History 1302 U.S. From 1877 Chapter 24 ~ The New Era
The New Economy: Post War Recession - conversion from war footing Disenchanted with idealism of war aims & Europe Self-satisfaction, Affluence & Consumption 1922 1929 Boom : Manufacturing up, income up, inflation steady Mass productions & consumption of Autos had a geometric effect Housing and Sub-urban expansion Household appliances Radio / Mass-media Advertising / free entertainment Airline / Improved Trains Home appliances / Electronics / Synthetics Telephones Organizational concentration control & order A&P 15K groceries General Motors / Big Steel Introduction Hollinger 1302 2
The New Economy (cont) Labor: 66% at subsistence / 12 hour day std Lucky were welfare capitalism workers Unions Company unions lesson impact of good times, abandoned after boom Unskilled workers were fastest growing group American plan open shop Women pink collar jobs Minorities still at fringes or in enclaves Agriculture: Mechanization 4X number of tractors Chemical Fertilizers / Pesticides Increase in production meant decrease in prices Relief from market conditions from Gov t price supports and tariffs Vetoed Introduction Hollinger 1302 3
Culture in the 20s: Consumerism is born: Outgrowth of communication, advertising and mass production Radio is universal / Movies (talkies 1927) $100M by 1930 Sport s Golden age Middle-class necessities technology s growing impact Women: Science / Psychology questioned traditional roles Divorce grows 2X between 1920 1930 / Urban 1 in 6 The Modern Woman In Defense of Women 1918 HL Menkin fulfillment 50% increase in professional women 30% rise in working married women Victorian respectability overthrown pleasure and freedom from inhibitions League of Women Voters / Consumer Groups / Beauty Pageants / Sheppard Towner Act 1921 Literary Disenchantment: Contempt & Lost Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Faulkner, Gertrude Stein, T.S. Eliot, Harlem Renaissance, etc. Introduction Hollinger 1302 4
Cultural Conflict: Prohibition: Federal Prohibition 18 th Amendment January, 1920 Noble Experiment fails Wets versus Drys Drinkers were seen as immigrants, Catholic and lower class Nativism & the Klan: Long term agitation to curb immigration Lower class working and middle class progressive support 1921 Emergency Immigration act Quota system (3%) based on 1910 census Rebirth of the Klan ( 1915 1924) Stone Mountain Georgia 1915 but spread to the industrial mid-west Foray into respectability Local and State politics Clarke / Evans / Stephenson Alien groups ruining the American Way of Life Introduction Hollinger 1302 5
Cultural Conflicts (cont) 1921 Warring Protestantism: Modernists harmony with science Fundamentalists literal bible / anti-science Politically strong through organization and belief that Religion should be central in life Darwinism / Science gives credence to man s animal nature destroys the moral underpinnings to society Politics Democrats versus Republicans Competing Interests Democrats diverse South / Urban northern immigrants Republicans Middle and Upper class the party of business / progressive Black vote Harding (1920) and Coolidge (1924) Let prosperity roll Government to help Business efficiency & productivity Industrial cooperation Associations - stability Introduction Hollinger 1302 6