Trends In America During World War 1

During World War One, as America continued to grow in numbers, much of the new American population was made up of immigrants. America was still working on the path to grant freedom to all who considered the United States their home. Many immigrants primarily came to America in search of true freedom and to gain opportunities that they otherwise could not have access to in their homeland. World War One; however, made it extremely difficult for some immigrant Americans and African Americans to receive the true freedom that they came in search for. Not only did WWI make it difficult for certain groups to live in America, it also gave rise to contradictions between the language of freedom and the reality of restrictions made on individual freedoms. Immigrants were being treated poorly and protecting the U.S. from the enemy was becoming more important than providing all Americans with the individual freedoms that they had come to the U.S. in search for. On top of that anti-immigration movements were intensifying. The freedom the United States had promised to many, was either being limited or simply not being given.

Claude McKay was a black man born in Jamaica, he choose literature very on in life and kept with it. He moved to the United States at age twenty three to study at Tuskegee Institute and was immediately shocked by the blatant racism prevalent in Charleston, South Carolina. He moved to New York and shortly after became co-editor of The Liberator, a famous abolitionist newspaper, he wrote some of his most revered poems while working there. He was part of the Harlem Renaissance a movement that was a reawakening of artistic and cultural talents of African American people in the United States and helped to reinvigorate their pride in being black.

The growing corporations in America dominated most of the economy, creating a large gap between the rich and the poor. During this time period food, lightening, and fuel prices declined significantly, and the cost of living

With new freedom for women and changing values came the advancement of blacks in the urban slums. The Harlem Renaissance, started

Since women got jobs a lot of things started changing for example their fashion. The fashion changed from long dresses that cover the ankles, and long hair.”During the day, a woman’s body was covered from head to toe. Boned laced collars, bodices were loose, pounced, and decorated with frills or rows of pintucks.”(Mee, 5) They upgraded from the old lady style to the hip and cool style. Fashion wasn’t the only thing that changed, music also changed. Jazz music became very popular, most of the African American artists we know today became famous during this time period.This time was called the Harlem Renaissance, which was basically where most African Americans were noticed for their great talents, such as playing jazz music.  “Some of the most celebrated names in American music regularly performed in Harlem—Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Fats Waller and Cab Calloway, often accompanied by elaborate floor shows.”

The stock market crash of 1929 sent the nation spiraling into a state of economic paralysis that became known as the Great Depression. As industries shrank and businesses collapsed or cut back, up to 25% of Americans were left unemployed. At the same time, the financial crisis destroyed the life savings of countless Americans (Modern American Poetry). Food, housing and other consumable goods were in short supply for most people (Zinn 282). This widespread state of poverty had serious social repercussions for the country.

World War I began in 1914 as a result of several things including alliances and nationalism throughout the world, and imperialistic nations attempting to gain more global power. The United States tried to stay with the foreign policy known as isolationism and stay completely out of the war. However, due to Germany’s severe actions, America was forced to enter the war in 1917 on the side of the Allies. This greatly helped the Allies in accomplishing a victory. The war ended in 1919 although there were still bitter feelings between the different countries. Following World War I, United States’ government became more involved and there was rising conflict over political influence in other nations, the economy took a turn for the worst,

Towards the end of the 1920’s the economy in America took a drastic turn. This was when Calvin Coolidge’s presidency had ended and changes in the government began to take place. “Just seven months after Herbert Hoover entered the White House, economic trouble mocked his campaign statement about being near ‘the final triumph over poverty.’ On October 24, 1929 panic swept the New York Stock Exchange as nearly 13 million shares changed hands” (Hamilton). The start to Hoover’s presidency was also the start of the Great Depression. His term consisted heavily on working on taking steps to bring America out of the drastic economic fall that they had just entered. He began taking action by launching public works programs, tax reductions, and the formation

(Just as a side note, I had pictures of the posters in the original paper but couldn 't transfer them to here. The first link in the bibliography has tons of WW1 propaganda posters you can use.)

The stock market crash, called Black Tuesday. Unequal distribution of wealth was a key factor during the time period as well. The day know as “Black Tuesday” was the day the stock market crashed. This led to the fall of stock prices, in fear, people sold their stocks and gathered the money they could. The people who didn’t, lost all of their stocks. Those who bought them on credit, they were now in debt. Investors lost a collective amount equal to the amount spent in WWI, that’s billions of dollars gone, approximately thirty-two billion dollars (32,000,000,000). As bad as the crash was, unequal distribution of wealth did not help. The rich saw an income increase of 70%, and the poor saw an increase of 9%. More than 70% of families earned less than $2500/year. Many of these families couldn't afford household products, such as the flood of overproduced goods. Only one out of ten families owned an electric refrigerator. One thing many people overlook when on the subject of the Great Depression is the president's influence on the situation. The two presidents during this time were Herbet Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hoover was in office during the collapse of the economy, he didn’t believe in national relief, he believed in self-prevalence and self-help. His beliefs didn’t get the confidence of the people, in 1933, a fourth of working American’s were out of a job, that’s more than fifteen million people unemployed. Many people disliked Hoover, so when they needed to make a home out of paper, glass, tin, or whatever they could find, they named the towns constructed from these items “Hoovervilles”. They were found mostly on the outside of cities. Hoover's idea of self-reliance didn’t get him reelected, he lost to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt brought forward a new strategy to take on the economic problems, it was called the New Deal. The New Deal was a series of actions him and his

Never has any decade in American history been so carefree and lively. Most of this craziness was due to the music that was so popular. For the first time, Americans encountered a new perspective on African Americans due to the famous musicians of this time, African American dance moves and crazy nightclubs. They had never taken part in anything of this wild party or of African American traditions or styles until now. This would set the stage for future equality of African Americans and Americas buoyant ways.

A group of people who had at one point held no power and position in society were now thriving in the nation, as they spread their culture and ideas. It was the start of an era known as the Harlem Renaissance. This was a more than a literary movement, it was a cultural movement based on pride in the Africa-American life. They were demanded civil and political rights (Stewart). The Harlem Renaissance changed the way African Americans were viewed by society. It, “changes the image of the African-American from rural, undereducated peasants to one of urban, cosmopolitan sophistication”. This era expanded from the early 1920s to the mid 1930s (Wikipedia). It generated great pride in the people

From the 1920’s to the mid 1930’s a literary, intellectual, and artistic movement occurred that kindled the African Americans a new cultural identity. This movement became known as the Harlem Renaissance, which is also known as the “New Negro Movement”. With this movement, African Americans sought out to challenge the “Negro” stereotype that they had received from others while developing innovation and great cultural activity. The Harlem Renaissance became an artistic explosion in the creative arts. Thus, many African Americans turned to writing, art, music, and theatrics to express their selves.

When the citizens had bought all that they could buy, there was a decrease in demand. Suddenly, the industries had an excess of goods and no one to sell it to. At this point, the Fordney-McCumber Act began to cripple the economy of America. Other nations introduced high tariffs to boost their revenue and to spite the United States. Sadly for the United States, these high tariffs and low demand were instrumental in the depression that America experienced. When the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929 or “Black Tuesday”, the united states, along with other nations were in economic turmoil and the widespread prosperity of the 1920s ended abruptly. The depression threatened people's jobs, savings, and even their homes and farms. During the heart of the depression, over one-quarter of the American population was out of work. For many Americans, these were extremely hard times. When Roosevelt was voted into office, he introduced the New Deal. While this plan tried to help the united states out of it’s isolationist rut, the second world war was the final solution. Mobilizing the economy for world war finally cured the depression. Millions of men and women joined the armed forces, and even larger numbers went to work in well-paying defence jobs.

“The Harlem Renaissance was a time where the Afro-American came of age; he became self-assertive and racially conscious… he proclaimed himself to be a man and deserving respect. Those Afro-Americans who were part of that time period saw themselves as principals in that moment of transformation from old to new” (Huggins 3). African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers to seek better lives than in the South as the northern economy was booming and industrial jobs were numerous. This movement brought new ideas and talents that shifted the culture forever. Black writers, such as Langston Hughes, used their work to claim a place for themselves and to demand self-respect in society. Poems that Langston Hughes wrote captured the essence of the complexity of a life that mixes joy and frustration of black American life through the incorporation of jazz and blues in order to examine the paradox of being black in mostly white America, the land of the not quite free.