| Americans exhibit a passion for sport as spectators and participants in contemporary American society. Exploring the history of sport in America, however, reveals that sporting experiences constitute an integral component of the lives of past Americans as well. Trying to understand how the people of the past thought about sport and engaged in sporting behaviors before the age of television, endorsements by sports stars, and big-time professional and college athletics will generate lively classroom discussions as instructors and students investigate the role of sport in American history. The historical development of sport in American society from the seventeenth century to the twentieth century conveys how sport both shapes and reflects American history.
The study of the history of sport, recreation, and leisure facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of the experiences of the American people. Interconnections between sport and other aspects of American culture reflected in historical topics include: sport and religion; sport and the search for community; sport and modernization; sport and health reform movements; sport and gender issues; sport and race relations; sport and rural culture; sport and technology; sport and education; sport and politics; and sport and consumerism. |  |
