Labor and the War: Definitions of Success in Early 20th Century America

“I ask you women, are you going to be content to become servants of the two old parties in our country...? Put a high price on your freedom! Keep away from the Democratic and Republican Parties...Don’t vote! By this refusal to consort with admitted evils, you will get new strength.”
-Alva Belment

In the America of the early 20th century, there was a changing tide that swept through the American psyche. The Progressive movement, consisting of mostly middle class Americans, had brought many issues front and center regarding local and state governmental policy, the economy, and women’s suffrage. This movement was truncated by the First World War, which tore apart the momentum created by the Progressive and shifting America back to societal trends of the past. These trends included the devolution of government to the local level, as well as personal trends such as individualism and the decadent fulfillment of desires. Overall, the little amount of good that was created during the Progressive Era was either reversed or transformed into a different forms in the 1920s. Success, or the ascension from one level to the next, was not possible for the greater public. This glass ceiling was caused by two general themes: the constant strife of labor and the First World War.