1920s:Traditionalism vs. Modernism

Norman Rockwell’s America• Norman Rockwell was one of

the most famous artists in the 1920s

• Painted the cover of the “Saturday Evening Post” magazine

• What values do these images from his 1920s covers convey to you?

Other Views of the 1920s• “Life” magazine was another

very popular magazine in the 1920s

• What values does this cover convey to you?

• Traditionalists: deep respect for long-held culural and religious values

• Modernists: people who embraced new ideas, styles, and social trends

• This “culture war” has continued until today.

• What topics divide traditionalists and modernists today?

Changing Demographics• “Demographics” = statistics that

describe society• 1920s: US society became

more urban – farm families moved to cities– Immigrants came to cities

• Urban wages rose 37% in 1920s; prices stayed steady

• Farm product prices fell as demand from WW1 fell

• Small towns suffered from farm foreclosures and falling income

• In rural areas, religious fundamentalism became popular: interpret Bible literally and treated as authority

Prohibition (1920-1933)• “Prohibition:” sale, manufacture,

and transportation of alcohol was illegal (18th Amendment)

• “Volstead Act” provided legal definition of intoxicating liquor

• Alcohol consumption did fall, but not by much

• Organized crime grew ( “bootleggers” like Al Capone in Chicago) to distribute alcohol (often from Canada)

• “Speakeasies” were illegal bars • Prohibition encouraged illegal

behavior from people who ordinarily obeyed the law

• Federal government only prosecuted large-scale organized transporters

The Scopes Trial• Evolution had become accepted

by most urban Americans• Fundamentalist Christians

viewed evolution as an attack on the literal interpretation of scripture

• Tennessee outlawed teaching of evolution

• ACLU encouraged teacher John Scopes to teach evolution

• Guilty verdict, but trial exposed fundamentalists’ refusal to accept widely held scientific theories, lessening fundamentalist influence

• ($100 fine was overturned, because judge, not the jury,had awarded it.)

Evolution and Schools Today• 1968: Supreme Court ruled that

states could not impose religious views in schools (and so could not outlaw teaching of evolution)

• 1971: Supreme Court developed the “Lemon Law” which ended Louisiana’s requirement that creationism be taught along side evolution.

• To be constitutional, a government action must– have a secular, or

nonreligious, purpose.– neither help nor hurt religion.– not result in an "excessive

entanglement" of the government and religion.

• Recently, some states have tried to require teaching of “Intelligent design” along with evolution

2007 Gallup Poll findings