How did life change for the average American as a result of the end of World War 1?

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The war did two things. 1) It started drawing America out of its isolation into the world. 2) it put America at the top of the world.

In his Farewell Address, Washington had warned America against foreign entanglements. A reversal of this policy was announced by General Pershing (or one of his officers) who told the French , "Lafayette, we are here."

Something like two million men were sent to France. These men got the "Grand Tour" of Europe, formerly reserved for the children of the wealthy, courtesy of Uncle Sam. (It wasn't until half a century later, in the late 1960s before families took the Grand Tour.) The post war ethos was "How can you keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paris." They had visited not only a "large" city but one that was arguably the cultural center of the world. This deployment contributed to the urbanization of America.

The war spurred technological advances in shipping, communications, banking, aerospace, etc, This innovation continued into the 1920s. Also, a lot of capital that was formerly in Europe had come to the states; America had about 45% of the world's gold reserves by 1923, up from a little over 25% in 1913. The result was a tech boom that brought about the "Roaring Twenties" that gave radio and movies (later TV) to average Americans. A similar thing happened in the 1990s after the Persian Gulf War, that produced the tech boom of the 1990s because the victory in the Persian Gulf War removed the sting of the Vietnam War while the Soviet Union, America's biggest rival, collapsed in the same year, in part because of the fall in oil prices resulting from the Persian Gulf War relative to say, 1990.

Sources: For the 1920s, "Generations," by William Strauss and Neil Howe, (Quill, 1992). For the 1990s, "A Modern Approach to Graham and Dodd Investing," (Wiley, 2004) by yours truly. Chapter 20 is an update of the original Strauss and Howe thesis for the 1990s.

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America was internationally isolated for the first half of its history. This reduced the pressure to industrialize and compete. It stayed very rural. The average American was a homesteader in 1915. They grew what they needed, plus more for income. Since the 1870's, railroads had created large farms which drove down prices. Small farmers were always petitioning for more legislation to support them, but still survived.

World War I was a wolf in sheep's clothing for farmers. Prices soared due to overseas demand. Small farmers everywhere took out loans to expand. After the war there was a huge oversupply. Prices crashed, loans defaulted. The slow impoverishment that farms had experienced for decades turned into outright bankruptcy. You can bet that the foreclosures led to consolidation into large farms. Once again, small farmers (and there were a lot of them), were petitioning the government for legislation. They were ignored.

Farms were broke. People had to get jobs in the city. This included African Americans. They began moving to cities in the North. This created the demographics that led to segregated schools. Segregated schools created the controversy which led to the Civil Rights Act of 1967.

The agricultural boom of the war, with no response from the government, put rural America in its grave. There was a natural alure to city life, but the socioeconomics of rural America drove the rapid change. Rural America was never rich, but now it was poor. There was no help from washington for rural farmers, but there was plenty of capitol for urban development. It's almost as if the money in Washington wanted to see the farmers broke. When legislation did come, it created even larger farms by subsidizing tractors and electricity.

Overall, it was geopolitical realities which brought America into line with modernity. A lot of capitol came from overseas to help it catch up in time for the next war.

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-worldwar/5955

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