Pulps Literature

Pulps magazines were printed on paper made out of wood-pulp. They were made cheaply and sold cheaply (Ashley). To start off the Pulps time period the United States legalized segregation in 1896 (Mays). In 1898 the U.S. occupied Cuba during the Spanish-American War and gained Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines as territories by the Treaty of Paris. There was a spirit of adventure instilled in Americans and it was deepened in 1903 when the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane. Many of the dime novels or pulp magazines were about adventure. In 1914 World War One broke out (Faragher 770). Many novels afterward were written about war. The novels were about things such as the dangers of war or specific battles. This type of literature was …show more content…
Roosevelt started the New Deal. The New Deal was a series of acts and programs that the United States government organized to try and help the American people during the Depression (Faragher 862). Acts like the Agricultural Adjustment Act, Civilian Conservation Corps, and Public Works Administration were examples of the policies from the New Deal that directly affected the people (Faragher 857). Many famous writers were involved in the Federal Writers Project which helped them achieve their popularity (Faragher 870). Then, in 1934, Adolf Hitler gained control of Germany. Five years later Hitler and his regime invaded Poland, which led to World War …show more content…
After a travel blockade in West Berlin the Soviet Union tested their first atomic bomb in 1949 (Faragher 938). A few years later both the Soviet Union and United States had tested multiple hydrogen bombs and began an arms race. Neither side dropped their bombs because if they did the other side would release all of theirs. During the Cold War literature, especially in the United States, was used to spread the idea that the Soviet Union was inferior. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s the fear of Communism in the United States was prevalent. People were accused of being a communist, even though a large majority were not, because of very weak ties to the communist party (930). The Korean War was the hot point of the Cold War from 1950 to 1953. North Korea was a communist state backed by Russia and China. South Korea was backed by the United States. The war ended in a stalemate and eventually led to the Vietnamese War (Glasser). Every aspect of war was written about afterwards and there was a surge in fiction about war. In 1955 schools in America started the desegregation process. Finally, in 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite dubbed Sputnik. People, especially the American people, were afraid for their safety and privacy. They thought that the Soviet Union was using the satellite to spy on the whole of America. The launch signaled the beginning of an “arms and space race”