Rural-Urban Tensions Of The Twenties Analysis

James H. Shideler examines the sharpening rural-urban tensions in the 1920s America in his essay “Flappers and Philosophers, and Farmers: Rural-Urban Tensions of the Twenties” published in 1973. He begins with F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Flappers and Philosophers that represented the “age of wonderful nonsense” and reflected the rapid modernization in the 20s. The essay is an agricultural history piece that primarily focuses on the rural experience, reactions, and transformations in a period of increasingly sharp and unequal rural-urban contrasts that favored the cities. Shideler argues that the 20s “was a time of cultural conflict, of polarization not merely interesting, but portentous, a time that determined succeeding development.” He is not satisfied
For evidence, Shideler uses mostly quotes by various critics and spokesmen at that time as well as other historians’ works on the subject. In the first part, Shideler argues that the causes of the rural-urban tension were the cultural, social, and economic differences between the city and the country. Culturally, rural people were conservative, individualistic, and cherished hard work and integrity. On the other hand, urban people “praised change rather than tradition”. The city culture encouraged exploitation and manipulation which rural people frowned upon. Shideler shows this cultural distinction effectively by quoting critics supporting either side such as Reinhold Niebuhr, who criticized that in urban situations, “people are spiritually isolated.” However, the rural lost the competition ultimately because it was disadvantaged economically and socially. Economically the post-war depression reduced farm product prices. Socially the cities had better education, infrastructure, and health systems. Also importantly, the 1.4 million out-migration of young people from the farm to the city during the decade disturbed the older generation. All of the above caused the rural-urban strain, as argued by Shideler. His use of primary-source quotes and statistics is convincing. Next, he presents the manifestation of the tension. Shideler agrees with historian Merle Curti that certain aberrations of the twenties were results of the rural-urban tension. The prohibition enforcement was an attempt to restore a socially healthy nation and immigration restriction and KKK were both based on rural prejudice. He explains how these events were rural resistance to urbanization but says that they were also “backward-looking rather than reformist”. Shideler in this part