Student Question
How did the labor movement and 1930s radicalism influence American political and cultural life?
Quick answer:
The labor movement and 1930s radicalism significantly influenced American political and cultural life by advocating for improved working conditions and establishing labor unions, which led to the passage of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935. This era saw labor movements gain political influence, contributing to New Deal legislation aimed at poverty relief and job creation. While popular culture often remained escapist, the period also sparked debates on wealth redistribution and government responsibility for economic welfare.
As far as the second part of your question goes, what I would call popluar culture did not really reflect the grim realities. I think you had some of that in songs like "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" and in books like "Of Mice and Men."
But people can't go around being depressed all the time, even during a depression. In most textbooks, the popular culture of the '30s is described as being pretty light-hearted, to get people's minds off their problems. Movies were quite popular and were often pretty funny or escapist. So you had Marx Brothers movies being very popular. And movies like "Broadway Melody of 1936." And you have songs like "Happy Days are Here Again" and Cole Porter songs like "Putting on the Ritz."
So the popular culture really did not reflect the grim realities -- why immerse yourself in grim reality for fun?
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During this time period people worked very hard to make working conditions better. They worked long hours and they worked for little money. There were also many issues concerning immigrants and children in the labor force. This is when labor unions were established but employers did not like this. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 made it mandatory for employers to work with the unions.
Radicalism focuses on the desire to change the structure of society. There were many organizations developed such as labor movements/relief and civil rights movements.
The Depression held a great deal of importance in the 1930's and had a huge impact on popular culture. The 1920's were referred to as the "roaring 20's" and then in the 1930's people had to be very thrifty. Very few people had the money to do fun things, instead they had to struggle to put food on the table for their families.
How did the labor movement and radicalism impact 1930s American political and cultural life?
A long believed facet of American life was in some ways under seige as the huge numbers of poor and unemployed in the 1930s rebelled against the groups they felt responsible, and in part to combat those groups formed labor groups that were sometimes political and sometimes more mob-ish. These groups rioted in many cities and eventually gained such political power that they were in some ways co-opted by the democratic party and served to bring a very large democrat majority to Congress and eventually into the White House in 1933.
One of the short term effects of this upheaval was the passage of the New Deal legislation which basically meant more money for relief of poverty and efforts to create jobs. The real turnaround economically did not come until the build up to WWII and the huge increase in production during and after the war, but the impetus began in the early 30's with these labor movements.
One of the long term social effects was the idea that the government was willing to help those who couldn't find jobs, etc., but it created an idea that has been bandied about politically since then which is the redistribution of wealth, taxing the rich to help the poor. Even today this is a hot topic and is almost always held up in that fashion but rarely is it discussed in the way it was in the 30's which was that the government had in so many ways helped to prop up the great industries and their rulers that they now owed some of that money back to the little people upon whose backs the industry was built.
This was such a radical idea at the time, and one that was even radical to some of those it benefited who for years prior to the early 30's had been completely willing to accept their fate as the American ideal was strong in them which suggested that if you couldn't find work or a way to get by it was your own fault.