1920s: The New Era U.S. History II

The Election of 1920 Republican candidate Warren G. Harding promised a “return to normalcy” End of progressivism on national level, but continued on state & local level –Many states passed old age pensions & workers’ compensation laws

Consumer Economy Consumer goods like automobiles led economy, rather than producer goods like steel –Ford Model T = $300; Chevrolet = $700 –Average blue-collar salary $1,300 –Average white-collar salary $2,300 Modern marketing techniques created demand to meet supply –$4.3 billion spent on advertising in 1929 –Bruce Barton’s The Man Nobody Knows described Jesus as a salesman

Radio Advertising KDKA Pittsburgh was first commercial station in stations by 1922 Networks created for nationwide advertising –National Broadcasting Corp. (1926) –Columbia Broadcasting System (1927) By 1929, Americans spending $50 million/year on radios

Women as Consumers Women still seen as homemakers, but now consumers rather than producers Ads targeted women Employed married women increased by 30% to 3.1 million, but still only 12% of total Marriage seen as romantic companionship, & divorce rate rose

Entertainment Culture Entertainment grew as leisure time & purchasing power increased Amount spent increased from $2.5 billion in 1919 to $4.3 billion in 1929 Fads like mini golf swept the nation 100 million moviegoers a week by 1930 –Total population = 120 million –60 million a week = average church attendance

The Harlem Renaissance Black actors –Charles Gilpin –Paul Robeson Black authors –Langston Hughes –Countee Cullen –Claude McKay Black jazz musicians –Duke Ellington –Count Basie Duke Ellington

Darwin’s Challenge to Christianity Literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2 Divine creation (argument from design) Human souls Original sin Social Darwinism –Herbert Spencer – sociology –Francis Galton - eugenics

3 Responses to Challenges: Hostility – Fundamentalism –The Fundamentals reasserted basic Protestant doctrine –Premillenial dispensationalism taught that world would get worse, not better, before Jesus’ return –Holiness movement emphasized personal purity & devotion –Pentecostal movement featured ecstatic worship & spiritual gifts Azuza St. Revival (Los Angeles, ) –Pope Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors insisted on papal infallibility & the immaculate conception of Mary

3 Responses (cont.) Capitulation – Modernism –The Social Gospel focused on political & economic reform –Federal Council of Churches founded in 1908 Compromise – Evangelicalism (Neo-Orthodoxy) –Salvation Army combined evangelism & aid to poor –Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) called on Catholics to work to ameliorate poverty & combat injustice

The Scopes Trial (1925) Attracted celebrity lawyers: –Clarence Darrow for the defense –William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution Scopes found guilty, but overturned on technicality