In The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s, Author Lynn Dumenil identifies the vast array of changes that occurred in American culture in the years immediately following the First World War and the factors that led to these changes in the years prior to the war. Dumenil addresses the changes of the period from just about every possible angle including changes politically, economically, and socially especially when mentioning changes that affected women and social minorities such as African Americans and certain groups of immigrants. The Twenties were a period of great change the likes of which had never been seen before in the history United States. These changes helped the nation progress in some aspects of American life …show more content…
and regress in others. Dumenil does an excellent job showing how when one area changed the others were affected as a direct result of the initial change that occurred. Dumenil opens her book by talking about the various changes in politics during the Twenties and the policies or lack thereof that led to a dramatic increase in business and the creation of a massive wealth gap between the wealthy and the non-wealthy individuals. The years prior to World War I saw a large string of Presidents who cracked down on big businesses and monopolies. However post-WWI saw a string of Presidents who allowed for private business to grow to levels that were similar to what was seen in the late 1800s. However with this lack of policy focusing on business these presidents put a strong effort into social reform. Dumenil points out that as an effect of this strong push to create social reform during this period there was “strong hostility to government, especially federal, power” (26). This feeling came from the expansion of federal powers in almost every non-business sector causing Americans to fear that their government was becoming too powerful and that the government was beginning to ignore the wants and needs of both the states and the people. While the government was facing scrutiny over their reforms, businesses were busy working on rebuilding their image in both the eyes of the people and of the government. Dumenil states that businesses began to use the war to their advantage stating that they helped to keep the nation together by both supplying the military and helping the war effort. She also mentions how businesses used the First Red Scare to their advantage by saying that busting strikes and unions helped to stop the spread of Bolshevism which were reported as signs of Bolshevism (32). These actions helped businesses regain the trust of the people that they had lost in the years that saw business controlled by monopolies in just about every industry. These changes in government and how businesses operated eventually transitioned into changes in the work force was treated and the rise of the American Consumer thanks in part to these advances as Dumenil writes in her second chapter. Innovations in business and manufacturing allowed for products to be created in a much more efficient fashion. This efficiency meant that the number of employees could be reduced significantly meaning that goods could be produced cheaper with a larger profit margin. As more and more businesses began making more and more money, they began electrifying their factories with seventy percent of all factories being electrified in 1929 compared to only thirty percent in 1919 ( Dumenil,59). This decrease in prices and large number of Americans who were working allowed for the creation of a middle class who can afford luxuries that at one point were only available to those of significant wealth such as automobiles, refrigerators, and radios. The ability to make these purchases helped turn America into a consumer culture. Up until the Twenties, Americans practiced frugality and tended to live only within their own means. Now with products being cheaper than ever and Americans feeling a false sense of wealth more money was being spent on leisure activities and luxuries than ever before. The concept of leisure was relatively new during this period but thanks to the implementation of shorter workdays Americans found themselves with more free time than ever before. This increase in free time led to the rise of sports like baseball, basketball, and boxing just to name a few especially among various ethnic groups across the country as well as activities like camping. These changes in work and leisure were not exclusive to only men.
The 1920s saw a strong rise in the feminist movement. During this time women challenged their place in society and in doing so completely changed the definition of the common woman from that of the Victorian Era only a few years prior. Women became more independent joining the workforce. In 1930 over twenty-five percent of women over the age of sixteen were part of the workforce. For women who were not members of the workforce and instead were playing the traditional role for women at that time they found their own ways to become independent and change the ways that women were to be viewed nationwide. Thanks to the introduction of electricity in houses and advances in technology that allowed for housework to be completed quicker than ever women found began their fight for equality by becoming politically active in the community. Groups such as the National Women’s Party (NWP) and National American Women’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA) began to form and helped to create and pass the Nineteenth Amendment granting women’s suffrage (Dumenil 129-130). At the same time women were starting to become independent and free thinking. They began to ditch the Victorian traditions of etiquette and properness and adopted their own way of living, a way that emphasized expressing themselves in a way that is the complete opposite of Victorian code. Women began to express themselves sexually, and became less and less religious. …show more content…
They began to marry out of affection and not a sense of duty (Dumenil 130). The combination of these factors led to an increase in divorces during the twenties with less women feeling the shame of having a failed marriage. Socially the twenties were a period that saw a lot of secular activity and isolation between groups with opposing views.
Groups were more divided about just about every subject imaginable. But the issue that can be used to best describe the feelings of the period is religion. The 1920s saw a rise in science with names like Freud and Einstein becoming household names. These very advances in science tore apart the religious community. Those who had deep religious roots clung harder to their faith citing the science as nonsense, and those who were on the fence about religion or nonreligious used science to point out the flaws that they believed existed within the bible. At the center of this battle between science and religion was Creationism vs Darwinism also known as Evolution and which of the two topics should be taught to children in school. This debate would lead to what is now known as the “Scopes Monkey Trial”. The Scopes Monkey trial helped to further the debate thanks to the vast amounts of information about Evolution that was being exposed to the national spotlight causing more and more people to question their religious upbringings (Dumenil,
148). However not all division amongst the nation is viewed as negative or confrontational like the science v religion debate. One of the biggest movements of the Twenties is known as the “Harlem Renaissance” which was the first time that black culture really came to the forefront in American history. The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural arts movement and advancement of African American culture in a time that African Americans did not have a large sense of identity among one another. Writers like W.E.B Du Bois rose up to become the most popular artists to come out of the Harlem Renaissance (Dumenil 162), Jazz became one of the iconic sounds of the era. For the first time white Americans were paying attention to and enjoying African American culture despite the fact that both groups found themselves on completely different levels socially. The amount of separation between people in America only grew larger as the years went on. The Twenties saw a large nationalistic, isolationistic, nativist movement sweep the nation. Hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) began to rise and harass those that didn’t meet the criteria to be considered a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (W.A.S.P). A large reason for this was the influx of Jewish and Catholic immigrants arriving from Europe threatened the Protestant’s role as the majority in America. Literacy tests were place upon hopeful immigrants trying to move to America following WWI. When literacy tests proved to be ineffective at keeping non-Protestants out of the country quotas began to be established limiting immigration to three percent of the ethnicities American population in 1910(Dumenil, 210). While many groups were persecuted few if any received worse treatment that those of the Jewish faith. The Jews were often blamed for many of the problems in American culture during the Twenties. They were portrayed as greedy individuals who controlled all of the nation’s banks and media (217). Later discrimination against Russian-Americans would occur after the Russian Revolution and rise of Communism. This discrimination would be led by Attorney A. Mitchell Palmer and would led to the false deportation of hundreds of Russian-Americans (224). By the end of the decade these groups will begin to fight back against their persecution and fight for their rights and equal treatment. Some were able to gain these rights and fair treatment but others like Japanese and African Americans would have to wait decades for this to happen and in some cases it can be said that thy have not gotten to that point yet. The Twenties were a time of great change following the First World War. Change was simply everywhere. You can use that decade as a point to show where America began moving towards what it is today. Lynn Dumenil goes straight in and presents hard evidence to showcase how and why these changes occurred as well as how these changes shaped Twenties culture and society. While not all change was positive they still left their mark on the nation to look back at today and to learn from their mistakes and Dumenil makes sure that the reader is well aware of these mistakes but also that the reader can identify that not all of these changes during this period were
David E. Kyvig is a Presidential Research Professor and Professor of History at Northern Illinois University (Kyvig, 272). His purpose in writing the book, as Kyvig states in his preface, was to, “… to examine what daily life was like for ordinary people in the 1920s and 1930s. It acknowledges that these people were not all alike and that their experiences varied considerably. It recognizes that distinctions in location, occupation, economic circumstance, race, ethnicity, gender, age, religious view, and cultural values differentiated their lives. Above all, its author is sensitive to the fact that in this space it is only possible to scratch the surface of a topic that should be explored in greater depth and detail” (Kyvig, x). Kyvig goes on to state that, “This book is offered in th...
The 1920’s is a period that defines the United States. Conflict and opposing values were increasingly prevalent in the American society. The country was torn between new political practices, views on the role of women, religion, social and artistic trends, science and more traditional beliefs. These were ideologies that were surfacing during the 1920’s. Much tension between the 'new America' and the 'old America' was caused by a number of wars and outbreaks (Lyndon).
“Even in the modern day world, women struggle against discriminatory stigmas based on their sex. However, the beginnings of the feminist movement in the early 20th century set in motion the lasting and continuing expansion of women's rights” (Open Websites). One such organization that pushed for women’s rights was the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) established in 1890. The NAWSA was the largest suffrage organization and worked toward securing the right to vote. The NAWSA however was split into two, the NAWSA and the National Women’s Party (NWP), when suffragists were disagreeing on how to achieve their goal.
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
America as a Divided Society in the 1920s America was born from immigrants and during the 1920's it was called a. melting pot due to the increase in social, political and economic. differences from all these new races. During the 1920's, America went. through a number of test cases to determine to what extent America was. divided.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of production, it was the age of destruction, it was the epoch of nativism, it was the epoch of racism, it was the season of skepticism, it was the season of anti-communism, it was the spring of gain, it was the winter of loss – in short, it was the 1920's. Indeed, the decade of the 1920s was a truly “roaring” and prosperous time, but at the same time, it was a period of chaos and conflict. The events that happened during this decade influenced the world as we know it today. More importantly, the thought that the 1920’s was an era of major change in the United States, both positive and negative, is indeed fascinating and it deserves thorough examination.
Women were not encouraged to get a job or go to school women were taught pretty much that they were just property owned by men women stayed home and cleaned while men went out and worked, went to school, also went to college. Women were not allowed to have custody of her kids or own land all of it went to the man women were not even allowed to vote Can you imagine life being told your just there to serve men and carry your kids for nine months just to get told they are not yours they are your husbands . So women decided they were done with that and put there foot down and some women created some kind of groups which are the NAWSA (National Woman Suffrage Association).
In the 19th century women began to take action to change their rights and way of life. Women in most states were incapable to control their own wages, legally operate their own property, or sign legal documents such as wills. Although demoted towards their own private domain and quite powerless, some women took edge and became involved in parts of reform such as temperance and abolition. Therefore this ultimately opened the way for women to come together in an organized movement to battle for their own rights in such ways as equal education, labor, legal reform, and the occupations. As stated in the nineteenth amendment, a constitutional revision that established women’s citizen rights to vote.
They formed the National Women's Party, which called for an amendment for equal rights. Even though there were technological and social advancements during this time, including the assembly line and more rights for women, anxiety and intolerance still dominated the playing field in 1920’s America.
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
Women’s role in society changed quite a bit during WWI and throughout the 1920s. During the 1910s women were very short or liberty and equality, life was like an endless rulebook. Women were expected to behave modestly and wear long dresses. Long hair was obligatory, however it always had to be up. It was unacceptable for them to smoke and they were expected to always be accompanied by an older woman or a married woman when outing. Women were usually employed with jobs that were usually associated with their genders, such as servants, seamstresses, secretaries and nursing. However during the war, women started becoming employed in different types of jobs such as factory work, replacing the men who had gone to fight in the war in Europe. In the late 1910s The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) had been fighting for decades to get the vote for women. As women had contributed so much to the war effort, it was difficult to refuse their demands for political equality. As a result, the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution became law in 19...
The 1920’s was a period of extremely economic growth and personal wealth. America was a striving nation and the American people had the potential to access products never manufactured before. Automobile were being made on an assembly line and were priced so that not just the rich had access to these vehicles, as well as, payment plans were made which gave the American people to purchase over time if they couldn't pay it all up front. Women during the First World War went to work in place of the men who went off to fight. When the men return the women did not give up their positions in the work force. Women being giving the responsibility outside the home gave them a more independent mindset, including the change of women's wardrobe, mainly in the shortening of their skirts.
The years following World War I were very different than the ones leading up to it. Between the years of 1920 and 1953, America was undergoing many different changes in its society. Beginning with the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, moving into the New Deal Era, and finally the wartimes, the meaning of freedom changed frequently for the people living on the American land. The boundaries of peoples' freedoms changed as well. For the better or for the worse, due to changes in the American society and ways of life, people living in America during these 33 years experienced living differently than they had lived years prior to these.
The 1920's was a time of change in the United States. “The Roaring Twenties” had an outstanding impact on the economy, social standards and everyday life. It was a time for positive results in the industry of consumer goods and American families, because of higher wages, shorter working hours, and manufacturing was up 60% in consumer goods. But it was also a time of adversity and opposition for others, such as immigrants and farmers. Immigrants had lots of competition when they were looking for work and they weren't treated fairly by Americans, depending on where they came from and what they believed. Farmers were paid very little because the price of food kept going down, they also had the Dust Bowl to worry about. African Americans became further infused with mainstream America during the Harlem Renaissance. They were also able to organize and elect officials who would make life better for them. The Roaring Twenties was a very exciting time to live in and we can all learn what the real world is like, and how we can prepare to be ready for it, today and in the future.
World War 1 was a time filled with trauma, despair, and hardship. Women had limited freedoms such as being able to vote, being confined at home, and having less than half of the rights men were able to have. Time flew by and as the war ended in 1918, the 1920’s decade of change soon approached. The year was famously known as “The Jazz Age” and “The Roaring 20’s” because of the newly found freedom, social and political changes, and the time of prohibition. Among these powerful new changes was the freedom that women were finally able to vote and enjoy what was about to come.