Five Point Speech

It’s the roaring twenties, the time of everyone’s life. Amid the raging parties and Gatsbyesque lifestyles was the tumultuous over turn of the fundamentalist Klu Klux Klan, the desertion of the disenchanted, the rise of consumerism, the creation of the “Flapper”, and the idea of professional women.  This decade was a melting pot of ideas that clashed against each other ideals, but more than that these five points in the twenties fed the creation of each other. One could not have happened without the other and the society of the 21^st century would not be what it is without the nascent of these five points.

The Klu Klux Klan – a long standing congregation of fundamentalists most well known for their fight to cleanse America of ‘alien’ groups they saw as racially impure. African Americans were a target in the first part of their history, but when the Klan came back in the twenties they began to boycott not only blacks, but also Catholic, Jewish and other minority groups. The Klan is seen as a blight on history, but look at them in the context of being able to change with the time period. The Klan remains a practicing group in the US and that shows resilience and a form of flexibility to bend to the time period. This flexibility and resilience can also be attributed to consumerism. Besides creating a wide spread cultural phenomena of buying for pleasure, Consumerism also helped widen the gap between ideals, which helped create the disenchanted. I think it is important to note the uninvolved and darker sides of American society because it was those groups that helped push for a betterment of society as a whole. These artists helped the United States to maintain a form of individualism in the world of consumerism. And in its own right, Consumerism created a cultural norm that still exists well into the twenty-first century.

To end on a more positive note the twenties introduced the “Flapper” – a woman who lost the rigidity of the Victorian ideals and fell into loose morals, wore seductive clothing and makeup. For the first time the women were starting to gain a social standing without a man on their arm. And if a lady had enough ambition she could find herself in a profession. There began to be the occasional success story of a woman doctor or woman lawyer. These two types of women were important to American history because this would be one of the first steps towards equality of genders. These are two separate, important parts because they allowed any woman to become what she wanted. There was not just the “Flappers” or professional women, it was a wide variety and some who even balanced both. But the important take away from this is that even when surrounded by conflict and disruption American culture and mindset kept pushing to better its self.

Editorial Reviews on Mini Books

In Prohibition: "A War" the author Carson Hall portrays the conflict that arises among the average US citizen and the empire of illegal  alcohol cartels. Blaze Butler, the protagonist and one of the only survivors of his band of transporters, paints a picture of the back-woods lifestyle that many of the bootleggers seemed to live. And also relays the struggles of competing with an empire and city boss like Al Capone. Through his struggles there is a high point, but it the end the repeal of Prohibition is too late to save many lives that were lost in the fight. Hall's use of the 1920's slang shows his grasp on the era, but still keeps a simple, straight forward plot line.


The Life of Robert Williams, by Austin Lu, portrays the hard life that Americans suffered through but also the grand rise out poverty that was the 1920's. We meet Robert a tween heading into adolescence, the years that will formally become known as the teen years. Lu uses his grasp of the rise in economy and of the creation of the teenager to formulate a well written story about a boy who understands hardship and hard work.

The Mini-Book about the 1920's

My mini book, Professional Women & The "Flapper": Image vs. Reality, is a small story about woman, Ms. Evelyn, who finds herself amidst the reality of being a flapper and what the reality was for most women as seen in her friends life, Betty Sue. With a use of slang terms and a modern view point this story shows the journey through the twenties with a twist.

WWI Perspective: Poison Gas Warfare

Poison Gas-a lethal yet more human way to dissuade an entire army from attacking. Or at least that's what people told themselves. The first versions of poison gas were Chlorine gas and then phosgene gas to replace that, though these were nothing in comparison to the monstrous gas that would become known as mustard gas. The Germans were at the head of chemical warfare throughout the first portion of the Great war. None could keep up with the chemical engineers like Dr. Viktor Meyer. The man who would eventually create mustard gas. Mustard gas unlike its predecessors was more fluid-like and would remain in trenches and puddles for days after it was released. By the time mustard gas had began to be produced the US had stepped into the Great War and would feel the deadly affects in the first major battle US men participated in. The Third Battle of Ypres.

Poison Gas

Masks that had developed could not with stand the murkiness and deadliness of the mustard gas, most soldier didn't even know what the substance was when it first rolled into their trenches. Many wouldn't even reach the doctors stations because they would go blind so quickly from the gas. Soldiers skin would blister and fester, burning from the chemicals that touched their skin. To combat this American and British scientists began to formulate their own mustard gas. Zinsser was the first successful mass production of mustard gas, so much so that they could not meet the demands by themselves. Within the formulation of a way to make mustard gas the US began to quickly out produce the Germans, who could only muster about 6 tons of gas per day. American factories could make as much as 100 tons.

Gas Masks

The US played a major role in the final push for victory because had they not joined in during the stalemate of the Great War, the Germans might have been more likely to overpower the Allies with their poison gas. The US, as well as helping push favor to the Allies also brought about a major overhaul of military weaponry and tactics for their own forces.

Poison Gas Comes to America
How Poison Gas Works

WWI Poster Analysis

Madi Smith

2/29/16

USH 1 – WWI Poster Analysis

Group 7 – Forrest & Victoria

1) Propaganda was a form of advertising that would draw attention to it through pictures, bright coloring, and key phrasing.

2) Propaganda - ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc. (Merriam-Webster)

My focus is first drawn to the large, red letters "BOYS and GIRLS!" These posters appeal to a very specific crowd, the children. They highlight their focus with the red coloring of the letters and then their want is understated in a smaller black font underneath it. The centered picture interrupts the reading, to show the towering figure of Uncle Sam holding a little girl and a little boy is beside him looking on with an earnest gaze. This is meant to appeal to the masses because it depicts the children doing something for the better good, it appeals to the empathetic and philanthropic side of the readers. The red coloring of the letters stands out the most against the white background and it more appealing than the black lettering below it. 

The first thing my gaze is drawn to is the word "Food". It is the largest font on the poster and the coloring highlights and is similar to that of the men's skin. My eyes are drawn to the depiction of strong men laboring for food, with an outline of corn crops behind them. They appear to be a family and it is noted that everyone is keep their "home" gardens going. The artist is appealing to farms families and any family that might have someone in the service by showing them that they too can help by providing food for the soldiers. There is a sense of pride that is invoked by staring at this poster and the reader too could hold this feeling if they supported the war effort of supplied food. 

The is a pull between the words  "ENLIST NOW" and the depiction of a school girl pushing a plow. Her cheeks are highlighted red in her effort, but it brings forth the idea that women are a driving force (driving the plow) in the war effort. The poster appeals the adolescents, male or female. The ladies are driven to help by preparing food and sending it towards the war effort but men are drawn in by the large red lettering saying "ENLIST NOW". The color of the poster is very mute otherwise and is used to bring out the red letters and the young school girl who pushes the plow. 

I hold no qualms with the idea that propaganda is used to help enlist people in a common goal, but it would be more suspicious to me if it was used for their own personal gain. 

I think the production of Propaganda was used to unite the people of the United States in an effort to help bring the war to a quicker end. 

Common Theme Thesis

Ideas to tie Together:

• Reformers and public figures promoted changing views/attitudes about health/fitness.
• People started to have new expectations about the role of government in promoting higher standards for society.
• People taking measures to protect themselves from new threats/modern issues.
• Innovations in transportation allowed people to move around in new ways
• All-encompassing wave of reform included a variety of strategies to attack problems of all kinds.
• Innovations brought improvements and provoked new fears/anxieties, many of which turned out to be unfounded.

Connections:

• betterment of society as a whole for the people through their active participation, innovations and the active cooperation of Government

Thesis: 

 

Progressivism was movement driven by active participation on every spectrum. As a whole, the movement of forward thinking and positive reformation would not have been possible without the cooperation of the government, active participants in the community, and the great innovations of the time period. Progressivism cultivated the United States into a society more aware of its needs socially and economically and overall it proved to be a positive movement.

Answer Key to Progressivism Questions

1) C
2) D
3) D