sports activity without remuneration. However, as professional sports continued to gain traction in the American society, there was need to distinguish between amateurs and professionals. This was especially evident with the formation of professional sporting clubs and organizations, which were willing to remunerate individual in order for them to participate actively in sports (Jansen). This decision not only served as an incentive to increase the number of sports participants, it also revolutionized the concept of sport from an amateur activity to a professional career. Whereas the upper and middle class who dominated the sport were against the concept of professionalism, the working class rigorously advocated for compensation for participation in sports. In their defense, proponents of amateur sports argued that monetary reward promoted highest reward per performance instead of highest performance for the stated reward. On the contrary, the working class argued that their six days a week work scheduled restrained them from active participation in sports hence, monetary reward was a feasible incentive ...