HIST 2112 Lecture 11 Outline of Last Lecture I A very brief reference to the Great War and a couple of Key points A The Great Migration B Woodrow Wilson the Versailles Treaty and the Decline of Progressivism II The Antiwar Movement in WWI A Progressive Doubters a Jane Addams and the Women s Peace Party b Alice Paul B Isolationists and Anti Imperialists a William Jennings Bryan C Labor Protestors a Wages prices and labor unrest b Socialists communists etc 1 Eugene V Debs III The Reaction to Antiwar Activities A Anti German feelings and nativism a The American Protective League B US Legislative executive reaction a Post office censorship 1917 b Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 c The Committee on Public Information d Two Biggies C Supreme Court Reactions a Schenk vs US 1919 b Abrams vs US 1919 c Pierce vs US 1920 IV The Red Scare A Letter bombs mailed to thirty government officials B A Mitchell Palmer J Edgar Hoover and the Radical Division C The Red Ark deportations D Jan 1920 The palmer raids arrest some 10 000 people E Mitchell s May Day Warnings and the end of the Scare V The 1920s The end of progressivism and the rise of the consumer society Outline of Current Lecture I The Twenties and the Return to Normalcy A An era of political conservatism B An age of conflict II An Economic Snapshot of the 1920s A HUGE economic growth overall B improved standards of living C exception agriculture in trouble III The End of Progressivism A Warren G Harding and Normalcy B Calvin Coolidge a Puritan in Babylon IV The Rise of Consumerism A The automobile B Advertising C Celebrity culture V A Culture of Conformity A Consumerism as freedom and assimilating force B Consumerism as shallow materialism a Sinclair Lewis and Babbit 1924 VI Women and the Consumer Lifestyle A women s work B Consumerism and the tyranny of housework C The New Woman a the Flapper 1 Image versus Truth The Flapper as nonradical VII Backlash against Modernism The Rise of Fundamentalism and the KKK A Fundamentalism a Flappers b Babbitts B The new Ku Klux Klan a Old Klan b New Klan c Popular among farmers and small businessmen Current Lecture I The Twenties and the Return to Normalcy A An era of political conservatism rejecting Progressive reform B An age of conflict urban vs rural new vs old modernists vs traditionalists II An Economic Snapshot of the 1920s A HUGE economic growth overall Manufacturing increases 60 III IV V Average Per Capita Income 21 rise over 1920s B Improved standards of living though some get it better than others C Exception agriculture in trouble 40 still lived under poverty line mostly farmers They had done really good in WWI but when the war was over there went your market Now you re stuck with a bunch of crops nobody to buy them over production By mid 1920s farmers begin to feel depression coming especially sharecropping The End of Progressivism capitalism becomes less threatening in the 1920s A Warren G Harding and Normalcy B Calvin Coolidge a Puritan in Babylon Dedicated to efficiency small government Does not like regulation Hates Progressive reform He doesn t run again in 1928 Doesn t think it s appropriate The Rise of Consumerism Consumerism is buying shit you don t need but that you want badly Consumer LIFESTYLE Lay away plans established then as well A The automobile symbol of consumerism Model T Henry Ford He did not like unions inspiration for Hitler Paid workers well 4 per day Most common motor vehicle driver in history 1920 10million cars on the road 1930 30million cars on the road Consumer item that helped you consume more with great allure B Advertising Mail Order Catelog Sears Montgomery Ward HUGE catalog with EVERYTHING they sold Connected even rural people to the consumer economy C Celebrity culture Movie Stars Rudolph Valentino Sports Babe Ruth Preachers Billy Sundae A Culture of Conformity A Consumerism as freedom and assimilating force You can buy whatever you want when you want it Consumerism is the best way to assimilate immigrants We all come to American and start buying stuf B Consumerism as shallow materialism a Sinclair Lewis and Babbit 1924 George Babbitt is a real estate agent who is in his 40s and his marriage is failing kids are snotty in high school You would feel bad for him but VI VII he is just as self absorbed as his family The Babbitt house was not a home This affluence has created shallow materialistic unconcerned self centered people What is the danger to democracy Keeping up with the Jones Women and the Consumer Lifestyle A women s work Women move into workforce in 1920s Subjected to restrictions of the age Limited in Job you can do mostly clerical work and teaching and nursing A American Women Pick cotton work in domestic services If you are doing a man s job you make 57 of what he makes Married women do not work 88 B Consumerism and the tyranny of housework Expectations of cleanliness rises in the 1920s Spotless houses and clothes C The New Woman made possible by the new consumer culture a the Flapper wild free fun not all that common URBAN short hair make up showing legs smoking A lot of people hate her Feminist mainly hate her symbol reality Single women working making own money Why can t I do what men do Is sexual power really liberating 1 Image versus Truth The Flapper as non radical Backlash against Modernism The Rise of Fundamentalism and the KKK Lots of people dislike consumerism progress A Fundamentalism a religious reaction against consumerism and modernism a Flappers whores harlots flaunting women s proper roles b Babbitts unspiritual materialists B The new Ku Klux Klan Anti Evolution League Evolution is a symbol for all anxieties about modern world things are not always what they are about a Old Klan stop black men voting b New Klan hatred reflects a changed America immigrants Catholics Jews labor unions communists etc c Popular among farmers and small businessmen those people not sharing in the prosperity of the 1920s and threatened by these new modern ideas and people