BJ USH Speech

Ben Justice

US History

Era Speech

The changing American culture was trying to hang onto it’s traditional values, but with so many new inventions and views it was struggling to maintain popularity. Technology, the new definition of women, conflicts of cultures, religious fundamentalism, and nativism were all defining aspects of American civilization. In the new wave of inventions and the stability after WWI America was truly defined as an economic power of the world. The rising popularity of automobiles and forms of communication brought new jobs and a new way for americans to go about their daily lives. For women going about their daily lives, a drastic change  was happening. Women could now hold jobs in many professional industries and although they were confined to more feminine industries they were still escaping the stay-at-home life. This new change in even the smallest of areas in american civilization caused some unrest between the more classic view of america and the new ways that were being defined by the changing world. This conflict was also reflected in the religious community. Modernists and fundamentalists started to branch away from each other as new views came into play with the evolving civilization. Fundamentalists had the view that everything should stay the same and there was no need for change. But modernists were open to change and believed it was possible to maintain your faith and evolve with the culture. Nativists also had a more traditional view, in their eyes America needed to keep its population pure and keep immigration low or even nonexistent. Along with this nativist view came the Klan, who not only hated African-Americans, but also began to shift its focus to Catholics, Jews and immigrants. The success of the Klan reflected that the American culture was changing but still retained many of its old, traditional views. All of these factors have many things in common, not only are they some of the most important factors in the changing culture, but they all truly shape the American culture and it’s citizens. From the traditional aspects such as religious fundamentalism and the Nativists, to the newer additions such as professional women and the wave of new inventions, America was in one of it’s most defining era’s. Old views were challenged, and new ones were flooding in to take the weaker traditions spot as a major factor in American civilization.