American farmers, however, entered the new century feeling victimized and left behind by events. Although the number of farms in the country had doubled between and , the percentage of American involved in farming dropped from 60 percent in to 37 percent in Farms were becoming more specialized and commercialized, and more dependent on machines to keep up production.
Due to a static money supply in the s and s, combined with monopolies among the manufacturers and the railroads that shipped the farm goods, farmers often were unable to afford the machines they needed and were driven out of business. The family had no indoor plumbing, no phone, and no car.
About half of all American children lived in poverty. Most teens did not attend school; instead, they labored in factories or fields.
The nation's population shifted from the Northeast to the Sunbelt. During the early decades of the twentieth century, American artists also become more interested in organic and geometric abstraction , and begin to embrace modernism, a tendency that continues as European artists emigrate to the U. From the late s, the Vietnam War and the protests it provokes, followed by the Watergate scandal, the Arab Oil Embargo and resulting energy crisis, rampant inflation and recession in the s, and concerns about the environmental consequences of industrialization, all combine to shake American confidence.
These events are paralleled in the arts by a growing skepticism about artistic modernism and the emergence of the postmodern movement by the s. The political climate of the s is relatively conservative in comparison with the s, and economic recovery begins in the middle of the decade. Still largely a rural society, Americans increasingly moved to the city looking for work, armed with a belief in the possibilities and a strong work ethic.
Alongside them came nearly a half-million immigrants in , also seeking a better life. America's Industrial Revolution produced much prosperity and leisure, but also much poverty and disillusionment. Tycoons such as J. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie amassed fortunes greater than many European nobility. With no safety net, many workers just couldn't make it -- nearly a third of 's immigrants headed back home. Awareness of poor working conditions and unfair wages increased.
Concern that trusts and monopolies were taking advantage of workers led to the first large-scale organized labor strike in , an event that impacts industry even today.
But technology didn't stop for anyone, even in Recent advances included phonographs, light bulbs, typewriters, machine guns, skyscrapers, telegraphs, diesel fuel, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, microphones, and aspirin. In , a train could bring you the same distance in six days that a covered wagon brought you in six months.
Cross-continental travel became easy for almost anyone.
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