Society and Culture change, 1917-80

• Impact of the First World War on women

  • Positives: Women had a chance to work

  Negatives: Once the war ended, most women were fired to give jobs back to the returning soldiers. Women were being paid a lot less than men.
• Roaring 20s


  • Positives: 18th August 1920- 19th amendment passed giving women the right to vote under the same rules as men. (More than 8 million women voted)

  Office jobs increased for women e.g. working in a typing pool.

  Women's Bureau of labour set up in 1920 to improve working conditions and wider improvement for women. Women in work went up from 8.3% (of the population) to 9.8%.

  Flappers- had more independence and sexual freedoms.

  Negatives: Poorer women did not vote, and if they did they would follow what their husbands told them. Very few black women voted- it was mainly educated white women who felt the change.

  There was still the idea that women should not take work away from men.

  Women were obliged to work at very low wages.

  Some jobs like teaching were banned to married women.

  The limited progress of women in active politics, only 2 out of 435 delegates in the House of Representatives in 1928, the proportion of women in Congress was always less than 4%.

  Where women did work, this was usually lower in status and pay, e.g. 90% of professional positions were still filled by men in 1941, while studies in various states in the 1970s revealed that a pay gap of c20% persisted.
• Flappers


  • Flappers shifted public perceptions of women- however it was only a small population and many fell into the traditional role when they married.

  Economic boom at the time meant people in general were better off.
• Impact of the Great Depression and The New Deal

  • Positives: Eleanor Roosevelt wanted to provide similar organisations for jobless young women in forestry- 1933 Camp Tera was set up.

  By 1936 there were 36 camps taking in around 5000 women.

  Fannie Peck, a black woman, set up a series of Housewives Leagues in Detroit 1930, these organisations encouraged women to shop in black run stores and to organise local help for those in need.

  This spread to other towns and helped local people on a small scale.

  Negatives: After the depression there was high unemployment, falling wages and rising prices for everyone.

  Restricting hours for women often led to them breaking the rules and getting fired.

  There was also a lot of competition for badly paid and difficult jobs.

  Black women were edged out of jobs by desperate whites.

  For every $1 a white man earned, a white woman earned 61 cents and a black woman earned 23 cents.
• Many women worked in meat packing plants.
• New Deal's Aid For Families with Dependent Children provided benefits for the poorest families- men came first in the policies on unemployment and working conditions e.g. the Civilian Conservation Corps 1933-42, found work for young men aged 17-23.
• Impact of the Second World War

  • Positives: Women showed that they could do men's work well.

  1940- Selective Training and service Act prepared to draft men into the military and train women to fill their places e.g. shipbuilding and aircraft assembly.

  1941- Lanham act's childcare provision was extended • Percentage of married women working rose from 12 to 23%. Also, the Women's Land Army of America was reformed.

  The number of black women on nursing courses rose from 1108 in 1939 to 2600 in 1945.

  Negatives: Only 16% of married women worked in 1940 due to childcare provisions.

  Some employers refused black women saying they were bound to have and spread sexual diseases.

  In a Detroit rubber plant, white women workers refused to share toilets with black workers.
• Poster of Rosie the Riveter 'we can do it'.
• Post-war Changes and Suburban Living

  • Positives: Female employment rose again for married women between 45-54 years old.

  Restrictions on jobs like teaching were never reinstated.

  Black and non-white women who were trained, continued to work after the war, mainly in domestic and farming work.

  Negatives: After the war many women were not reemployed. Most returning soldiers wanted their jobs back.

  Married women left work because child care provisions were stopped in 1946.

  Women who continued working were still paid considerably lower than men.

  In the suburbs, if women worked they were often excluded from friendship groups.
• In 1936, 82% of people thought that women shouldn't work, in 1938 it was 78% and in 1942 it was only 13%.
• Suburban lifestyle was the "American dream for American women".
• An advert showed a husband returning home to a candle lit dinner, with the slogan: A tempting table for His Highness.
• Women in the 1960s

  • Positives: In 1961, President Kennedy set up a Commission of Enquiry on the Status of Women; 1963 it published its results praising the Equal Pay Act (which was passed through congress in 1963) and the wider job opportunities for women in the federal government.

  1963 Betty Friedan published a book called The Feminine Mystique, which looked at the constraints of Suburban life and the problems white, educated, married women faced.

  National Organisation of Women (NOW) was set up in 1966 (in response to the book spurring the organising of women) – Freidan was one of the founding members.

  NOW aimed to work within the political system to get equality and better enforcement of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Pay Act.

  1967- President Johnson extended his executive order calling for action to improve employment conditions for those discriminated against on the grounds of race and colour to cover sexual discrimination as well.

  Negatives: The Commission found the Equal Pay Act was greatly needed and needed enforcing as women in the workplace were subject to discrimination against training, work and promotion.

  Minimum wage did not apply to the roles that women worked in.

  Non-white women were in an even worse position.

  Many women tried to bring up women's equality in racial civil rights groups, however this was mainly male dominated and they were often sexist themselves.
• National magazine started in March 1968, Voice of the Women's Liberation Movement, was run by volunteers and was selling 2000 copies by 1969 (but collapsed soon after because of the workload).
• Impact of women's liberation movement, 1961-80

  • Positives: In 1970, almost every feminist group (including NOW) took part in a strike on 26th August. They all presented the same three demands; equal opportunity in jobs and education, free childcare, free abortion on demand.

  NOW's membership rose from 1000 in 1967 to 40,000 in 1974.

  The movement brought the issue of women's equality into the public eye.

  From 1970, few states allowed abortion under very tight circumstances.

  In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled on the Einstadt v Baird case, allowing access to contraception to unmarried as well as married women.

  Abortion was federally legalised on 22nd January 1973.

  Negatives: Attracted a lot of opposition, especially among men.

  Conservatives of all kinds rejected the movement, stressing the "un-Americanness" of the demands and the abandonment of traditional roles.

  There were splits with the movements as not all women agreed on all policies e.g. not all women agreed on using contraception or abortion.

  15 states refused to ratify the Equal Rights Act by 1982, preventing it from ever forming.

  The USA did not sign up to the 1979 United Nations policy of introducing non-discrimination of women in all aspects of life.

  Employers were much more practised at finding 'acceptable' reasons for discriminating against women.

  Many working-class and non-white women felt excluded.
• Immigration Trends (1917-1980)

  • Early immigration was primarily from Northern Europe, but later immigrants came from Southern and Eastern Europe.

  Immigration increased significantly, with 1.2 million immigrants in 1907 compared to 650,000 in 1882.

  Legislation like the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set limits on immigration.

  By 1907, 81% of immigrants came from Southern and Eastern Europe.
• Dillingham Commission (1911)

  • Investigated the impact of immigration, concluding it was a threat to U.S. society and culture.

  Made distinctions between "old immigrants" (accepted) and immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe (seen as inferior).

  The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set quotas on immigration, limiting numbers significantly.
• Legislation and Anxiety

  • Anxiety about immigration led to legislative acts, influenced by groups like the Immigration Restriction League.

  Post-war isolationism, Red Scares, and unemployment also fueled anti-immigrant sentiments.
• Immigration Impact in the 1920s

  • Hostility towards immigrants increased, especially in urban areas.

  Quotas didn't apply to South America, leading to increased immigration from there, particularly for cheap labour needs.

  The proportion of foreign-born or foreign-parentage individuals rose from 74% in 1910 to 85% in 1920.

  Immigration from South America, especially Mexico, increased to meet labour demands.
• Impact of Immigrants on Urban Life (1919-1941)

  • Urban areas segregated into sections reflecting immigrants' nationalities, but over time, assimilation decreased the importance of "old country" traditions.

  Immigrant children were encouraged to pursue education and improve their lives.

  In 1914, there were 1,300 foreign-language newspapers, decreasing to 75 by the 1960s.
• Impact of WWII on Immigration

  • Enemy aliens faced discrimination, with Japanese Americans experiencing internment.

  Some immigrants from enemy countries faced hostility, impacting businesses and communities.

  Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were interned during WWII.

  Admiral Chester Nimitz, of German descent, commanded the US Pacific Fleet.
• Government Policy Shifts

  • The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 maintained quotas but allowed for refugee admissions.

  The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished quotas, reflecting changing attitudes towards immigration.

  Additional refugee legislation addressed crises like the Vietnam War and spread of communism.
• Immigration from Asia and Latin America

  • Asian immigration increased after the 1965 Act, especially during the Vietnam War and after the fall of Saigon.

  Immigration from Central and Southern America raised concerns, with Operation Wetback targeting illegal immigrants.

  After the fall of Saigon in 1975, around 130,000 Vietnamese refugees entered the USA.
• Illegal Immigration


  • Illegal immigration, primarily from Mexico, posed challenges for border control.

  Employers often exploited illegal immigrants for cheap labour.

  Tracking and controlling illegal immigration was difficult and costly.

  An average of over 60,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico entered the USA each year in the 1970s.

  In 1980, about 1 million illegal aliens were found, arrested, and deported.
• Shifting Attitudes

  • Attitudes towards immigration varied with government policies and economic conditions.

  Conservative sentiments led to calls for stricter immigration control by 1980.

  The Mariel boatlift from Cuba in 1980 exacerbated concerns about illegal immigration and strained resources.
• Regulating the Movies

  • Not everyone saw the impact of stars as positive.

  Many complaints were made about the movie industry in 1920.

  Female stars were too scantily dressed and they drank and smoked all the time.

  Gangsters made crime look attractive.

  Scandals with the stars meant that movie studios had to act before the government; which wasn't liked.

  Motion Picture Production Code – 1929- 30.

  1930-66 All movies conformed to the code to improve society by morally improving films. Studios began to build "morality clauses" into contracts.
• Social Impact of Popular Music and Radio, 1917-45

  • 1920s: In the 1920s (or also referred to as the Roaring twenties) and 1930s people still listened to old music and songs that had been popular before the war, however the new music that swept through the cities was jazz, which came from the Southern States of the USA, from blues and ragtime (genre of music that hit its peak between 1895 and 1918).

  Jazz dances such as the Charleston and Black Bottom began to emerge and were very sexually suggestive and very common among youths who were tired of the parents' old dances e.g. waltz.

  Young people had a lot more freedom and smoking and drinking became more popular. Famous black musicians included Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith.

  Business was booming at the time and many Americans were developing tastes for a new, faster lifestyle. Jazz had been prohibited by a number of cities including Detroit and New York; this led to performances occurring in speakeasies and young people were more likely to rebel.

  The first recordings of country music were also made in the 1920s in a style that was then called "hillbilly music".

  1930s: The great depression led to the rise of jazz.

  In 1935, swing music became popular with the public and quickly replaced jazz as the most popular type of music (although there was some resistance to it at first).

  By the end of the 1930s, Swing came to be accompanied by a popular dance called the swing dance, which was very popular across the United States, among both white and black audiences, especially youth.
• Young people had a lot more freedom and smoking and drinking became more popular
• Famous black musicians included Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith
• Business was booming at the time and many Americans were developing tastes for a new, faster lifestyle
• Jazz had been prohibited by a number of cities including Detroit and New York; this led to performances occurring in speakeasies and young people were more likely to rebel
• The first recordings of country music were also made in the 1920s in a style that was then called "hillbilly music"
• The great depression led to the rise of jazz
• In 1935, swing music became popular with the public and quickly replaced jazz as the most popular type of music (although there was some resistance to it at first)
• By the end of the 1930s, Swing came to be accompanied by a popular dance called the swing dance, which was very popular across the United States, among both white and black audiences, especially youth
• Like the rest of the culture, the entertainment sector was hit hard by the Great Depression which interrupted life at all levels of culture and in every way imaginable
• Massive unemployment meant that few had the financial resources for even the simple joy of buying a jazz record or enjoying an evening at a jazz club
• In 1932, the level of record sales hit a low that had never been seen since that genre of the music business got its start
• However music during this time showed hope to people and called for better times
• Much of 1940's music was built around jazz