The Roaring 20s
This may be the easiest, but worst developed, lecture I have. The argument is simple: “tired of reforming the nation and world, Americans turned inward to affluence, entertainment, and religious and racial fundamentalisms.” Of course, this doesn’t apply to the NAACP; it doesn’t apply to Jane Addams and her followers; it doesn’t apply to Ida B. Wells-Barnett; it doesn’t take into account further American financial investments throughout the world. There’s a whole bunch missing, and if anyone wants to help me reformulate the thesis, I’m all ears.
As the lecture moves now, I start with affluence: this was a period of growth, development, and consumer capitalism. I have great advertisements directed toward “fat men,” and we discuss the rise of fatness as a shifting historical category and how marketing worked to fatten people up and then slim them down (sound familiar!?!). Then I move into the critics of affluence – Gatsby and others. I read from Ezra Pound’s “The Garden” and consider how artists never seem to be happy. Then onto politics: the red scare; Al Capone; prohibition; and Republican hegemony. The final slide shows the 1928 presidential election and how it looks like America will be Republican forever. (oh how historical events change the world)
And finally: race and religion. It strikes me that in the 1910s and 1920s, white Americans were desperately trying to render who they were and who they were not. Many turned to Fundamentalism to express what they were (evangelical Christian) and what they were not (liberal socialists). Moreover, many white Americans could only articulate their identity through black and immigrant bodies. Whether Birth of a Nation, The Jazz Singer, or the dance craze for “The Black Bottom,” being or becoming American somehow had to go through a black body. And immigration reform in the 1920s showed clear discomforts with what America was becoming. Madison Grant seemed to win, and laws that had held Asian immigrants at bay before now applied to central and eastern Europeans. The new Klan’s emphasis on racial and religious purity encapsulated so much of the era. I know white supremacy (and especially its sanctification) is a regular theme in U.S. history, but its technological, social, and political mobilization seemed particularly acute in the 1910s and 1920s.
The documents in Major Problems beautifully illustrate these themes, and I’m impressed by how Lisa Cobbs Hoffman used religion, race, and economics to uncover the feelings of the era. Whether laments on the “modern church” or discussions of the automobile in “Middletown, USA,” the documents show modernism battling fundamentalisms in a variety of forms. Now we just need to get a chapter from Matthew Sutton’s book on Aimee Semple McPherson into the essay section to show the modernism of Christian fundamentalism.
The document i will be discussing is in chapter 7 (Crossing a Cultural Divide:The Twenties) in Major Problems entitled “Sex and Youth in the Jazz Age” written by Paula S. Fass.
The first thing that I noticed about this essay was the term ‘petting’. I had never heard it before, but I learned that it is “a broad range of potentially erotic physical contacts, from a casual kiss to a more intimate caresses and physical fondling.” what stood out and was interesting to me about this document was the main point about this new generation being way more provocative and scandalous then the previous. From relationships, sex, and petting, to smoking, dancing, and drinking, to women’s fashion, their short skirts, and their cosmetics the people of the 20’s and especially the women changed the social tendencies and lifestyle behaviors drastically. This was the first real time that people took a risk and stepped outside the norm with their clothing and social behaviors. It seems to me that every year this scandalous behavior gets riskier and riskier and starts earlier in age. For example, the things they show on TV today and the language aloud on the air is significantly worse then it was 10 or even 5 years ago. Even sex, foreplay, and relationships seem to be starting at an earlier and age each year. It’s insane what some of my friends little siblings as young as elementary school know. It makes me wonder/worry about what the morals of our society will be like for my children and for all future generations.
I was a little confused at the end of the essay, and didn’t understand the question purposed, “Did the young use sex and morals as a basis for conscious generational revolt?” Fass believes the answer to be no, and explains how “there new attitudes and practices made them appear rebellious…but the youth were anything but rebellious in social and political questions.” What is Fass even asking?
The document I chose to discuss in major problems is from Chapter 7 (Crossing a Cultural Divide:The Twenties), titled “The Automobile Comes to Middletwon, U.S.A.,1929.” I enjoyed this article because it was one of the defining factors of the 20’s.
The automobile was at this point “an accepted essential of normal living,” according to the document. Families thought it was the factor that held them together. Family time meant taking a ride in the car. But that dynamic quickly changed, and teenagers began caring less about the car and more about their social life.
This reminded me of teenagers today, and how spending family time isn’t as much of a priority to them as it was when they were younger. Doing things with their friends was more popular, and I found it interesting that this trend started in the 20’s since it is still a dominant trend today.
The article I will be discussing is Chapter 7, “Margaret Sanger Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples, c. 1928.”
The part that interests me was when one woman said, “one month before my thirteenth birthday I became the mother of my first child, and now at the age of thirty I am the mother of eleven children.” The thought of having a child at age thirteen is insane to me, I mean back in the twenties marring at a young age was reasonable but eleven children by the time you were thirty is just not right. This woman and many others wanted a type of birth control to stop this disease of reproducing. Having children one after another is not healthy to anyone, even in that society. Some family in fact can’t afford to have any children because of their low income that their husband makes. However birthing was a women’s duty, but not when it can cost a woman’s life. Women are trying to change their social lifestyle just as other young women are experiencing outrageous behaviors of sex, drinking, smoking, and many more. The body is theirs and they should be able to know when it’s draining their life away day by day. If women can have the rights to vote they should have the right to say no in producing more children and enjoy the life that they can have. Society (especially men) sought women’s bodies to be weak, why would many people encourage women to have more children when it only makes them weaker time and time after again, especially when families can’t afford it?
The Article I will be discussing is Chapter 6, “An Ambulance Surgeon Describes What It Was Like “Over There,” 1918.”
I was very interested in this personal account of what World War I was truly like. When he talks about the mustard gas and its effects I was completely unhinged by the thought of people having to experience and die from it. He describes it as, “a violent irritant which would blister the skin at contact.” Mustard gas was efficient, but a horrible way to fight a war and thankfully people realized that once the second world was began.
I know that if I was there that I would get myself as far away as possible as fast as I could so what gave men the strength to keep fighting in this war full of destruction?
The document that I will be discussing is in Chapter 7 entitled “Margaret Sanger Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples, 1928.”
There were a few things that I found interesting about this document. First, it very difficult for me to come to come to fathom that many woman had upwards of eight children before reaching their 30s. Not having the option of birth control meant that the mother and father had to support so many children, and in some cases on merely making $1.00 per day as in the husband of the writer of letter number three. These women were completely desperate due to having to go through child birth so many times, both physically and emotionally drained. I do think that the fourth letter was the one that stood out the most to me. The effect that not being able to have the option of birth control is clear here. The wife is not able to be intimate with her husband and she therefore feels that “It is unthinkable that our lives should drift apart after all these years.” Because the couple was not able to be intimate, it felt to her that their relationship was falling apart. The fact that their family physician also told her that “another birth would certainly finish the story” obviously did not help the matter.
I do have a few questions about this document. By the late 1920s, did women really only have two options if they wanted to be intimate with their husbands: either to have another child or be abstinent? And when was it that Sanger’s idea of birth control actually had the effect that it did?
Thanks,
Devin W
The Document I will be discussing is in Chapter 7: The Automobile Comes to Middletown, USA 1929 in the Major Problems book. I will also be responding to the question sent to us by email.
The first thing i noticed when I read this article was the statistics of people who were beginning to invest in automobiles, and the number of children who preferred to drive with their families. From this, I gathered that driving in a car was not only a luxury, but it was a unifying experience for these families. A business class mother once said, “‘I never feel as close to my family as when we are all together in the car'”. (204)
When asked if I would rather give up my cell phone (radio) or my car, I would easily sacrifice my cell phone. Nowadays, there are so many sources of communication, my cell phone would not effect me greatly. Of course, there would be an inconveince in my life because I am so used to having it, but I would be worse off without my car. Not only is the car necessary to get to specific locations without walking from bus/train stations, but it is extremely time- efficient. The life of a collegiate student-athlete is time demanding and hectic. Without my car, there would be many things in my life that I would be late to or miss out on.
From what I have gathered from the reading, the radio was a growing necessity, however, newspapers, magazines, and the television were all commonly used sources of communication and news-spreading. However, there wasn’t another source of local transportation besides the bus that was available to the American public in the 1920’s. Sure, the bus was available to people, but it was usually very busy and sometimes people had to walk long distances from their bus stops.
I enjoyed the essay about the expansion of the automobile, but I have a few questions. What did people do without cars in the 20’s specifically? Did they walk everywhere or was the bus much more popular than it is today? Did people use the radio as much as people use cell phones today? Was everyone more concerned about current events, which called for a radio?
Amy A.
The document that I am going to discuss is from document 6 from Chapter 6 of Major Problems entitled “An Ambulance Surgeon Describes What It Was Like ‘Over There,’ 1918.”
This document interested me because it gave me a glimpse into the actual was battle that raging in France. The way that the soldiers had to handle situations in which mustard gas was used to try to irritate the skin and cause it to blister was very inventive. The fact that many dressing stations had to be set up in villages goes to show that mustard gas was a real issue for many of the soldiers. The ambulance surgeon describes that “A man probably was as safe there as he would have been anywhere else in the village.” Having read war novels such as Catch-22 and The Things They Carried, I enjoyed reading an account from someone that was there during World War I. I especially enjoyed the description in the last line saying that the soldiers wondered “whether we would live to know quiet when it returned again.”
I did have one question regarding this document. Were there many written accounts of the war from American soldiers? And if so, was it long after the war was over that the written accounts were made public?
Thanks,
Devin W
I will be discussing chapter 7, document 5 titled “the ku klux klan defines americanism, 1926.” This document discusses the ideology of the kkk and what it means to be “american.” The nordic race is credited for giving the world almost the whole of modern civilization. The document mentions three racial instincts, which is some kkk ideology that attempts to build their vision of america. “These are the instincts of loyalty to the white race, to the traditions of america, and to the spirit of protestantism which has been an essential part of americanism (201). patriotism is first in the klansman’s mind. To a klansman, betraying americanism or the american race is “treason to the most sacred of trusts.” the second word in the klansman’s trilogy is white. the superior race according to the klansman’s trilogy is white. “The white race must be supreme, not only in american but in the world.” The last principle is Protestantism. The KKK are anti catholic and doesnt want rome to “rule america” and therefore protestant must be supreme.
I found this document very informative. the klan’s skewed perception of what is american makes me think of current america, where people are just as hateful and confused.
-Dominic V
The document I will be discussing is from Chapter 7, “Young Women Discussing Petting, 1930.”
I found this document very interesting because it shows that as much as the topics have changed, this still closely relates to today’s gossip magazine’s Q&A columns. At first i was confused as to what “petting” and “necking” meant but as i continued to read, it became clear. The times were changing throughout the 20’s and many young girls were confused on how to act. Should they change with the times, or stick to what they grew up on? This was the big question.
I thought it was interesting that these girls resorted to writing in to a magazine to get their questions answered. It surprised me that when questionairres were sent out to answer these questions, the responses disapproved of petting when many women were rebelling and exploring this, in a way, new found freedom.
I thoroughly enjoyed this article and it interested me that so many women were against petting and promiscuity even though it was so popular during these times.
The document I chose to discuss is Document 6, “Margaret Sanger Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples, 1928.” The thing that was most interesting to me about this document was the realization of the massive change in culture from the 1920’s compared to now. In the second letter written to Margaret Sanger, a woman shares that she was married when she was thirteen, and now as a seventeen year old, she is the mother of 6 children, with one on the way! In 2011, it is looked down upon if you even get married at the age of 20, and these women were getting married and pregnant in their early teens, barely having enough time for their reproductive organs to even be fully developed! The creation of birth control not only had an effect on the women of the 1920’s, but still affects our culture today. I also found it interesting that these wives felt slaved to their husbands. The woman in letter two also states that her “husband gets awful cross with me when I get this way.” The way these women talk makes it seem like they do not enjoy the intimacy that they have with their husbands all the time because they are too afraid that they are going to have more babies. When the women bring up the news about birth control, the men get defensive.
The question that I have about this document is not on its actual material, but instead on the nature of our culture today. Why has the accepted married age doubled in the last 100 years or so? Also, what kind of effect did the popularity of birth control in the 1920’s lead to a new way of living in the later years?
The document I decided to discuss, is “The
Automobile Cones to Middletown, U.S.A., 1929.” I think that the automobile was pretty much the most important invention/creation that was brought to the United States. The automobile paved the way for many of the other ingenious creations that were to come in later years.
It is extremely evident to me, that automobiles were not only created for the rich as luxury items, but to simply bond families and bring them together. The automobile served as a sense of pride for Americans, because people put majority of their money into their cars because they wanted to ensure that the family bond would remain in tact.
I think that in general the automobile was one of the greatest inventions of the 20s because majority of people still have cars today and use them constantly.
Haley Palmer
The document I will be discussing is “Young Women Discuss Petting, 1930.”
This article was the most interesting to me because it talked about how girls thought that if they are not doing what everyone else was doing they wouldn’t be liked or “popular”, and girl’s today still believe this is true. During the 1920’s many things were changing and girls were trying to find who they were. Girls who chose to go against the social norm found it more comforting to go to the newspapers and magazines rather then anyone else because no one else agreed with them and they found the only person who would listen was the media.
In my opinion, I think that the women’s perspective on themselves really paved the way for the way girls are the way they are today. For a lot of women the public’s perspective is extremely important and I think that after reading the document it is evident that it is true considering that they were too afraid to go to the public directly.
Carli Johnson
I will be responding to the email sent.
I most definitely would give up my cell phone before my car. A cell phone is very handy and convenient, however people successfully managed to get by without a cell phone for many years, considering its rather new. A car allows you to go wherever you’d like whenever you’d like. Sure there’s other ways of transportation, such as the bus, but you’d have to make you’re way to the bus stop, and be there at a certain time. A car is much more convenient and less time consuming. I believe the same thing would apply for the 1920’s, having a car over a radio because you could read a newspaper or watch the news to be able to know whats going on.
Lorena Klopp
The Article i am going to discuss in Chapter 7 of major problems is actually the poem by “Langston Hughes: Poet of the 1920s Harlem Renaissance.” I really liked this poem because I believe that it covers the overall feeling of the 1920s. Hope.
In the Poem Langston explains how he can pick up his life from the south and “take it on the train to Los Angeles, Bakersfeild, Seattle, Oakland, Salt Lake, any place that is North and West and not south.” He had hope that he had not felt before. Hope that he can have a better life and not live in fear that he is going to be lynched. I think hope was the overall feeling of the entire nation. People had hope that poverty would diminish because job opportunities were increasing. Hope that they could give their families everything they wanted. People were enjoying life and building up a nation that looked very promising.
The question I have about this document is was it really that easy for african americans to pick up their lives and move from the south?
Sarah Halverson
The document I will be discussing is the first document in Chapter seven (Cross A Cultural Divide: The Twenties) of Major Problems entitled “The Governor of California Tells of the ‘Japanese Problem’, 1920.”
What sparked my interest in this article was how well the Japanese were doing in America. To me, it was surprising to find out that the Japanese were essentially a major part in the United State’s agricultural industry. They had “developed to such a degree that at the present time between 80 and 90 per cent of most of our vegetable and berry products are those of Japanese farms.” After stating the rise of Japanese agricultural labor, the writer speaks about the need to keep states like California in its own people. This was significant because it portrayed the growth of consumer capitalism and religion in the 1920s.
This article illustrates how the Japanese were successful in America which took away from other American’s businesses. The one question that i have about this document is did the rise of successful immigrants lead to a immigration reform?
Thanks,
Brian Lieu
The article I decided to read was the Ku Klux Klan Defines Americanism, 1926. I found this article really interesting because I never can understand how people can treat people of a different skin color in horrible ways. Something that came shocking to me from this article was, “The second word in the Klansman’s trilogy is “white”. The white race must be supreme, not only in America but in the world”. It’s shocking that they could not accept different races living in the same society. “The world has been so made that each race must fight for its life, must conquer, accept slavery or die. The Klansman believes that the whites will not become slaves, and he does not intend to die before his time…” After reading this article it reminds me of how much I appreciate living now in a society where every race is accepted and we don’t have to worry about segregation or the Ku Klux Klan.
My question about this article is are their still people that believe in the Ku Klux Klan?
Zoe Carroll
Margaret Sanger was a woman of action. This is apparent in the article, “Margaret Sanger Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples”. Due to the Comstock laws, it was illegal to mail “obscene materials”. However, this did not stop Margaret Sanger from spreading the word of birth control. I love Sanger because she fought for what she believed in, and did not care what her opposition thought. When women gained the power over their own bodies it was extremely liberating. Women can control the number of children they have and when they have them. This now put women in the driver’s seat of their own destinies. Her article details the plight that women faced without birth control. She mentions four women, each with a different situation. Two women was married at the young age of 12 and began having children immediately. One woman was distraught because she could not make love to her husband for fear of having any more children that they could not afford. Though their situations were different their problems were the same. They were kept in poverty because of their children, and felt no sense of control. Margaret Sanger fought hard for the needs of these women, and eventually, triumphed over her cause.
The article I will be discussing is Chapter 7, “Margaret Sanger Seeks Pity for Teenage Mothers and Abstinent Couples, c. 1928.” I really appreciated this document because it kind of hits home for me. I am proud of Sanger’s demands for women’s sexual rights because if she never had the determination, then, teen moms might still be frowned upon today. My friend in high school got unexpectedly pregnant and it is her that i think of when i read this testament. Birth Control and clinics such as Planned Parenthood are pivotal in todays society for friends like mine. It wasn’t her fault and it is something that has made her life.”Which guarantees to every citizen the right ti life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, I feel like if i was alive back then, that I would definitely support this and support Sanger’s movement.
My question for Sanger would be if she ever doubted or saw any negatives in the movement she was behind? I am sure she got thrown a lot of ethical, controversial arguments, and i wonder if that ever affected her or just made her more determined and willing to make a difference?
The name itself, the Roaring Twenties, implies an age of affluence to me. So, the document I had in mind for this lecture was, “The Automobile Comes to Middletown, U.S.A., 1929.” Now in the twentieth century, as America became more focused on the economy, consumerism along with technology paved the way as more Americans had the chance enjoy the available luxuries in their lives. With long distance travel becoming little trouble now that cars had made the effort minimal, families had more time to do plenty of new things and enjoy the things they didn’t get to experience before.