Discussion question
Of the People
McGerr, Lewis, Oakes, Cullather, Summers, Townsend, Dunak
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Volume II
Since 1865
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Chapter 21
The Modern Nation 1919—1928
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UNIA Parade
Chapter 21 American Portrait: “America’s Sweetheart”
Actress Mary Pickford
One of the wealthiest women in America
New national culture celebrated innovation, modernity
Fascination with youth, independent women
Individualism
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A Dynamic Economy
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Ford Assembly Line Mass production at work: the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company plant in Dearborn, Michigan, 1928.
The Development of Industry
Switch from coal to electricity
Mass production
Pioneered by Henry For
Increased productivity drove the economy
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The Trend Toward Large-Scale Organization
Only large companies could afford mass production
Mergers gave them more control
More efficient organization
Image of big business improved
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The Transformation of Work and the Workforce
Scientific management
Increased supervision, mass production resulted in less satisfying work
Growth of white-collar jobs
Move to economy based on sales and service
Women in the workforce
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The Defeat of Organized Labor
Did not expand into white-collar jobs
Prosperity
Corporate promotion of welfare capitalism
Court decisions aided the growth of “open shop”
AFL refused to expand to include women, socialists, African American workers
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The Decline of Agriculture
Mechanization
Irrigation systems
Depended on size, migrant labor
Midsize farms could not compete
Low prices a result of competition, changing American diets
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The Urban Nation
More Americans lived in cities than the country by 1920
Decline of farming
Growth in industrial economy
Rise of the automobile
Growth of suburbs
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A Modern Culture
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The Jazz Singer Premiere The dazzling allure of a new pleasure— the “talking picture”—draws a big opening-night crowd to Warners’ Theatre, New York City, October 6, 1927.
The Spread of Consumerism
Happiness in leisure and consumption rather than work
Increased efficiency
Higher wages and increased leisure hours
Advertising
Bruce Barton, the Man Nobody Knows
Consumer credit, mortgage loans
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New Pleasures for a Mass Audience
Sports, movies, popular music, radio
Spectator sports: baseball and football
Booming attendance at movies
Hollywood and “talking pictures”
Jazz became nationally popular
Phonograph and radio
NBC founded in 1926
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A Sexual Revolution
Reformers forced discussions about prostitution, disease
Popular culture was filled with sex
Dances promoted close contact
Growing belief that sexual pleasure was necessary within marriage
Changing attitudes toward contraception
Margaret Snager
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Changing Gender Ideals
“New Woman”
Independent, assertive, educated, sexual being
Feminism
Wanted full equality with men
Flappers
Men should seek fulfillment in family rather than work
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Struggles for Democracy
Flappers and Feminists
Lois Long, “Lipstick”
Flappers had short hair, short dresses, smoked, drank, danced
Nightlife
Many suffragettes disapproved of lack of political engagement
Individualism, social equality
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American Landscape
“Flaming Youth” on Campus
Creation of youth culture
Middle class men and women went to college
Dancing, drinking, smoking
Individualism and conformity
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Northwestern Co-eds Women students at Northwestern University show their school spirit by hoisting a banner and megaphones before a campus building, 1929.
The Family and Youth
Families were no longer economic units
Children went to school, parents went to work
Children had more toys and money
Youth culture
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The Celebration of the Individual
Sports heroes, movie stars
Corporate consumerism gratified individual needs and desires
Organizations controlled individual life
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The Limits of Modern Culture
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UNIA Parade A parade organized by the United Negro Improvement Association in Harlem,1920.
The Limits of Prosperity
Low incomes persisted
Many Americans did not own homes
Towns divided by social class
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The “Lost Generation” of Intellectuals
WWI represented a failure of civilizations
Many felt alienated from the US, left for Europe
Criticized repression, provincialism, routinized work and superficial pleasures
Expressed ambivalence about modernity
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Fundamentalist Christians and “Old-Time Religion”
Rejected liberalism, believed in the historical truth of the Bible
Strongest in the South and West, came to dominate the Southern Baptist Convention
Trial of John Scopes for teaching evolution
William Jennings Bryan
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Nativists and Immigration Restriction
Revived by mass migration from Europe
Associated immigrants with anarchism, radicalism
Immigration Act of 1921, 1924
Quotas by country
Excluded Asian immigrants
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The Rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan
Inspired by D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation
Adopted white hoods, cross burnings
Hated Jews, Roman Catholics, immigrants, liberals, in addition to African Americans
Condemned new gender ideals, big business, modern culture, youth culture
Began using advertising, technology to spread their message
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Mexican Americans
Increase in Mexican immigration
Unrestricted by Congress
Mexican Revolution, growing US economy
National Origins Act
La Raza
Poverty, discrimination created a common identity
Struggled for economic progress, equal rights
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African Americans and the “New Negro”
Booker T. Washington, A New Negro for a New Century
Racial difference, pride
Harlem Renaissance
Development of the NAACP, civil rights movement
Marcus Garvey’s Universale Negro Improvement Association
Economic self-help
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A “New Era” in Politics and Government
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Declining Voter Turnout, 1896–1928 Why was turnout so much lower in the South?
The Modern Political System
Use of advertising
Media became less partisan
Lobbyists from corporations, professional organizations, reform groups
Less partisan politics reduced voter turnout
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The Republican Ascendancy
Warren G. Harding was uncontroversial, conservative
“Return to normalcy”
Plagued by fraud and corruption
Teapot Dome scandal
Calvin Coolidge still won the 1924 election after Harding’s death
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The Politics of Individualism
Denounced the activist, progressive state
Less gov’t, more individual freedom
Reduced budget deficits, national debt
Lax enforcement of Prohibition, regulations on business
Hoover’s “associationalism”
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Republican Foreign Policy
Washington Naval Conference, 1921-22
Arms reduction
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928
Outlawed war as an instrument of national policy
Lacked enforcement mechanism
Increasing economic involvement around the world
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Extending the “New Era”
Democrats antagonistic constituencies doomed their chances in national races
Al Smith, Democratic nominee in 1928, was an Irish Catholic
Urban liberalism
Alienated fundamentalists, rural Americans
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America and the World
J. Walter Thompson and International Markets
American advertising expanded overseas to sell American products
Acquired GM’s business, opened a branch office wherever they had a factory
Research and reports
Standardized advertising worldwide
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Election of 1928
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The Election of 1928 Herbert Hoover’s landslide victory extends the Republican “New Era.”