Editing Centennial Exposition of 1876 (section)

== International Participation ==

Thirty-seven nations participated in the exposition, making it a truly international event. Major industrial powers including Britain, France, and Germany mounted substantial exhibits demonstrating their own technological and cultural achievements. Japan, participating in its first world's fair, presented exhibits that introduced Americans to Japanese art and craftsmanship, sparking a fashion for Japanese aesthetics that would influence American design for decades. The fair included exhibits from across the Americas, from Asia, and from smaller European nations eager to establish international connections. The foreign pavilions provided many Americans their first direct encounter with cultures from around the world.<ref name="rydell"/>

The fair also revealed the racial attitudes of the era. African American contributions to American history and culture were largely ignored, despite the nation having just completed a civil war fought over slavery. Frederick Douglass, present at the opening ceremony, was not invited to the speakers' platform. Native American cultures were presented through the lens of evolutionary anthropology that cast indigenous peoples as primitive predecessors to American civilization. Women's exhibits were confined largely to a separate Women's Pavilion, though the fair did provide opportunities for women to showcase achievements in art, industry, and social reform. The centennial celebrated America's achievements while reflecting its limitations.<ref name="brown"/>