Essay On Chicago World's Fair Of 1893

Devil in the White City written by Erik Larson is a true story based on the building of the most important fair in the United States of America, the 1893 Columbian Exposition World’s Fair in Chicago. Erik Larson also told the story of the psychopathic murderer; H.H. Holmes used his World’s Fair Hotel as an evil castle to lure in young women who came to see the fair. The story starts off with Larson describing that Chicago won the Congressional vote to host the World’s Fair and beat out its competition New York City. In only two short years, the White City was built. The fair brought in an estimated 40 million visitors in the only six months it was open. Daniel Burnham was the chief architect of the World’s Fair. Burnham had the staggering

The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, more formally known as the Columbian Exposition, was a fair constructed to celebrate Columbus’ arrival in the New World. Chicago was known as the White City, but did not appear as pure and spotless as its name suggested. For instance, there were many ways one could get killed. “Fire took a dozen lives a day...There was diphtheria, typhus, cholera, influenza. And there was murder.” (Larson 12). These unstoppable causes of death was one of the reasons Chicago’s reputation was tarnished. Furthermore, the Panic of 1893 struck and greatly affected the city of Chicago. The Panic’s effects included “financial crises”, “bankruptcy”, and “high rates of unemployment and homelessness”. (Panic of 1893). Because of the city’s economic depression, the fair would decide whether Chicago’s circumstances would improve or deteriorate. Eventually, the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair displayed what America would soon become in an industrial, military, and economic perspective.

     Although the Chicago World’s fair of 1893 only lasted 6 months, it had an enormous impact on the city of Chicago, its people, and indeed the entire country. Up until that point in its history, the US had done nothing on the scale of the world’s fair, and was regarded as a country of barbarians and cowboys by

Throughout the history of the United States, ingenuity and creativity have been a strong point in the development of the United States. In designing the buildings for the World’s Fair, Daniel Burnham shows his talent in architecture by creating new and innovative designs with his partner John Root. Both Burnham and Root had been already successful architects and known for their designs. Even before Chicago was confirmed as the site of the

Throughout parts I and II of the novel, Larson switches between the plotline of Burnham and the plotline of Holmes. The 1893 Chicago World’s Fair is introduced in chapter two. In this chapter we are also given more

By hosting the 1893 World’s Fair, Chicago wanted to show that it had its own unique

The Columbian World’s Exposition of 1893 marked an important time in American history. The overall fame of the World’s Columbian Exposition, or also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, is in large part due to the spread of ideas and inventions that originated at the fair itself. The novel, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, depicts a clear portrait of the fair’s impact in the time leading up to, during, and after the exposition. The fair established itself as a metaphorical historical monument, in the way that it honored the past and served as a memorial to Columbus, and the way that it impacted future societies and events. The fair began as a show of superiority on part of American society, over all other countries, like France or England. Regarding competition, the fair sought to “Out-Eiffel” Gustave Eiffel, architect of the Eiffel Tower, for architecture, and to outclass the rest of the world in all other fields. The fair also served to foreshadow the growing powers of America both intellectually and militarily; the spirit and ideas shown at the fair showed the emergence of intellectual superiority that would only serve as a sample of the achievements of society that were yet to come. The intellectual productions of the fair can be attributed to the architectural firm coordinating the event, Burnham and Root. The firm was headed by Daniel Burnham and John Root, both accredited as the brightest in their field. Under their management, the Chicago World’s Fair

The Great Fair of 1893 was held as a major achievement for its time. Huge buildings, impossible feats of engineering, a mixing of cultures, and the use of many new technologies were major aspects of its success. However, even though the builders of the fair worked against impossible odds, they required a leader, a figurehead to lead the way to success. In his book, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Erik Larson’s portrays Burnham’s obsession with grandeur as a key part of his persona to emphasize why he was the right man for the job.

The thought of Chicago hosting the world’s fair would be daunting at first, but it could turn around the reputation of Chicago from one of a city of gloom and darkness, to one of a city of light and progress from the Great Chicago fire of 1871, and that city would be fascinating for years to come. Chicago would get an economic shot in the arm from the revenue that it would get from hosting the 1893 World Fair and it would make Chicago into a great city of America. The event and also the transformation that would happen to the city of Chicago would not have happened if it would not be for one great man who had taken up the challenge to make sure to host this 1893 World fair.

Given the nickname the "White City" because of its elegant and pristine buildings, the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 was one of the most powerful events in American history. There were long lasting impacts on American culture, economy, and technology- the fair brought new advancements in virtually every aspect of daily life. It was held “to commemorate Columbus’s discovery of the New World” (Larson 15). The fair was a symbol of the expertise America possessed, but simultaneously highlighted the hardships that surrounded it. The fair increased wages, marketed more products for public use, and produced architectural feats that challenged the ones that stood at the 1889 Exposition Universelle. There was much more to the fair behind the showstopping displays that it created. Behind the exotic Algerian belly dancers and astonishing replicas of famous cities, the corporate world was establishing its dominance. Labor unions struggled to fight for fair wages and working time. Although disturbances and disagreements in the construction of the fair foreshadowed a negative ending, breakthroughs such as white lead paint and the Ferris Wheel attracted many visitors. The Chicago World's Fair of 1893 is a vivid exhibit of the independent cultural, economical, and technological superpower that America would grow to become in the future.

The 1893 Chicago, Illinois World’s Fair, also known as the Columbian Exposition, was an extended celebration in memory of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. The World’s Fair was a major milestone in  history because it gave insight to what Americans could  accomplish in the future, when pushed to their full extent. It came with many firsts, allowing Americans to take part in, and experience things that were, at the time, unheard of to humans. It greatly accelerated the urbanization of America. Although at the time it was just a celebration, the six-month sensation had a far greater significance. The influence it had on American society in the coming years had been far greater than anyone could have imagined, as well as the role it played in the American Gilded Age, and the debatable topic it devised, concerning whether the World’s Fair was viewed as a “white city,” “black city,” or both. The World’s Fair changed American society in more ways than not. For instance, everyone doubted them. They did not think that Americans had what it took to successfully construct and manage the fair, let alone outdo the Eiffel Tower, (built for the 1889 Paris Exposition) but in constructing the Ferris Wheel, they accomplished just that. This widely changed the perception of Chicago, and America as well. The World’s Fair had transformed Chicago from a nothing town, to one of the main points of interest in America. The fair’s sanitary conditions set an

In the closing years of the 19th century, The United States of America stood before the world as a divided nation in the ruins of a deadly civil war. After years of tragedy and hardship, it was time for the states to turn a new leaf and start a new chapter of prosperity. To accomplish such, America’s greatest minds were assembled to construct a fair so magnificent, it would not only usher in a new age of American civilization. but establish the foundation of the urban world. The finished project became known as the White City. This venue for the World’s Columbian Exposition left a multitude of positive and negative impacts on the social, political and economic scale. Socially, this event introduced the foundation of the modern American living and lifestyles. Politically, the 1893 Columbian Exposition put The United States on the map. While economically, the Fair had succeeded at the cost of cultivating a new rise in crime and fraudulent activity. Although it barely turned a profit, finance was one of many factors in determining whether the Fair truly was the transitional event sparking the rise of a global superpower. In summary, the 1893 Columbian Exposition to a significant extent was a watershed event in US history providing a blueprint for a global superpower entering the 20th century.

A World’s Fair is an “[I]nternational exposition that features exhibits dealing with commerce, industry, and science.” (World Book Encyclopedia 412) Entertainment is also present along with cultural activities. In 1893, the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, although inaugurated a year late, commemorated the discovery of America. I feel that the Exposition displayed some of the more beautiful architecture of its time; its immense buildings and sculptures drew heavily from Greek and other classical styles, and it could possible be because of the sweeping popularity in Beaux Arts architecture.

The Chicago World’s Fair occurred in 1893 to commemorate American history, specifically the landing of Christopher Columbus. This event had such a mass popularity that a book was written to commemorate the fair itself; it was titled, The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson. The portrayal of history in this novel is quite accurate when expressing the time period of the late nineteenth century in an elevated format, which allows the reader to draw comparisons of how the time mirrors the present, as well as differences in the ways it contrasts modern living, and most importantly allows a grasp of a total picture of the time period itself.

The attachment “Murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed america” to the title hardly does the novel justice. Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City, a nonfiction novel that surrounds the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, also known as The World’s Columbian Exposition. The novel follows the lives of two real men, Daniel Burnham, the architect who builds the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and H.H. Holmes, the serial killer who exploits the fair to find his victims. Many new inventions were introduced at the fair, such as Juicy Fruit gum, the Ferris Wheel, and many other novel ideas that impacted the lives of many people for generations. The beautiful fair Burnham creates provides the perfect distraction and lure for Holmes’ activities. In his novel The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson suggests that good and evil coexist in the world by using charged language, imagery and juxtaposition to show although people view the fair as a perfect dreamland immune to evil, it still lurks outside in the dark, influencing the rest of the world.