1. A Clash of Values

2. The “New Morality”
A shift in the beliefs of many Americans on ideas of family, relationships, gender roles, religion, and especially, war.
Causes:
World War I
Increasing role of women in politics
Mass Media
"Old" Culture
"New" Culture
Emphasized Production
Emphasized Consumption
Character
Personality
Scarcity
Abundance
Religion
Science
Idealized the Past
Looked to the Future
Local Culture
Mass Culture
Substance
Image

3. Human Psychology Mental illness in America
Believed that mental illnesses were untreatable
Social stigma (eugenics)
Causes for changes in mental health
WWI vets suffering from “shell shock”
Social conflicts increased fear and paranoia
Human Psychology

4. The Fundamentalist Movement
Fundamentalism: Believes the Bible is literally true and without error
Rose out of fear that America was losing its traditional values
Rejected Darwin’s theory of evolution
Popularized by Billy Sunday

5. The Scopes Trial
High school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act (illegal to teach evolution in any state- funded school)
Defended by Clarence Darrow; William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution
Drew international attention to the growing divide between the older and younger generations; Fundamentalists vs. Evolutionists
He volunteered to be the test case from an ad placed by the ACLU

6. The “Great Experiment”
Causes:
19th century temperance movement
Wartime anti-German prejudice (beer brewers)
16th amendment removed government need for alcohol taxes
“Wet” vs. “Dry”
Wet – generally from urban areas; working class
Dry – generally rural; Protestant
Hailed as a victory for health, morals, and Christian values

7. America Loves its Liquor
18th Amendment: Prohibits the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcohol in the United States.
Volstead Act: Gave the government the ability to enforce Prohibition, making over 540,000 arrests.
Called the “Great Experiment
The prohibition movement gained steam during WWI.
America Loves its Liquor

8. The New Woman

9. Women active in WWI; serve an important role as nurses and home front support
Fighting a war to “preserve democracy” helps suffragettes’ cause
19th Amendment: Protects voting rights for women
Women’s Suffrage

10. Changes in Society Women in the workforce Women’s colleges
During the war, women took over jobs men left behind
Female occupations post-war
Teaching
Nursing
Telephone operator
Secretary
Women’s colleges
Pre-WWI: Genuine fear that college made women unfit for marriage and motherhood
Post-WWI: New “modern woman” was intelligent and independent

11. Changes to the Home and Family
Women became the “purchasing agent” of the family
Household tasks become much easier with electric appliances and “convenience items”
Romance and relationships
Put off marriage and children longer than previous generations
Highly inspired by the romances on the silver screen
Margaret Sanger and the American Birth Control League
Founded the American Birth Control League (would later become Planned Parenthood)
Inspired by mother’s hardships with pregnancy and uterine cancer
Eugenicist
Believed that families standard of living would improve if they limited the number of children they had
Advocate of “the pill”

12. La Vie Boehme!
"Bohemian”: People who lived unconventional, usually artistic, lives.
Sought to break social barriers, refuting traditional gender norms and sexual stereotypes.
Greenwich Village, NYC

13. The “New Woman”
1900
1920

14. The Flapper The Flapper was the epitome of the “New Woman” Young
Beautiful
Thin
Always ready for fun
Drank
Smoked
Flirted with men
Wore straight-waisted, short dresses
Short hair
Lots of makeup

15. What’s wrong with
this picture?