Americanization of Sports in the Late 19th and Early 20th Century
American sports are American because they are a reflection of societal values and cultural norms during the rise of an industrializing America. These recreational activities became popular economic enterprises with specializing labor roles, set rules comparable to the standard workplace protocol in other industries at the time, and were intentionally “civilized” in such a way that they became more profitable for those in charge. This civilizing also meant a specialization of labor as many athletes became more professional with irreplaceable skills. American sports in the late 19th century are reflective of greater historical trends regarding industrialization. American sports became American over the late 19th century by gradually integrating rising class values into the creation of sporting rules and practice. The urban and extensively diverse atmosphere in which popular sports developed necessitated “Americanizing” them in such a way that sporting rules became cohesive with the exclusive class values of participants so that they opposed non-native culture and benefitted the social group of the rule-makers. “American” sports are competitive, and thus leaving something to be gained, were inherently both profitable and popular, thus presenting fine arena’s for a commodification of the participants and practices by a leisure class.
The American mentality that was present during the late 1800’s was a rise in nativism. Sports that played upon class tensions were popular due to their polarizing and often violent nature. This is evident through the class confrontations in bareknuckle fighting. When John L. Sullivan fought Jake Kilrain in the last of the gloveless confrontations in 1889, Kilrain was represented as a favored native due to his American identity. Sullivan had Irish ancestry and although surely not every bit of money was bet by spectators on fighters who were not of their ethnicity, but the match was primarily polarize1. For both the participants and the
The American mentality that was present during the late 1800’s was a rise in nativism. Sports that played upon class tensions were popular due to their polarizing and often violent nature. This is evident through the class confrontations in bareknuckle fighting. When John L. Sullivan fought Jake Kilrain in the last of the gloveless confrontations in 1889, Kilrain was represented as a favored native due to his American identity. Sullivan had Irish ancestry and although surely not every bit of money was bet by spectators on fighters who were not of their ethnicity, but the match was primarily polarize1. For both the participants and the