DBQ 17: A National Clash of Cultures in the 1920’s With the arrival of the 1920’s, new battles fought between traditionalist rural society and modernist urban civilization arose in the postwar United States. These urban-rural culture wars of this time period represent the everlasting conflict between conservatives and liberals. The 1920 census demonstrated to traditionalists that their views were under attack by the modernists who gradually came to outnumber them. Traditionalists were disturbed that they were losing a battle against immigrants who didn’t understand or appreciate “old American values” and against their own children, a new generation of rebellious youth who brought about sexual revolution, materialism, and skepticism. …show more content…
He claims it is a weakness because “it lays [them] open to the charge of being ‘hicks’” (document1) by opponents to American Traditionalism like H. L. Mencken. Mencken was noted for his satirical description of these plain people that Evans belonged to. The xenophobia that befell these plain people was given justification with the first postwar Red Scare, or fear of Communism and its believers, and the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti to execution. A letter written to the national Crime and Law Enforcement Commission validates this claim by declaring that “much the greater part of the vicious forms of crime are committed by recent immigrants” (document 3). These immigrants are seen as a displeasing danger to children, as one mother wrote, “I am alone trying to rear [my son] an honorable American but how can I when this foreigner… is allowed to ruin my boy” (document 5). Concern over the new generation also helped to spark the urban-rural culture wars, as this younger age group was influenced by industrial growth and progressivism. Rebellion was so commonly associated with this new crowd that they became known as the Lost Youth. Prohibition couldn’t do anything to stop these revolutionaries from the consumption of illegal alcoholic substances. Several conservatives blamed them for the loss of traditional moral values and for the growth of corrupt
America has been plagued with the “American Dream” since its citizens first started spreading out westward in search of wealth and fame. Along with this American ideal came the concept of being un-American and not standing for what was considered “true” American. With the emergence of Populists, Progressives and Radicals came a vast difference between what was thought as American. All groups claimed to be trying to make the US a better place however each differed vastly in their ideas of going about it. During the age of uncertainty between 1890 and the 1920’s a new movement called the Progressives emerged in parts of the Unites States. They emerged as part of a long tradition of reform aimed at correcting the issues of the country.
Prohibition was undertaken to reduce crime, reduce corruption, and solve social problems in America but it failed on all accounts. Prohibition had the exact opposite effect on people than its original purpose was. Instead of removing alcohol from society, Prohibition actually instigated a national drinking spree that held constant until Prohibition was repealed. Felix Von Luckner said, “My observations have convinced me that many fewer would drink were it not illegal” (Von Luckner, 2). He believed that the law against alcohol manufacturing just instigated more drinking. The people during this period in time were so rebellious that they would do the opposite of anything that they were told to do. This had a huge contribution to the failure of Prohibition. Due to the failure of Prohibition, America’s society had fallen spiral to a drinking spree (Batchelor, 1). Many believed that the main cause of the failure of Prohibition was the breakdown of the enforcement agencies. In Hearings before the Subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia said, “The Prohibition Enforcement Unit has entirely broken down. It is discredited; it has become a joke…” (La Guardia, 2). The Roaring Twenties’ prosperity was lost due to the failure of the Prohibition Enforcement Unit. If the law was stronger and better enforced, Prohibition could have succeeded. This was very detrimental to society because it showed the
During the start of the 20th century, Europe was in a good place. It controlled many empires and colonies, and technology was advancing at a rapid pace after the Industrial Revolution (1840-1870). However this peace did not last; 1914 started a brutal four year war known as WWI. The immediate cause of this war is known to be the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, in June of 1914. However, there are many more elementary causes of this complicated war. Some of the main underlying causes of WWI was the strong militarism and imperialism felt in the European countries, and the alliances put in place to uphold these powerful militaries and colonies.
During the time frame of 1900-1930, there was rapid industrialization; urbanization and innovation, which was a key part of American growth as a nation. Thanks to technological innovation of the assembly line factories could mass produce, trusts and corruption in business led to progressive ideologies, and industrial opportunity for minorities during WWI demonstrated the power of those minorities as workforce. Industrialization and technological advancements were a key part of American growth because of the stimulated urbanization; progressive ideals; growth of industry, and bettered economic opportunity for minorities such as African Americans and Women.
Prior to the 1920s people were already not given equal prosperity. This can be seen in 1882 by the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. However, the ban was only against the immigration of Chinese laborers. Furthermore, Andrew Carnegie owner from the steel industry from 1973-1901 controlled the most extensive integrated iron and steel operations ever owned by in the United States. Although Carnegie gained millions, he paid his workers little. Therefore, the 1920s did not give prosperity to everyone including those who were immigrants, the new technological advancements, and the economic difference in social classes.
The 1920’s were a period of tension between new and changing attitudes on one hand and traditional values and nostalgia on the other. Following WWI it was a transitional time period to modernization, and the old America was being forgotten. From the old and new to urban and rural, generations were feuding over the advancement of American Society. To a great extent social, economic, and cultural changes affected the leading tensions between the old and the new and was manifested greatly by those. Although political changes are usually the cause of disagreements, the tensions in the 1920’s were manifested by social, economic, and cultural changes.
The decade following World War I proved to be the most explosive decade of the century. America emerged as a world power, the 19th amendment was ratified, and the expansion of capitalism welcomed the emergence of consumerism. The consumer era was established, which generated new spending opportunities for most Americans in the 1920’s. From the latest fashions to the world of politics, ideologies collided to construct a society based on contradicting principles. These powerful ideologies infected men and women of all classes with an inescapable desire for material possessions; however this ideological tug-of war affected women the most. Although legally declared citizens, society’s
The United States in the 1920’s was a whirlwind of change and prosperity for most of its citizens. All aspects of life had been changed by World War I, for better and for worse leading the United States in to a period of prosperity. Roaring is an accurate word to describe the explosion of change that occurred in the 1920’s because of the lasting effects of the time that have shaped the United States into what it is today. Looking at elements of the country such as: mass culture, New Yorkers, the economy, the youth, and religious groups it is apparent that the 1920’s brought “roaring” changes to these groups and these factors of the United States as they worked through the first modern decade.
The 1920's America was the beacon of hope, wealth and wide open horizons for all! USA was the land of the free and home of the American Dream! A veritable ladder of fortune, social class and fame could be claimed by anyone during this era.
The early 1920s were a prosperous time in American history. Industries were blooming and the economy was great. City growth was increasing and so was the new consumer culture. Women had finally earned the right to vote and the entertainment industry was flourishing. But it was also during that time that nativist emotions had reached their height.
The 1920s were a time of change for the United States. Following the First World War there was a rush of new cultural, social, and artistic dynamism, partly fuelled by the Progressivism movement that was cut short when American entered the Great War. This decade was defined by a change from more rural farm life to industrialism in big cities. The shift from the frugality and traditional family values or previous generations to the happy-go-lucky consumerism and metropolitan life occurred more rapidly than any other social shift in living memory. These swiftly changing tides caused cultural clashes and confrontations throughout the decade as America struggled to define for itself a fresh national
The 1930’s were certainly a marked departure from the 1920s. The nation plummeted into the worst economic depression in its history and the social and cultural consequences were huge. One of the most interesting developments is the changing relationship between intellectuals and the broader public in those years. Many American writers like Zora Nealle Hurston, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and Ernest Hemingway grew skeptical and weary of the general public during the 1920s, but during the Great Depression, were moved by the hardship they witnessed, the nation began to empathize with and work through the struggles of ordinary Americans. If the 1920s was marked by cultural division and by the disillusionment of intellectuals, than the thirties were marked by economic despair and by the discovery of the virtuous “common man” by the nation’s intellectuals. The period of the 1920s and 1930s is arguably the richest period in intellectual life of the nation and for that reason alone people should have some familiarity with it. The parallels between the cultural debates of that era: over immigration, religion, the role of the federal government, and the meaning of the American Dream. An understanding of the time between World War I and World War II years will enhance the understanding of the cultural, political, and economic debates of the present.
During the “roaring twenties,” there were many different events that went on that either caused revolutionary or traditional changes. However, from information of occurrences during the 1920’s, we learn that revolutionary events were more beneficial than traditional changes were. The KKK, Birth of a Nation, Aimee Semple McPherson, and the Scopes Trial all present examples as to why our country in the 1920’s should’ve focused on revolutionary changes to progress our society and homeland. Henry Ford, Harlem Renaissance, Charles Lindbergh, and Flappers are all examples as to why revolutionary events were more beneficial in progressing the country. Traditional values are less advantageous because they do not help progress and traditional ideas often lack innovation.
The 1920s was a drastic shift for young people’s choices and future consequences. The years of the 1920s represented a new type of freedom for women, young adults, African Americans, and immigrants. A group of people support dogmatic, old-slow rural life, religious belief, and did not care for education, while the others embraced modernism and preferred urban living, contributing to technology, continuing education, urban development, science, and a brighter future.
The culture of the 1920s was unlike anything seen before. With newly found freedoms and booming industries, the 1920s were a time of prosperity where life was energetic and thriving. Evidence of this unique time in American history can be found in the artwork of the decade. The social changes of America in the 1920s are displayed in John Held’s magazine advertisement for Arrow shirts.