Questions:
1)In the founding of sporting roots in the first century of the United States’ existence, land played a pivotal role in determining the belief structurers, institutions, and activities that would arise. Looking at American sport prior
to the urban-industrial period of modern sport, what were three important ways in which land impacted the development of sport?
2)As sport began to evolve under the modernizing, urban-industrial American setting of the late nineteenth
century, we see the importance of instilling American values into the activities that grew in popular culture. Why and how was the concept of “democracy” intertwined with sport at this time?
3)The American city proved to be the ideal breeding ground for sporting beliefs and activities. Our current sporting culture is wedded to the process of urbanization seen in this nation since the decades following the
Civil War. Why have America’s cities been so important in the emergence of modern sport, especially professional sport?
4)Sport is ideally about the individual: whether or not to participate, the degree or level of participation to pursue, and the effort one puts into their bodily activity. Participation can be about the individual, but also that
individual body as part of the larger community (perhaps a team or league). Have sport and recreation been effective means through which marginalized populations in American society have been able to overcome
obstacles and challenge the status quo? Use two different groups in your argument.