This unit is entitled
The 1920s: The Rise of Consumer Culture
. Economic, social, and cultural aspects of the 1920s will be examined. Three major questions will be considered:
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1. To what degree was this decade a prosperous one? Which Americans shared in the prosperity?
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2. What role did advertising and installment buying play in the development of the “consumer culture?”
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3. How was the popular culture of the 1920s related to economic changes? Did different aspects of the “Roaring Twenties” affect different groups of people? if so, why?
These questions do not appear to be difficult ones at first glance. It would seem that by gathering the appropriate data and analyzing that data objectively, one could answer the questions presented above. Yet the collection of historical data is an imperfect undertaking, while objectivity is at best an ideal. Historians, I would argue, tend to choose their data selectively; furthermore, the type of selectivity used is determined subjectively, not objectively. The historian’s beliefs about the subject he is studying determine methods and nature of data selection and hence the final historical analysis. Naturally this leads to competing viewpoints. These competing viewpoints make history an exciting subject to study, for in the last analysis, history is not data (“What happened?”) but moral and political philosophy (“What should the world be like?”)
Essentially, I’m arguing that interpretation is the substance of history. This is a familiar argument, but I’m willing to argue that interpretation should be the substance of history
at all levels of study
. I disagree with those who say “Teach the facts in high school, the interpretations in college.” This view supports Jerome Bruner’s contention that “any subject can be taught in an intellectually honest way at any grade level.” Here, of course, the subject is historiography, not history.
If interpretative skills are to be developed in a history course, it is wise to begin early. Even bright students may believe that their textbook presents a purely objective view of history. By giving students several analysis of a particular historical issue the first week of school, students can begin to realize that each historian has a unique perspective and point of view. This will help your students begin thinking historiographically. Slavery may be the topic which provides the most dramatic introduction to historiography. A paragraph from the writings of a “Southern school” historian, such as Dunning or Phillips, may be contrasted with a paragraph written by a modern historian, such as Genovese or Franklin. Better students will be able to detect more subtle differences in interpretations and will be able to contrast four or five interpretations. Keep asking “Who is right? How do we know who is right? Can we determine scientifically who is right?” and your students will have started to think like historians.
Ideally, the next step is to have students draw up their own categories of historical interpretations. If this is beyond their grasp, present them with a framework of historical interpretations. Historical interpretations can be classified in a variety of ways. These interpretative frameworks can be placed along a continuum, moving from what is usually considered conservative ideology to radical ideology. One possible framework looks like this:
