US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

Outline
Chapter 1 : America as a World Power – Key Concepts in US Policy

Manifest Destiny
Isolationism
Expansionism
The Mexican-American War
The Spanish-American War
Imperialism
Military Factor: Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy
Economic Factor: Taft’s Dollar Policy
Ideological Factor: Wilson’s Moral Imperialism
Progressivism

Chapter 2: America’s role in WWI

The Great War: Division and Neutrality

Challenges to Neutrality
Public Opinion
Economic Interests
The German threat
America enters the Great War
Anti-German Sentiment
Limited liberties: The Espionage and the Sedition Acts
Minorities during WWI

Chapter 3: Post-WWI – The roaring 20s

Post-war labor tensions and society (the Red Scare)

The “Race Problem” and the second coming of the KKK

References

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

Chapter 1 – America as a World Power

Key Concepts in US Policy

1. Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the idea that white Americans were divinely ordained to settle the
entire continent of North America. It is historically defined as the doctrine that increased the
United States’ land-holdings on the North American continent. Basic elements of Manifest
Destiny include:

● Security (survival aspect): The first generations of Americans saw their unique
position on the eastern edge of a new continent as an opportunity to create a nation
without the ‘balkanization’ of European countries.
● Virtuous Government (political aspect): Americans saw their Constitution as the
ultimate, virtuous expression of enlightened governmental thought, without the
hobbles of European monarchies.
● Divine Ordination (religious aspect): Americans believed that God, by
geographically separating the U.S. from Europe, had given them the chance to create
the ultimate government.

As of today, the definition of Manifest Destiny is less about expansionism and Divine
intervention and more about spreading the American way of life to other places. In that way,
Manifest Destiny is a precursor to what is now termed American exceptionalism.

American exceptionalism – so integral to the country’s self-conception – has had at its core
a fundamental tension. On the one hand, Americans stress their uniqueness. 19th century
Manifest Destiny took this sense of special mission from origins to continental expansion. On
the other hand, the United States repeatedly sets out to remake other countries in its own
image, as if they did not have their own cultures and history.

2. Isolationism
Isolationism is a national policy of avoiding political or economic entanglements with other
countries. Isolationism was the foundation of America's foreign policy for much of the
nineteenth century. It was characterized by American reluctance to get involved in the messy
sphere of European politics and wars.

Non-interventionism is a foreign policy which holds that political rulers should avoid
alliances with other nations, but still retain diplomacy and avoid all wars not related to direct
self-defense. This is based on the grounds that a state should not interfere in the internal

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

politics of another state, based upon the principles of state sovereignty and
self-determination.
Much of U.S.history reflects an ambivalent tension between the desire to withdraw from
messy foreign problems and the belief America should serve as the dominant force in world
affairs. Isolationist sentiment has ebbed and flowed, often surging during hard economic
times or in the wake of costly wards.

3. Expansionism
American Expansionism refers to the expansion of the territory controlled, directly or
indirectly, by the United States gained through diplomacy, annexation, or military actions
during the nineteenth century. The 1840s saw the next phase of rapid expansion of the
territory of the United States: The Annexation of Texas in 1845, the acquisition of the Oregon
Territory in 1846, and the cession of the southwest from Mexico in 1848.

a. The Mexican-American War (1846-1848)

In 1845 the United States annexed Texas and subsequently engaged in a dispute with Mexico
over the southern Texas-Mexico border. Texas claimed that its southwest boundary extended
to the Rio Grande. Mexico claimed that the boundary was the Nueces River, which is 100
miles (160 kilometers) eastward. Therefore, the dispute happened over a shared border
between Mexico and Texas, which was considered a direct threat to the U.S.

The aim was not to intervene outside the U.S. but rather to expand its borders. This highlights
the fact that America’s expansionism and isolationism were not mutually exclusive policies
within the ideological framework of Manifest Destiny, by which Americans had a divine
mission to spread their values and expand over the continent. Thus, the Mexican-American
war could not be considered as an end but merely an exception to American isolationism.

b. The Spanish-American War (1898)

The Spanish-American War of 1898 ended Spain’s colonial empire in the Western
Hemisphere and secured the position of the United States as a Pacific power. U.S. victory in
the war produced a peace treaty that compelled the Spanish to relinquish claims on Cuba, and
to cede sovereignty over Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines to the United States. The
United States also annexed the independent state of Hawaii during the conflict. Thus, the war
enabled the United States to establish its predominance in the Caribbean region.

The Spanish-American war in 1898 marked the first military intervention of the U.S. outside
its borders, which was not motivated by the need to protect national interests. In fact, the U.S.
got directly involved in a foreign conflict that did not pose any direct threat, and did so by
supporting Cuba’s revolt against Spain. This decision was, inherently, a clear departure from
isolationism. ⇒ The Spanish-American War (1898) created a pattern of how American
interventions outside its border occur.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

4. Imperialism
American imperialism is the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, media and
military influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Three factors fueled American
imperialism :

a. Military Factor: Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick Policy

On September 2, 1901, United States Vice President Theodore Roosevelt outlined his ideal
foreign policy in a speech at the Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minnesota: “Speak
softly, and carry a big stick.” Two weeks later, Roosevelt became president and “Big Stick
diplomacy” defined his leadership. Big Stick diplomacy is the policy of carefully mediated
negotiation ("speaking softly") supported by the unspoken threat of a powerful military ("big
stick"). It is an aggressive diplomacy emphasizing a display of military power.

The Great White Fleet, a group of American warships that toured the world in a show of
peaceful strength, is the leading example of Big Stick diplomacy during Roosevelt’s
presidency. President Roosevelt used Big Stick diplomacy in many foreign policy situations.
He brokered an agreement for an American-led canal through Panama, expanded American
influence in Cuba, and negotiated a peace treaty between Russia and Japan.

b. Economic Factor: Taft’s Dollar Diplomacy

From 1909 to 1913, President William Howard Taft and Secretary of State Philander C.
Knox followed a foreign policy characterized as “dollar diplomacy.” Taft shared the view
held by Knox, a corporate lawyer who had founded the giant conglomerate U.S. Steel, that
the goal of diplomacy was to create stability and order abroad that would best promote
American commercial interests. Knox felt that not only was the goal of diplomacy to improve
financial opportunities, but also to use private capital to further U.S. interests overseas.

⇒ William Taft’s policy consisted of influencing foreign nations through the American
economy rather than military force, “substituting dollars for bullets”.

c. Ideological Factor: Wilson’s Moral Imperialism

Woodrow Wilson brought to the presidency a missionary zeal and a sense of his own and the
nation’s moral righteousness. Wilson repudiated Dollar Diplomacy and promised a new
foreign policy that would respect Latin America’s independence and free it from foreign
economic domination. But Wilson could not abandon the conviction that the United States
had a responsibility to teach other peoples the lessons of democracy.

Moreover, he believed, the export of American manufactured goods and investments went
hand in hand with the spread of democratic ideals. To Wilson, expanding American economic
influence served a higher purpose than mere profit. Americans, he told a group of

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businessmen in 1916, were “meant to carry liberty and justice” throughout the world. “Go out
and sell goods,” he urged them, “that will make the world more comfortable and happy, and
convert them to the principles of America.”

5. Progressivism
The years between 1900 and 1914 were qualified by a belief shared by a whole generation of
Americans: progressivism.

The Progressive movement was a turn-of-the-century political movement interested in

furthering social and political reform, curbing political corruption caused by political
machines, and limiting the political influence of large corporations. The Progressive
movement began with a domestic agenda. Progressives were interested in establishing a more
transparent and accountable government which would work to improve U.S. society. These
reformers favored such policies as civil service reform, food safety laws, and increased
political rights for women and U.S. workers.

The U.S. witnessed paramount technological and economic developments by the end of the
nineteenth century. However this progress only increased the wealth and well-being of a
minority elite group leaving the American masses to suffer from economic hardships. The
most dangerous situation the United States found itself in after the Civil War was the
combination of three factors: the increasing growth in capital and political influence of giant
corporations, the concentration of money within a very small group of people, and the
incessant flow of newcomers.

To face these challenges, the progressive movement took shape and was led by prominent
political leaders like Theodor Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. The goals of the Progressive
movement can eventually be organized under four major categories:

● The promotion of social welfare

● The promotion of moral reform
● The creation of economic reform
● The encouragement of efficiency

However, these idealistic objectives fell short of improving the life of racial minorities. While
some prominent white reformers joined W.E.B. DuBois and his colleagues in forming the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and many other
progressive leaders held back. President Wilson, for example, did not mind screening the
pioneering yet racist film The Birth of a Nation (1915) in the White House. Wilson’s delight
with the cinematic “masterpiece” rhymed well with the spreading racism of the era supported
by pseudoscience and political maneuvers to segregate and disenfranchise blacks mainly in
the South.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

Chapter 2 – America’s role in WWI

1. The Great War: Division and Neutrality
On a social level, the Great War affected America the most because of its diversity. In fact,
the United States is a land of immigrants, and at the dawn of WWI, there was a flow of new
immigrants who were still emotionally and culturally attached to their homelands. The
fragmentation of Europe was reflected on American society. This created an ethnic division,
by which each group of immigrants expressed support of their countries of origin in the war.
For instance, German descendants sided with their native country, British-Americans sided
with Britain – as did many other Americans who associated Britain with democracy and
Germany with repression – while Irish migrants hoped for the destruction of England. All
other immigrants followed suit siding with one party or the other.

Many Americans also opposed war, including socialists, internationalists, women suffrage
workers, and peace activists. They believed that the United States, as a neutral nation, could
act as an arbitrator to end the hostilities.

The ethnic division, peaceful and political movements, pushed decision-makers to proclaim
American neutrality. As a result, President Wilson proclaimed official American neutrality
and urged his fellow-citizens to “be impartial in thought as well as in action”. He reiterated
his resolution to neutrality by arguing that the Great War was one “with which we have
nothing to do, whose causes cannot touch us.”

2. Challenges to Neutrality
a. Public opinion
Despite the diversity in opinions and preferences, the majority of the American public
favored the Allies as the news coming from the European front depicted the German attacks
in the darkest possible ways. Besides the cruelty of Germany, upper-class Americans had
strong historical ties with England and were reluctant to jeopardize them. Finally, the war was
seen as a conflict between not only belligerent nations but between two political models:
democracy and military autocracies.

b. Economic interests
The second challenge to neutrality had to do with business. American corporations sold
immense quantities of munitions to the Allied and much less to the Central Powers. In 1916,
the U.S. sold $3 billion worth of munitions to Great Britain and France. It only sold $1
million worth to Germany and Austria-Hungary. Similarly, between 1914 and 1917, U.S.
banks loaned $2.5 billion to the Allies but only $27 million to the Central Powers. While the

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

value of American trade with Germany fell by 90%, it more than tripled with Britain making
the principle of neutrality more critical. The United States found itself “obliged” to maintain
its supply line with the allies in order to profit and make up for the losses it suffered due to
the impairment of other markets.

c. The German threat

The last challenge was straightforward: the German U-boats. These new German inventions
were able to slip under the British blockage and target cargo and passenger ships. When
Britain violated international law and started confiscating all sorts of goods headed for the
Central Powers, and when the United States did not object to these violations, the Germans
retaliated by indiscriminately attacking cargo ships and passenger liners. Despite Wilson’s
warnings to hold Germany to “strict accountability”, the British liner Lusitania was sunk in
the spring of 1915 with nearly 2000 people aboard. Of the 1200 passengers and crew
members who died, 128 were Americans.

The U.S. indignation reached a new pitch. To avoid a possible war with the United States,
Germany ordered its submarine commanders to warn ocean-going vessels before attacking
them. However, these orders were ignored on at least two decisive occasions: on August 19,
British steamer Arabic was sunk without warning and in March 1916, the French ship Sussex
was also attacked causing the injury of several Americans. President Wilson issued an
ultimatum stating that unless Germany abandoned its present methods of submarine warfare,
the United States would sever relations. Germany agreed.

On January 22, 1917, Woodrow Wilson delivered a formal presidential address to the Senate
in which he reiterated his vision for peace. Calling for “peace without victory”, Wilson
reminded his audience and fellow-Americans of fundamental U.S. principles:
self-determination, freedom of maritime trade, and a world without binding alliances.
Wilson’s envisaged international peace could be enforced and protected by a world league.

Wilson’s speech was accepted with applause by most Americans. However, Europeans in
general, and Germans in particular had different opinions about it. For Europeans, who have
been shedding blood in this war for more than two years, talking about peace without the
victory of the Allies and the undisputed defeat of Germany was not only outrageous but also
disgraceful.

By January 31, 1917, Germany gave its answer to Wilson’s peace speech: resumption of
submarine warfare. It also invited Mexico to enter in a wartime military alliance that would
help it regain territories annexed by the United States (New Mexico, Arizona, Texas). As the
German threat moved from Europe to the U.S. borders, pressure on Wilson intensified.
Believing that “the world must be made safe for democracy”, Wilson asked Congress for a
declaration of war on April 2, 1917.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

3. America enters the Great War

Because the atrocities of the war made their way to the American public, many young men
were very reluctant to join the army when war was declared. To counter the anti-war
sentiment, the Wilson administration had to resort to propaganda. The main focus of the
Committee on Public Information (CPI) was to emphasize the noble nature of the war
America intends to enter and to report with the highest vividity the barbaric atrocities
committed by the Germans. The Great War was devastating and devastatingly simplified. It
was a war of Good against Evil, democracy against autocracy, civilisation against barbarism.
This oversimplification of the war made the line between right and wrong clearly defined.

a. Anti-German Sentiment

Once the United States entered the war, a search for spies and saboteurs escalated into efforts
to suppress German culture. Many German-language newspapers were closed down. Public
schools stopped teaching German. Lutheran churches dropped services that were spoken in
German. Libraries across the country discarded German books, and orchestras dropped
German composers from their repertoires. German Americans faced discrimination in all
aspects of life. Given the widespread pressure for “100 percent Americanism,” it is no
surprise that dissidents were not only ostracized, they were occasionally murdered by
patriotic mobs.

b. The Espionage and Sedition Acts (Lecture: Liberty in Wartime)

In his war message to Congress, President Wilson had warned that the war would require a
redefinition of national loyalty. There were "millions of men and women of German birth and
native sympathy who live amongst us," he said. "If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt
with a firm hand of repression."

● In June 1917, Congress passed the Espionage Act. The piece of legislation gave postal
officials the authority to ban newspapers and magazines from the mails and threatened
individuals convicted of obstructing the draft with $10,000 fines and 20 years in jail.
● Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1918, which made it a federal offense to use
"disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the Constitution, the
government, the American uniform, or the flag. The government prosecuted over
2,100 people under these acts.

Political dissenters bore the brunt of the repression. Eugene V. Debs, who urged socialists to
resist militarism, went to prison for nearly three years. Before his sentencing, Debs attempted
to defend his right to express his antiwar position. His trial marked a low point in the
protection of freedom of speech during wartime in the United States.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

4. Minorities during WWI

African - In a nation with reinstated federal segregation, laws restricting civil rights
Americans and significant racial violence, Black communities met a war to “make the
world safe for democracy”, in the words of Dubois, with varied
perspectives.

- Some believed American involvement in the war would welcome a new

era of freedom and democracy both at home and abroad. Participation in
the war effort, for some, became a demonstration of patriotism and
service, a confirmation of their right to equal citizenship within the
nation. Others were skeptical, seeing participation as further sacrifice to
prejudicial institutions that oppress and overlook African American
sacrifice.

- African Americans served segregated units, were excluded from the

Navy and their role was limited to supply units rather than combat. One
notable exception would be the Harlem Hellfighters, who served on the
frontline of France and whose bravery was praised first by France, and later
by America.

⇒ Dubois states that black soldiers bravely fought for a country that
“represents and gloats in lynching, disfranchisement, caste, brutality and
devilish insult”, and did not get any recognition upon their return to
America. Instead, they were greeted with the same, if not more
discrimination and violence, which completely disregards their efforts
and further escalates the tensions between the black and the white
Americans.

Native - American Indians’ participation was rooted in their patriotic

Americans indoctrination from boarding school. For them, war was an opportunity to
escape from reservation and see the world.
- American Indians participated in the war in an attempt to push for full
U.S. citizenship. They served on the front lines and were assigned
dangerous military tasks based on stereotypical assumptions about them as
a racial group. In fact, they were viewed as being “naturally warrior-like”
therefore more fit for combat. They were also used as code-talkers.
- In order to be assigned a leading role in combat, American Indians had to
be registered in the army as “white” soldiers.
- American Indian soldiers earned high praise from the media for their
service, and they were granted U.S. citizenship under the Indian
Citizenship Act of 1924.
- However, Indian veterans expected a greater voice but instead returned to
government indifference and poverty.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

Mexican- - During the war, many immigrants headed south to cross the border as
Americans they identified more with Mexico than with America: WWI was not their
fight.

- Mexicans were legally classified as white, which made them good

candidates for Americanization.

- The demand for labor during WWI led to increased job opportunities in
the United States. Many Mexican Americans migrated to urban centers,
particularly in the southwestern states, to work in industries that supported
the war effort, such as agriculture and manufacturing.

- The influx of Mexican American workers, combined with the existing

racial tensions and discrimination, led to increased hostility in certain
areas. Mexican Americans faced discrimination, segregation, and unequal
treatment, both in the workplace and in society at large.

- Mexican Americans, like other minority groups, served in the military

during WWI. They enlisted in various branches of the armed forces,
including the Army and the Marine Corps. However, the majority could not
speak English and were ridiculed. Only one soldier was awarded the
French Croix de Guerre but no medal of honor at home.

Women - Employment: Women were eager to show their patriotic support for the
war effort. During the Great War, 21,498 U.S. Army nurses and 1,476 U.S.
Navy nurses served in military hospitals in the United States and overseas.
Six thousand women also served as telephone operators, clerks, typists,
stenographers, translators and canteen hostesses.

- Voting: Because women were taking on new roles in society, the

National American Woman Suffrage Association, founded in 1890,
began to push for women’s voting rights. In September 1918, President
Wilson urged the Senate to pass the 19th Amendment to allow women
the right to vote, as the U.S. House of Representatives had already done.

- Roles: Women's contributions to the war effort challenged societal

expectations about women's capabilities and roles. Many women who
entered the workforce during WWI experienced a newfound sense of
economic independence. This experience influenced discussions about
women's economic roles and opportunities in the years that followed.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

Chapter 3– Post-WWI: The roaring 20s

1. Post-war labor tensions and society
From 1919 to 1920, prices rose at an average of more than 15% a year. Food prices more than
doubled between 1915 and 1920 and clothing costs more than tripled. This inflation ended up
killing the market for consumer goods. Between 1920 and 1921, the gross national product
declined nearly 10 percent; 100,000 businesses went bankrupt; and nearly 5 million
Americans lost their jobs. Labor unrest started even before the severe recession took place in
America. Because of the inflation of 1919 most workers found themselves losing the wage
gain they achieved during the war. Many workers had also to worry about the security of their
jobs as veterans started to return home. While the general working standards did not improve,
employers took advantage of the end of the war to rescind benefits they were forced to
concede to workers between 1917 and 1918. All these conditions, with the employers’ attacks
against unions, led workers to organize and participate in an unprecedented strike wave.

In 1919 alone, more than 4 million workers went on strike. In January, a walkout by shipyard
workers in Seattle, Washington, evolved into a general strike that brought the entire city to a
virtual standstill. In September, the Boston police force struck to demand recognition of its
union. Boston soon erupted in violence and looting, leading Governor Calvin Coolidge to call
in the National Guard and to declare that “there is no right to strike against public safety”.
The politicization of the right to strike increased the already existing hostility between the
Middle Class and labor unions.

The Red Scare

One of the major reasons behind this generalized hostility against unions and workers’
organizations was the rise of the Red Scare. The term "Red Scare" refers to periods of intense
anti-communism and fear of political radicalism, particularly associated with the perceived
threat of communism or radical left-wing ideologies. The Russian Revolution of November
1917 concretised communism and moved it from being a mere ideology to a political reality.
For the majority of western societies, including the United States, the communist threat grew
more menacing with the formation of the Communist International (Comintern) led by Soviet
Russia. One of the major aims of the Comintern was to export revolution around the world
and help oppressed peoples get rid of their exploiting regimes. The Bolsheviks, inspired by
Karl Marx and led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, believed that class struggle would
eventually lead to the creation of more egalitarian socialist societies.

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 US Culture: Compiled notes from different lectures and sources. Please check the references.

2. The “Race Problem” and the second coming of

the KKK (Minorities after the war)

African Americans’ return from WWI

By the end of the Great War, 367,000 black World War I veterans came back home and
marched down the main streets of cities with other victorious troops. They also marched in
black neighborhoods led by jazz bands. The return of black heroes made African Americans
believe that they would be recognised as equal citizens. As a higher proportion of black
soldiers than white soldiers had lost their lives: 14.4 percent black compared to 6.3 percent
white, many African Americans believed that this sacrifice would be repaid when the war
was over.As a matter of fact, the white attitude did not change much. However, it was the
black population that ended up being completely disillusioned and grew to be more
determined to fight for its rights.

Dubois, for instance, relates the discriminatory and criminal behavior of Americans against
African Americans to underline the fact that America’s discourse of democracy and equal
rights is sharply contrasted by its treatment of minorities. He denounces the deceitful and
distorted version of democracy that America represents, asserting that “The land that
disfranchises its citizens and calls itself a democracy lies and knows it lies”. However,
Dubois, while recognizing the injustice and denouncing it, maintains that “it was right for us
to fight”, and that patriotism is not the culprit in this situation. He even attempts to
instrumentalize the injustice inflicted upon African Americans as a motivation to keep
fighting for their rights upon their return, to “Make way for Democracy!”.

The influence of the KKK:

In the post-World War I era, the United States experienced a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK), particularly during the 1920s. This revival of the Klan was marked by a heightened
emphasis on nativism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and, notably, a fierce opposition to racial
and religious minorities.

The race problem in post-WWI America was intertwined with the social and economic
changes of the time, including the Great Migration, in which African Americans moved from
the rural South to urban centers in the North, seeking job opportunities and fleeing racial
violence. Additionally, the war had stirred tensions as African American soldiers returned
home expecting greater equality and civil rights, only to face continued discrimination and
violence.

- The KKK of the 1920s targeted not only African Americans but also immigrants,
particularly those from Southern and Eastern Europe. The Klan portrayed itself as a

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defender of "100% Americanism" and sought to restrict immigration based on racist

and xenophobic ideologies.

- The Klan propagated white supremacist ideologies, promoting the belief in the
superiority of the "Nordic" or "Aryan" race. African Americans were the primary
targets, facing violence, intimidation, and efforts to suppress their civil rights.

- The Klan gained political influence in certain regions, especially in the Midwest and
the South. Some politicians openly supported or were affiliated with the Klan,
contributing to its power and influence at local and state levels.

3. Prohibition and consumer economy

The 1920s is often referred to as the beginning of a consumer economy, marked by a surge in
consumerism, the widespread availability of new products, and changes in lifestyle and
purchasing habits.

Prohibition in the United States was a policy that emerged in the context of the country's
return to conservatism after World War I. Following the war, there was a notable shift in
American society characterized by a desire for a return to traditional values, moral
conservatism, and a rejection of perceived social, cultural and economic excesses.
Prohibition, which took effect with the passage of the 18th Amendment in 1920, was a key
expression of this conservative sentiment.

- Moral and Social Concerns: The temperance movement, advocating for the reduction or
elimination of alcohol consumption, gained momentum during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. Concerns about the social and moral consequences of alcohol abuse resonated with
the conservative values of the time. The idea was that banning alcohol would promote social
order and strengthen traditional family values.

- Backlash Against Social Change: The post-World War I period saw significant social
changes, including shifts in gender roles, increased urbanization, and cultural transformations
associated with the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition was, in part, a reaction against perceived
excesses and changes in societal norms. It reflected a desire to exert control over behaviors
that were seen as deviating from traditional standards.

- Rural vs. Urban Divide: Prohibition was also influenced by a divide between rural and
urban America. Rural areas, often more conservative, were concerned about the perceived
moral decay associated with urban centers, where the consumption of alcohol was often more
prevalent. Prohibition was seen as a means to impose rural, conservative values on the entire
nation.

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References
Ben Mansour, Hend. “United States enters World War I.” Classroom Course, Oct. 2023.

Ben Mansour, Hend. “Post World War I America.” Classroom Course, Nov. 2023.

Sayah, Elhem. Twentieth Century America (US Culture Textbook). Faculty of Letters, Arts,
and Humanities, 2023.

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