Chapter 31: American Life in the Roaring Twenties 1919-1929 Flashcards
- Why did the United States, which had welcomed so many millions of immigrants for nearly a century, suddenly become so fearful of immigration in the 1920s that it virtually ended mass immigration for two decades?
America became afraid of immigration in the 1920s because of the Red Scare. Many Americans were frightened of Russia after the Bolshevik revolution. A Communist party appeared in the US because of the Bolshevik revolution, only adding to the hysteria. This fear caused Americans to believe that Bolsheviks were behind labor strikes and workers’ unions. As more events such as the Buford event and the Wall Street Bomb of September 1920 caused further panic, leading people in a movement against unions and causing them to fear foreigners. The Red Scare added to the already existing Isolationism in America. Part of the reason for the end of mass immigration was that, in the 1920s, America no longer wanted immigrants.
- To what extent was the Scopes Trial only about competing theories of human origins, and to what extent was it a focal point for deeper concerns regarding the role of religion and traditional moral authorities in American life and the new cultural power of science?
Competing theories of human origins were not the only thing that the Scopes Trial was about. The Scopes Trial had much more to do with the role of religion and science as moral and cultural powers. At the outset, church members and Christian Fundamentalists were concerned because John Scopes was teaching a theory that they did not believe to be true and that was against State Law at the time. Feeling threatened and afraid that their children would be told something that they believed to be false, they lashed out against Scopes. In my opinion, Scopes did deserve to be fined because he did do something illegal, but it was good that the issue was brought up because freedom of speech was at stake. Both religion and science are important moral and cultural powers in society. I believe that both sides had the wrong idea. Rather than teaching evolution, creationism, or otherwise, schools should teach students to think critically and scientifically first, and then present them with the different views and allow them to come to their own conclusions rather than just believe what someone else tells them. At that time, however the culture would not have accepted such a view, as both sides were struggling to have the upper hand.
- Was the new mass culture as reflected in Hollywood films and radio a source of moral and social change, or did it really reinforce the essentially conservative business and social values of the time? (Consider the role of commercial advertising in particular.)
The invention of the Radio helped to bring the nation together and actually made aspects of American culture and social values more accessible, such as music, politicians’ speeches, and sports broadcasts. Hollywood films, on the other hand were a source of moral and social change. The Ku Klux Klan was glorified, as were vulgar scenes. Flappers helped with advertisement, women vampires were shown on screen, and there was little in the way of censorship. Popular taste began to change, and the diversity that came from immigrants began to decrease as culture became more standardized. The positive side of this is that there was hope for transcending ethnic and racial differences.
- Were the intellectual critics of the 1920s really disillusioned with the fundamental character of American life, or were they actually loyal to a vision of a better America, and only hiding their idealism behind a veneer of disillusionment and irony?
After World War 1, Americans became disillusioned with the character of American life. As a result, Americans such as Ernest Hemingway began to write about the problems with fundamental American character. Hemmingway was on the Italian from in 1917. He responded to the exaggerated appeal to patriotism by writing The Sun Also Rises, in which he wrote about the disillusionment of American expats in Europe. He eventually committed suicide over his troubled mind. Scott Fitzgerald also wrote about the fallacies of American ideals such as the self made man. Critics such as these were truly disillusioned with the fundamental character of American life.
