To think about what i think its core dialectic was. The tension between democracy and efficiency. These were both ideals that people from a Broad Spectrum of political backgrounds in the progressive era believed were important. And they believed they were not incompatible, but you can see some ways in which they were fundamentally at some tension. So again, throughout class today be thinking about democracy versus efficiency. So the central question for historians of the early 20th century what is progressivism . A famous article that came out in 1982 was entitled in search of progressism, which i think aptly summed up the way that the historians were rummaging around, knowing that the progressive era existed but quibbling about what counted as progressive his. Who counted, when it started. Some people limit only to the Political Party that it was named for. Others define it much more broadly. So for me in this class this is how im going to define progressivism. In the broadest sense,
Well wrap up other countries neutralities. But were going to focus on what neutrality looked like and meant for the americans, especially in the first half of the war. So the thing that i want you to understand the most, and this is really vital, because its its a very different understanding of neutrality than we have today. Neutrality at the beginning of the war did not mean inactivity. It did not mean passtivity and it most certainly did not mean impartiality. If it doesnt mean those things, then what does it mean . The definition differs with each country. Some, like belgium, will say they never gave up their neutrality. So they were aggrieved against as a neutral country. Others like switzerland will say, were neutral and to prove it, dylan, im going to hold your wallet, and im going to hold your wallet, and thats how im neutral. In the case of the United States, neutrality will for the most part mean that they will do business with whoever and the very willingness to do business
Right during the 1920s. Republican president s, fairly conservative ones, were elected by landslides, 1920, 1924, and 1928. Congress was in control of the republicans throughout the 1920s. With support of congress, republican president s signed bills which rolled back the income tax increases that were passed during world war i. And the leading social movements on the left, labor unions and the socialist party, both lost members during the war. In fact, the socialist party was never really a factor in american politics, again, after the 1920 election. And people on the left generally, whether people we now consider to be liberals, former progressives or radicals all on the defensive during the 1920s. The most popular president in the 1920s, Calvin Coolidge, took office in 1923 when harden died of a heart attack and was reelected in 1924. Famously said in the mid1920s, the business of america is business. It was a prosperous time for a lot of americans, though, certainly not all. Stock
A Lasting Impact on American Society. This class is about an hour, 20 minutes. All right. So today were going to talk about america during the First World War. And ive called this lecture americans at war the myth busters edition. And i did that kind of intentionally. Because when we think about understanding the First World War in general, there are so many myths and misconceptions that are attached to the war that its really interesting for us to first understand why those myths exist and then to unpam them a little bit and think more about the reality of the experience, right . I want to start first by talking about how this connects to the First World War overall. So its not just america that has these myths, but even this sense of how we understand the First World War to begin with. And we think of the kind of general narrative that we attach to it. One of the most common narratives is that world war i was a senseless slaughter. Right . Weve already talked about the uncertainty as
Unequal distribution of wealth led to the Great Depression. Her class is about 75 minutes. Weve spent the last few weeks considering how americans adapted to abundance between the 1890s and 1920s. Despite the efforts of producers, advertisers, of retailers and of others, the supply of goods continue to outstrip demand. This wasnt because all everyone, all 106 million americans, had everything they needed. It was because they didnt have adequate purchasing power. They didnt have adequate wages or income to buy all of that stuff. And it wasnt just americans who were in this situation, but so too were our trading partners around the world. They didnt have enough income to buy all of the commodities we were producing in our fields and all of the wonderful things that we are our factories were making. So by the end of the 1920s, the American Economy went bust. You guys all know this. You all know that the stock get crashed in 1929. The World Economy went bust as well. A worldwide economic d