Social + Cultural Developments Flashcards
(21 cards)
1
Q
Jazz age
A
- revolution in American culture, leisure, sport + mass entertainment —> a reflection of how society was changing through the roaring twenties and the years of the depression
- mass consumerism - low unemployment rate (4%) - lots of disposable income to spend e.g. ford model T shows the increased social mobility through car ownership
- hire purchases (pay by instalments) = made previously considered luxury goods like a car more affordable for ordinary families
- electrified cities = more people going out at night + spending money —> HOWEVER this was an urban phenomenon as electricity was not common in the south + west
2
Q
New social values
A
- back to ‘normalcy’ after WWI under Harding + Coolidge
- rise in consumerism fueled by republican laissez faire policies
- rapid urban expansion + growth of the advertising industry accentuated these trends
3
Q
Backlash to new social values
A
- backlash from rural + small town America —> growing support for the KKK in the early 1920s
- political movements such as Huey Long’s ‘share our wealth’
- big reactions against the liberation of women + prohibition
4
Q
Advancements for women
A
- by 1920 women’s voting rights were confirmed under the constitution
- many women broke through traditional restrictions to gain positions in previously male dominated areas e.g. Nellie Taylor Rose elected governor of Wyoming in 1925
- Hattie Caraway was elected senator for Arkansas in 1932
- First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt provided important inspiration to a new wave of feminism = she dared to disagree with her husband over policies in public = had liberal views on racial equality + vigorous campaigner for human rights
5
Q
What was the ‘New Woman’?
A
- social liberated
- young + breaking away from traditional expectations + values
- for urban women it was suddenly possible to have jobs + disposable income
- rise of the ‘flapper’ = short skirts, smokes, disobedient to traditional expectations
6
Q
Limitations of the advancement of women
A
- in rural areas + poorer working class districts, women continued much as they had always done = the image of the flapper was alien + remote from the experience of daily life
- once women were married they were expected to give up the ‘flapper’ lifestyle
- the traditional view of a woman’s proper role in society of being a loyal wife + mother was still prevalent
7
Q
Prohibition
A
- Volstead act 1920 = illegalised the production, sale + consumption of alcohol
- had wide political support = 1917 2/3 majority drys in the house + senate
- argument for drys was strengthened by the war = need for discipline + anti-German propaganda
- role of the Women’s Temperance Union = progressive, women finding a political voice
8
Q
Why did prohibition fail?
A
- producing, importing + distributing alcohol was taken over by criminal gangs
- rise of bootleggers, speakeasies + production of ‘moonshine’
- very difficult to enforce = too few law enforcement officers to match sophisticated criminal networks who were often aided by corrupt public officials
- many Americans ignored the law knowing that major political e.g. Harding, were drinkers
9
Q
When did prohibition end?
A
- 1933 = early measure of the new deal was the Beer Wine Revenue Act which loosened restrictions on milder forms of alcohol
- end of 1933 the 18th amendment was repealed
10
Q
Key events that show social + cultural development
A
- 1927 = execution of Sacco & Vanzetti without proper evidence = the two men were Italian radicals + the trail took place at the height of the red scare = emphasises the fear of communism
- 1931 = opening of the Empire State Building —> president hoover pressed a button in Washington to officially open what was the tallest building in the world = symbol of progression of urbanisation
- 1931 = gambling legalised in Nevada = origins of todays international commercial casino industry, leading to the rise kr gambling in Las Vegas with the The Strip being born in 1941
11
Q
Social impact of the Great Depression
A
- urban industrial America experienced mass unemployment, soup kitchens, desperate job-seekers travelling across the country by jumping freight trains
- the new deal improved the problems people faced = state creating jobs + welfare systems
- trade unions were able to regain their memberships after the decline during the conservative 20s
12
Q
Social problems in agriculture
A
- a key example of the adverse side effects of the depression was the westward migration of the ‘Okies’ = small farmers of Oklahoma + Nebraska who were forced off their land by soil erosion + dust storms, as well as banks seizing land when loans couldn’t be repaid
- at least 1 million ‘okies’ went west searching for jobs picking fruit in the central valley of California, but jobs were far too few to meet the demand
13
Q
Social divisions
A
- the differentiations in values divided modern urban America from rural small-town America
- seen through the rise of the KKK, the ‘monkey trial’ in Tennessee 1925, execution of Sacco + Vanzetti
14
Q
Rebirth of the KKK
A
- first founded in 1865, rebirthed in 1915, but by 1920 it had 4 million members
- from 1920 the kkk grew + modernised
- new leaders emerged e.g. David Stephenson, grand dragon of Indiana
- aggressive marketing techniques were used to build up membership = had their own newspaper ‘the fiery cross’ which spread KKK ideology, as well as attacking big business, German-Americans, communists, Jews, catholics
- march on Washington by 40,000 klansmen in 1925
- the klan was not seen as a terror organisation but was politically respectable, supported by mainstream politicians
15
Q
Decline of the KKK
A
- sudden decline of the kkk after 1925 was a surprise
- caused by David Stephenson being convicted of rape + manslaughter
- this ruined the klans image as defender of womanhood + moral purity
- politicians who had previously been happy to have links with the KKK were quick to dissociate themselves when adverse publicity hit
16
Q
‘Monkey Trial’
A
- the monkey trail at Dayton, Tennessee in 1925 was a local + national sensation
- Tennessee had passed the butler act which outlawed the teaching of evolution, or any theories that might challenge the bible —> John scopes challenged this law by teaching evolution
- Clarence Darrow led the defence = liberal lawyer, atheist + a Wet, William Jennings Bryan was chief witness for prosecution = religious fundamentalist + a Dry
- scopes was convicted but didn’t go to jail
- the butler act stayed in force until 1967
17
Q
Regional divisions: south
A
- south continued to be largely outside the mainstream of American life
- segregationist attitudes remained entrenched + attempts to introduce anti-lynching law in 1921 were blocked by southern democrats in the senate
- surge in migration of AAs to the cities in the north
- growth of oil industry in Louisiana + Texas bought some economic modernisation but also furious anti-business backlash e.g. Huey long campaigned hard against standard oil + created the share our wealth society with 7 million members in 1935
18
Q
Regional divisions: north
A
- social mix of big northern cities were altered by the great migration of AAs out of the south = by 1940, 8% of chicagos population were black + 6% in New York (district of Harlem became a vibrant AA community)
- hit hard by mass unemployment in the depression
- major strikes in the 1930s - four car workers were killed in the ‘ford massacre’ in Michigan in 1932 when police open fired on a ‘hunger march’ during the strike
19
Q
Social divisions: west
A
- experienced economic growth
- population of LA reached 1 mil in 1930
- also growth in San Diego largely due to the aircraft industry
- however - the west was not integrated fully with the national economy until WWII
- native Americans marginalised
20
Q
Position of native Americans
A
- had been displaced by the rush of western settlement up to 1890 + never reintegrated into American society
- 1924 = congress declared that all native Americans were citizens of the US
- 1934 = Roosevelt signed the Indian reorganisation act = gave federal funds for tribes to purchase new land + repealed many restrictive laws from the past against native languages + customs
21
Q
Position of African Americans
A
- Harding backed congressman dyer’s anti-lynching law when it was proposed in congress in 1921, which was passed by the house but blocked by southern democrats
- in 1930s, the communist party adopted the cause of black rights = communist lawyers successfully defended young black males unfairly sentenced to death for the rape of two white girls in Alabama
- trade union support for African American working rights met resistance from hostile groups
- despite Eleanor Roosevelt’s support for black rights, president Roosevelt was reluctant to give open support due to democratic reliance on the solid south
- 1941 Roosevelt issued executive order 8802 prohibiting racial discrimination in the defence industry = important but limited step
