This week will focus on the years between World War I and the onset of the great depression. After finishing up with leftover material from the Great War, we’ll spend our time looking at the politics and culture of one of the most interesting — and misunderstood — decades of the 20th century. The 1920s was a decade of rapid social change, symbolized by the growing importance of automobiles and mass consumer culture to the national economy; the emergence of a vibrant African American literary, artistic and musical expression in Harlem and other Northern cities; and the formation of energetic youth cultures, including the (surprisingly brief) popularity of the “flapper.” The decade is also marked by fierce cultural conflict, as Americans battled over immigration, alcohol, race, science and religion among numerous other points of tension.
As with most units in this course, this week’s material will be covered by any textbook; the relevant Digital History sections are fairly good on the 1920s, though you’ll need to read the first three sections of the readings on the 1930s to understand the basics behind the crash of 1929.
Major questions for the week will include:
- How did the political life of the 1920s represent a turn away from progressivism?
- How did the new freedoms of the decade challenge older ideas about race and gender?
- How did urban and rural life clash during the 1920s? In what ways did many American react against “modern” sensibilities?
- What were the major factors behind the crash of 1929?
Some documents:
- Warren Harding’s “Readjustment” speech
- A flapper defends herself and her friends
- A manual for the Klansmen
- An editorial urging the nation to “Keep on Guarding the Gates” against immigrants
