When I taught my college students, I tried to get across the diversity of 1920s American culture. I’d ask students their preconceptions about 1920s culture in the United States. Some thought it was a colorful time of flappers, speakeasys, dance halls, and so forth. Jazz music, the Harlem Renaissance, the radio. To some students, it […]
Category: United States History
How 1920s Automobiles Created A Revolution in Daily Life
Like I promised in my last post (read here), it’s time to discuss the revolution created by 1920s automobiles in the United States. Some parts of the revolution are obvious, others less so. But, overall, it might be fair to write that no single product except computers changed daily life more than automobiles did during […]
1920s Consumer Culture – The Great Revolution We’ve Forgotten?
When I taught American History to college students, I tried to make a case for the revolution of 1920s consumer culture. The changes brought by 1920s consumer culture improved the lives of Americans so drastically, it’s hard to image what life would be like before they became available. It’s why I hypothesize that the 1920s […]
1920s Prohibition – Was It Really a “Noble Experiment”?
When I used to teach my college classes, each student did a presentation from a preselected list of about fifty options. Unsurprisingly, I don’t think a single semester went by without someone choosing 1920s Prohibition. America’s “Noble Experiment” with moral purity still fascinates people today. Especially when they are young, adventuresome, and, shall we say, […]
How Was William Gilpin a Model For America’s Disdain of Science?
On the Fourth of July in 1868, William Gilpin gave a speech in Denver, Colorado Territory. William Gilpin was the governor of the territory at the time. His speech portrayed the future of Colorado as one of limitless possibility. So limitless, in fact, that the laws of nature did not apply to Colorado. You probably […]
Why are Passenger Pigeons a Perfect Key to U.S. History?
At first glance, the idea that the history of a bird can tell us much about American history seems a stretch, I suppose. The story of passenger pigeons, however, is an exception, and an enlightening exception at that. You might know one part of this story. Once abundant, humans caused the extinction of passenger pigeons. […]