The nineteenth century marked a great change in American history – it was the age of the Industrial Revolution, the Civil War, and a time when science and reason were supposed to erase the myths and fears of the past. And yet, the Devil still managed to rear his ugly head, continuing to serve as a symbol of all the things that Americans hated and feared the most.
Social reformers used the Devil to discourage the evils of alcohol and Protestants and Nativists used the Devil as a warning about the evils of foreigners and Catholics. Those immigrants used the Devil for their own devices, creating cautionary tales of the supernatural – like the Devil Baby that shocked Chicago in 1913, creating a mythology that still exists today.