Traditionalism In The 1920s

During the 1920s, culture began to flourish as America expanded. New cities brought in the urban lifestyle. This expansion led to ideas transcending their traditional roots. Yet, as more urban based communities were formed, traditionalists began to fight back against their ideas. Many traditionalists didn’t accept the new culture, and wanted to stop it. A main example of an urban-based culture was the flappers. Flappers were the new modern, independent women of that time. Women began to expand from their traditional roots and go against the social norms set for them. Many traditionalists believed that these flappers dressed too provocatively and promoted a bad image for women. By dressing as they did, drinking, and attending …show more content…
Sinclair Lewis, an author, wrote famous books such as Main Street and Elmer Gantry. Main Street was controversial because it was about a woman who was unsatisfied with the cultural norms of society. Elmer Gantry dealt with a man that had graduated college and didn’t know what to do with his life. He decided to become an evangelist in order to make a great income. This angered many evangelists of that time because they believed the book promoted a bad image of evangelists. F. Scott Fitzgerald was also a famous author during that time. Among many of Fitzgerald’s works, is The Great Gatsby. This book presented the then modern urban life. It was highly acclaimed among member of the urban society, but ridiculed by traditionalists. Among the scientists of that time is Sigmund Freud. Many of his ideas went against the norms of society. For instance, Freud believed that religion gave purpose, but pleasure was truly what ran the human race. This angered many religious traditionalists of this time because it went against their belief that religion is what drives the human race. Margaret Sanger also became prominent during the 20s. Sanger believed that woman should be informed more on the prevention of pregnancy and be ready for pregnancy. Sanger passed out the pamphlet titled What Every Girl Should Know in order to promote her ideas. This angered many people and she was eventually jailed …show more content…
The union usually intervened on laws that impacted civil liberties. One of the biggest cases to represent traditional vs. secular was the case of Tennessee banning the teaching of evolution in institutions. John Scopes battled Tennessee with ACLU by his side. Scopes was a former biologist who became a high school teacher. Scopes wanted to teach his class the scientific theory, but was forbidden based on Tennessee law. ACLU and Scopes argued that this went against the 1st amendment. ACLU retrieved Clarence Darrow, a famous attorney, to help with the case. By the end of the trial, Scopes was fined 100 dollars and the case was left unresolved. One of the victories Scopes achieved was hearing William Jennings Bryan admit that not some religious ideas could possibly have more than 1