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Chapter 25 |
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The 1920s were marked by rapid economic and urban growth as well as rapid social change, inspiring tensions as rural America resisted many of these far-reaching changes.
The Second Industrial Revolution
Based on mass production, the moving assembly line, and the marketing of consumer goods, the economy of the 1920s experienced phenomenal growth.
The Automobile Industry
The automobile industry, one of the most important of the 1920s, significantly affected American culture, stimulating other industries like steel, rubber, paint, glass, and oil and changing the nation’s physical landscape. The subtle changes in the industry also illustrate an inherent instability within a consumer goods-driven economy—once people purchase a longer-life item, they no longer need to buy it, which removes them from the market.
Patterns of Economic Growth
Other industries not connected to automobiles also boomed including the electrical industry, radio broadcasting, motion picture production, the development of light metals like aluminum, and the production of synthetic materials like rayon and cellophane. The large corporation run by a professional manager dominated business in the 1920s, and the most distinctive feature of business during the era was an emphasis on marketing and advertising.
Economic Weaknesses
Despite the economic progress of new industries, some elements of the economy fared poorly, including traditional industries like railroads, coal, cotton textiles, and agriculture. While the middle and upper classes experienced prosperity, workers and minorities did not. New technology meant fewer workers were needed to produce certain goods, forcing some into lower-paid service industries. Unions found themselves stalled in achieving better pay or working conditions for their members as employers were able to portray them as radicals. Minorities, who had migrated north during WWI, found work, but only in low paid menial labor. Additionally, they were ghettoized and continued to face hostility and discrimination.
City Life in the Jazz Age
Still another important feature of the 1920s was the rapid rise of the city and the consequent changes in society. Skyscrapers were the most visible feature of the new cities and became a symbol of progress and a new metropolitan way of life.
Women and the Family
Women continued to work outside of the home in increasing numbers, though they were confined to low-paying jobs and excluded, for the most part, from the professions. Families changed as a result of falling birthrates (through easier access to birth control) and rising divorce rates as well as married women continuing to work after marriage. Young men and women, who previously would have joined the workforce as teenagers, discovered adolescence as they attended high school and rebelled against parental authority. Though women had achieved the vote, the feminist movement continued to be active, lobbying for full equality under the law. For many young women, the assertiveness of the feminist movement translated into rebellion against Victorian social mores rather than crusading for social progress.
The Roaring Twenties
The cultural revolution also prompted the rise of organized crime, spectator sports, and a sexual revolution. Much of the rise in crime can be attributed to prohibition as more and more Americans were willing to break the law to acquire alcohol, and rival bootleggers competed with each other for control of the market.
The Flowering of the Arts
Frustrated with the materialism of mass culture, many literary figures wrote scathing criticisms of the new era. Others lived in self-exile in Europe. African-American authors in America, however, found energy and inspiration in the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance also affected art and music, and the underlying message was one of pride in blackness.
The Rural Counterattack
Insecurity in the face of all this social upheaval caused rural and small-town America to reject to the dominance of the city. Anti-immigrant activity increased as did movements aimed at cultural and political conformity and a return to traditional values.
The Fear of Radicalism
Tradition-minded Americans feared the specter of bolshevism and anarchism and tried to eliminate radicalism from American life, abusing civil liberties in the process. Their fear fed on the recent Russian Revolution as well as several violent strikes in the spring and summer of 1919. Public outcry led to government action in the deportation of hundreds of immigrants suspected of communist ties. By 1920 the scare abated as the extremism of the government’s reaction sunk in. Even so, the 1920s continued to be colored by nativism, bigotry, and intolerance.
Prohibition
Many associated alcohol with alien cultures and the new urban ways. The Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was ratified in 1918. The Volstead Act, passed in January 1920, implementing prohibition. Enforcement was lax, however, and there was widespread noncompliance with the law, especially among the middle and upper classes.
The Ku Klux Klan
The phenomenal growth of such groups as the Ku Klux Klan was also a reaction to the new urban culture. Such groups tried to preserve what they thought was sacred and pure and to limit the rights of Blacks, aliens, non-protestants, and anyone who refused to conform to their standards. A different Klan from that of the Reconstruction Era, the 1920s Klan found members throughout the nation and were open and active in politics. The Klan fell when some of its more violent activities, misuse of funds, and a sex scandal came to light. Despite the virtual disappearance of the Klan, the hatred and nativism it represented continued.
Immigration Restriction
Nativists successfully restricted foreign immigration, and Congress passed a series of laws aimed at limiting immigration, especially from southern and eastern Europe and Asia. The restrictive legislation on immigration was the most lasting achievement of the rural counterattack, lasting until the 1960s.
The Fundamentalist Controversy
Some Americans found solace and security in supporting fundamentalist Christianity or in opposing theories of evolution being taught in the public schools. The Scopes Trial was the most notable of the challenges to evolution.
Politics of the 1920s
Though the Republicans appeared to control the decade by winning the Presidency from 1921 to 1933, the rural-urban tensions dominated and shaped the course of politics during the 1920s, and the Democrats gained significant numbers of urban and immigrant voters.
Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover
The Republicans dominated the White House with three popular presidents, Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.
Republican Policies
In this era, the Republican party returned to traditional Republican policies, passing a program of higher tariffs, lower taxes, and spending cuts. Growing problems as the decade progressed challenged these policies.
The Divided Democrats
The Democrats were divided on rural-urban issues, but they were gaining strength among the new immigrant voters of the big cities. Additionally, they gained strength in Congress throughout the decades.
The Election of 1928
The election of 1928 symbolized the decade, pitting Democrat Al Smith, a Catholic, urban, “wet” son of immigrants, against Republican Herbert Hoover, an old-stock, “dry” Protestant from Iowa. Hoover won easily, but the Democrats won majorities in the nation’s twelve largest cities, indicating the emergence of a new Democratic electorate.
Conclusion: The Old and The New
The 1920s represents the transition of the United States to the modern era. Despite the prosperity and progress of the era, the foundation was unstable.
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