1920-1945 Social and cultural developments Flashcards
Why and when was prohibition introduced in the USA?
1919
Momentum for Prohibition built up in the early years of the twentieth century with 26 states passing laws limiting the sale of alcohol.
Female reformers had argued for years that there were clear links between the consumption of alcohol and wife beating and child abuse.
Industrialists such as Henry Ford were concerned that drinking reduced efficiency and output at work.
Many religious groups saw alcohol as the root of the sin and evil values of American people.
It was felt that Prohibition would enhance the traditional, encouraging people to be hard-working and thrifty.
America’s participation in the First World War encouraged further support as many brewers were of German origin and Prohibition was seen as patriotic.
As anti-German feeling grew in the USA, beer consumption was seen as a betrayal of the USA and beer was given the nickname of ‘Kaiser’s brew.
In 1918, President Wilson banned beer production until the war ended. In January 1919, the Prohibition Amendment, which stopped the manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors’ was ratified by Congress and became known as the Volstead Act.
Why did prohibition fail?
Prohibition failed to prevent the consumption of alcohol as it simply drove drinkers underground. Huge numbers of people were prepared to break the law not only to produce alcohol but to go to private bars to consume it.
One reason was geographical difficulties in enforcing Prohibition. The USA has 18,700 miles of coastline and land border and so it was difficult to prevent smuggling. This was so successful that it was estimated that in 1925, agents only intercepted about five per cent of alcohol coming into the country illegally.
Moreover, the Internal Revenue Service, set up to enforce Prohibition, never had more than 2,500 agents and some of them became paid hands of the gang leaders. Between 1920 and 1930, about ten per cent of Prohibition agents were fined for corruption with many more escaping prosecution.
Many people, known as ‘bootleggers’, went into business as producers and distributors of illegal alcohol, which was often called ‘moonshine’ because it was manufactured in remote areas by the light of the moon. As the 1920s progressed, the mood of the nation changed. For many Americans, especially those living in the cities, their main aim in life was having a good time. Illegal drinking in gangster-run speakeasies became very popular in urban areas.
What were the benefits of Prohibition?
Deaths from alcoholism had fallen by 80 per cent by 1921.
Prohibition reduced the number of people killed on the roads and the incidence of drink-related accidents at work also fell.
Alcohol consumption fell from an average of 2.6 gallons per person in the years before 1917 to one gallon by the 1930s.
Arrests from drunkenness fell.
What was the impact of the First World War on women?
The USA’s entry into the First World War in 1917 provided greater opportunities for women.
By the end of the war, 2.8 million men had been drafted into the armed forces and over a million women helped with the war effort. Approximately 90,000 served in the US armed forces in Europe.
For example, the Navy and Marine Corps enlisted women as clerks, radio electricians, chemists, accountants and nurses.
The Army, unlike its sister services, was more conservative in the jobs it permitted women to fill in its ranks, enlisting more than 21,000 as clerks, fingerprint experts, journalists and translators.
Women also worked in jobs traditionally done by men such as heavy industry, engineering works and transport.
The war proved women could do the jobs just as well as men and encouraged greater freedom, especially in social habits such as smoking and drinking in public and going out unchaperoned. Their participation also made a powerful argument for women’s voting rights, weighing heavily in the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment giving American women the right to vote in 1920. This gave them greater political power and encouraged some to campaign for further change.
The 1920s saw a series of changes to the position of women. These were influenced by the consumer boom of the 1920s, which provided exciting opportunities for women. Labour-saving devices, such as vacuum cleaners and washing machines, provided extra time which enabled some women to go into employment and gave others more opportunity for leisure and recreational activities.
The ‘Jazz Age’ brought changes in entertainment and leisure. The popularity of the cinema, radio and dance halls provided further opportunities for women.
For example, Mary Pickford and Clara Bow became stars of silent movies and were so successful that they joined two other stars in setting up their own film
company. Mae West, Gloria Swanson and Jean Harlow became stars of the talkies’ and role models for many younger girls.
What were the shortcomings of Prohibition?
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How was women’s employment impacted during the 1920s?
There was certainly progress in the number of women in employment. By 1930, 2 million more women were employed than had been ten years earlier. However, these tended to be in unskilled low-paid jobs. Despite the fact that a third of university degrees were awarded to women in 1930, only four per cent of university professors were women. Medical schools allocated only five per cent of places to women.
Consequently the number of women doctors actually declined in the 1920s.
Men were still paid a lot more than women for doing the same job. Women received no support from the Supreme Court, which banned all attempts to set minimum wages for women.
How did the political position of women change during the 1920s?
Women were given the vote in 1920. A few women did make progress in gaining political power. For example, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming became the first woman to be elected governor of a state in 1924.
However, these were the exception and women made little progress in politics itself. Political parties wanted their vote but did not see them as realistic candidates for political office. By 1920, there were only a handful of female politicians. Most women, in any case, had little interest in politics. The women’s movement failed in its attempt to get the Equal Rights Amendment Act passed, which would have given them equality in law with men.
women and birth control
flapper
How did sport, as entertainment, change during the 1920s?
In the early 1920s, sport became a very important part of the lives of many US citizens and it was made even more popular as a result of the radio. Indeed, the 1920s was officially named the Golden Age of Sport.
Baseball, football, horse racing and tennis captured the imagination of many people. Baseball was the most popular game and Babe Ruth was the most popular sporting star of the time; he had a major influence on the younger generation because he was not shy about drinking and smoking in public.
Spectators flocked to see sporting events.
How did Jazz music grow during the 1920s?
The 1920s is known as the ‘Jazz Age’ because the popular music of the time was jazz. Jazz was not new. It originated with black slaves who were encouraged to sing in order to increase production. They used washboards, cans, pickaxes and percussion to produce their own distinctive brand of music. Their music was given various names including ‘blues, rag’ or
‘boogie-woogie’.
By changing the beat and creating particular rhythms, it was changed into jazz. However, these words were taken from black sexual
slang terms and, at first, were not popular among white people because of their links to sex, and were renamed Jazz.
Jazz, however, became popular with the white middle-class youth, especially the flappers, of the 1920s, and was seen as another sign of a fall in moral standards.
Some cities, including New York and Cleveland, prohibited the public performance of jazz in dance halls. However, this only made it more exciting to the young and increased its appeal. Jazz became the great attraction of the night clubs and speakeasies and was brought into homes through radio broadcasts.
How and why did radio rapidly grow during the 1920s?
Radio grew dramatically from the time of the establishment of the first commercial radio station. KDKA in Pittsburgh was set up in 1920 and by 1922 there were 500 stations dotted across the USA.
The first national network, NBC, was set up in 1926 with CBS following in 1927. Some critics argued that invisible energy flying through the air must be dangerous and cited dead birds as evidence.
However, for most, the radio brought a new world into people’s living rooms. An estimated 50 million people listened to the 1927 boxing match between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey. People held radio parties where friends and family could listen together in their home.
Radios weren’t cheap. A typical model cost $150, usually paid for on credit.
They were often big pieces of cabinet-like furniture. By 1927, 33 per cent of all money spent on furniture was spent on radios.
Between 1923 and 1930, 60 per cent of all American families purchased one. Sales grew from $60 million in 1923 to $842 m
The power of radio to broadcast important sporting events should not be forgotten either - it brought the nation together for the first time. Through the power of radio Americans could listen to the same songs, laugh at the same jokes and thrill to the same sporting events at the same time.
How were women impacted by the New Deal?
Women held more important posts in government during the New Deal era than at any time before or after until the 1990s. Mrs Roosevelt was one of the most politically active first ladies.
As Secretary of Labour from 1933 to 1945, Frances Perkins was only one of many women holding government office and Ruth Bryan Owen became the first female ambassador (to Denmark) in 1933.
The New Deal itself did little for women. Unlike African Americans, they did not tend to vote as a group. As a result, politicians did not set out particularly to win their support. Much New Deal legislation worked against them:
In 1933, the Economy Act forbade members of the same family from working for federal government. A total of 75 per cent of those who lost their jobs through this measure were married women.
NRA codes allowed for unequal wages.
Some agencies, such as the CCC, barred women entirely.
Women suffered particularly in the professions where, even by 1940, about 90 per cent of jobs were filled by men. Where women did find employment, which many had to do to balance the family budget, it tended to be in low-status,
earned half the average wage of men.
poorly paid jobs. On average during the 1930s, at $525 per annum, women earned half the average wage of men.
How were African Americans impacted by the New Deal?
Roosevelt needed the vote of Southern Democrats and not surprisingly, therefore, the New Deal saw no civil rights legislation. Many measures - the AAA for instance - worked against African Americans.
African Americans suffered particularly badly in the Depression, often being the last to be taken on and the first to be fired. Many poorly paid, menial jobs previously reserved for them were now taken by whites.
NRA codes allowed for African Americans to be paid less than whites for doing the same jobs. Some African Americans called the NRA the ‘Negro-run-around’ because it was so unfair to them. The CCC was run by a Southern racist who did little to encourage African Americans to join: those who did faced strict segregation. Anti-lynching bills were introduced into Congress in 1934 and 1937, but Roosevelt did nothing to support either and both wereeventually defeated.
The President did employ more African Americans in government, notably Mary McLeod Bethune at the National Youth Administration (NYA).
However, while there were more African Americans in government office, it seems an exaggeration to speak as some did of an ‘African-American cabinet addressing race issues. The civil service tripled the number of African Americans in its employment between 1932 and 1941 to 150,000. There was also some unofficial positive discrimination, notably again in the NYA where African-American officials were usually appointed in areas where African Americans predominated.
How were Native Americans impacted by the New Deal?
The new Commissioner for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, John Collier, was determined to reverse government policy towards Native Americans and abolish assimilation.
The Indian Reorganisation Act of 1934 recognised and encouraged Native American culture in a shift from the former policy of assimilation. Tribes were reorganised into self-governing bodies that could vote to adopt constitutions and have their own police and legal systems. They could control land sales on the reservations, while new tribal corporations were established to manage tribal resources. However, many argued that respect for traditional Native American culture and society undermined efforts to modernise and join mainstream society. Indeed, 75 out of 245 tribes vetoed them when asked to vote on the measures.
These measures in no way relieved Native American poverty. Officials did their best to ensure Native Americans could take advantage of New Deal agencies such as the CCC and PWA to find jobs, but Native American poverty was so great that these measures, for all their good intentions, could have only a very limited effect at best. As New Deal programmes wound down in the 1940s, Native Americans began to set up pressure groups to promote their development, but they often remained among the poorest people in the USA. In 1943, for example, a Senate enquiry found widespread poverty among Native Americans on reservations.
