American Culture(s) Fall 2014 / Universidad de Jan Dr. Kurt Harris American Culture(s) Todays Topics ( ): The Great War (international) The Golden Age (domestic) The Great Depression (domestic) American Culture(s) Note on U.S. Presidents Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt William H. Taft Woodrow Wilson Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower American Culture(s) The Great War (1 of 2) Later known as World War I (WWI): Why did the U.S. join the war in 1917? Because German submarines sink American ships delivering supplies to the Allies (Britain, France, Russia) + the Zimmermann telegram calls for Mexico to attack the U.S. The war unites Americans in a common cause American Culture(s) The Great War (2 of 2) President Wilson: the U.S. enters the war to make the world safe for democracy One million American soldiers arrive in summer 1918; Germany surrenders in the fall Total: 16.5 million dead, 20 million wounded (U.S. total: 116,500 killed, 204,000 wounded) The Treaty of Versailles punishes Germany, against Wilsons wishes; he proposed Fourteen Points that would guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity [of] great and small states alike, and create a League of Nations American Culture(s) The Golden Age (1 of 3) Also known as the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties F. Scott Fitzgeralds novel The Great Gatsby offers an excellent example of the spirit of the age Hollywood: movies become a big business and spread images of America around the world American Culture(s) The Golden Age (2 of 3) The Harlem Renaissance (the New Negro Movement): began after the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to northern cities during Reconstruction Langston Hughes (1926 ): The younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn't matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly, too.... If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn't matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain free within ourselves. American Culture(s) The Golden Age (3 of 3) Bootleggers: the 18 th Amendment (1919), prohibits the making and selling of alcoholic drinks--and therefore leads to the massive illegal making and selling of alcoholic drinks Mobsters: violent gangs make fortunes on bootlegging and control large sections of cities Anti-immigrant sentiments grow, leading to such atrocities as the Sacco-Vanzetti trial American Culture(s) The Great Depression The Stock Market Crash: stockholders (or shareholders) panic and sell their shares in vast numbers in October 1929; the market in stocks collapses (or crashes), leading to the Great Depression The cause? Overproduction + income disparity The effect? Unemployment over 25% and homelessness; breadlines in the cities, a dust bowl in the farmlands The Dust Bowl: caused by over-grazing, over-farming, and drought; more than 500,000 are homeless John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath offers an excellent example of the plight of Depression-era Okies American Culture(s) Roosevelts New Deal Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) is elected president in 1933 because Hoover was ineffective dealing with the economic hardship New laws establish agencies: AAA, CCC, NYA, WPA, TVA, FDIC, SEC, REA, FHA Social Security Act: provides pensions and unemployment insurance National Labor Board: protects workers rights American Culture(s) Roosevelts New Deal List of projects initiated under FDRs New Deal: Where are they? Top 5: Lincoln Tunnel, LaGuardia Airport, Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Hoover Dam, Golden Gate Bridge American Culture(s) The End of the Great Depression What marked the end of the Great Depression? WWII Industrial and agricultural production are devoted entirely to the war effort, so jobs become available and many young men volunteer or are conscripted into the U.S. military American Culture(s) In the Next Class I will lecture on the following topics: 1.World War II (international) 2.Cold War (international) 3.Civil rights (domestic)