In an essay, discuss how the ways in which American spent their new leisure time in the ear after the Civil War are similar to popular activities today.

Answer: Right after the Civil War, the most popular pastime for American people was sports; mainly baseball. Although at first, it was only meant for rich people, the opening of publick gymnasiums, courts and fields allowed the working and middle class to also do sports. Other activities included reading newspapers and books, visiting museums, amusement parks and vaudeville shows such as the "Wild West shows".

Compared to popular activities today, there is some resemblance with the post-Civil War era, like reading, doing sports, etc ... although nowadays vaudeville shows don't exist anymore. Other important pastimes nowadays are playing videogames or watching movies, which didn't exist in the 1800's.