Lesson 5.02 Fundamentalism v. Modernism

• Introduction
• Learn
• Try It
• Task

Introduction

Central Question: How did the traditional and modern viewpoints collide during the 1920s?

In the decades preceding the 1920s, a great deal of change had swept the nation; cities were sprawling, education and innovation were on the rise, and a wave of immigrants were introducing new cultural values to American society. For many Americans, these changes were exciting and reflected ideals that were to be encouraged and embraced. Others, however, proved slow to accept the change and expressed concern about the alteration of traditional American society. Issues such as Prohibitionperiod of American history from 1920 - 1933 whereby the sale and transportation of alcohol was prohibited and the teaching of evolutiontheory of human development proposed by Charles Darwin in public school drew a national debate that lasted throughout the decade. These two issues, along with many others, highlighted the growing cultural divide that was emerging between traditional and modern thinking Americans; a divide that still exists in many respects today.

 

Photograph Citation:

Women's Organization for National Prohibition. Photo. Library of Congress Web. 24 April 2014.  <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hec/item/hec2013006375/>.