In APUSH, materialism refers to the 1920s cultural shift toward valuing material possessions, wealth, and comfort over traditional or spiritual values, driven by mass production of consumer goods, installment buying, advertising, and new mass media like radio and cinema (Topic 7.7).
Materialism, in its strict philosophical sense, is the idea that physical matter is the only reality. But that's not how it shows up on the AP exam. In APUSH, materialism is shorthand for the 1920s value shift in which Americans increasingly measured the good life in stuff: cars, radios, refrigerators, ready-made clothes. New technologies and manufacturing techniques (think the assembly line) refocused the U.S. economy on consumer goods, raising standards of living and personal mobility (KC-7.1.I.A). At the same time, radio and cinema spread a national culture built around buying (KC-7.2.I.A).
Materialism is the attitude underneath consumer culture. Consumerism is the behavior, the actual buying on credit and chasing the newest Model T. Materialism is the belief that those purchases are what make you successful and happy. Writers of the era like Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald skewered exactly this mindset, and the tension between materialist modernity and traditional religious or rural values fed many of the decade's cultural conflicts.
Materialism lives in Unit 7 (Progressivism to WWII, 1890-1945), specifically Topic 7.7 on the 1920s. It supports learning objective APUSH 7.7.A, explaining the causes and effects of innovations in communication and technology. Here's the chain you need: mass production techniques made consumer goods cheap and abundant (KC-7.1.I.A), mass media like radio and film advertised them and spread a shared national culture (KC-7.2.I.A), and materialism is the resulting value system. It also plugs into the American and National Identity and Work, Exchange, and Technology themes, because the 1920s debate over whether prosperity was hollowing out American values is a classic culture-clash question.
Keep studying APUSH Unit 7
Consumerism (Unit 7)
These two travel together. Consumerism is the behavior, like buying a radio on the installment plan, while materialism is the underlying belief that owning things equals living well. The 1920s economy supplied the goods; materialism supplied the motivation.
The Roaring Twenties (Unit 7)
Materialism is one of the defining features of the decade's culture. Rising wages, advertising, and credit made the pursuit of possessions feel like a national pastime, which is exactly the energy 'Roaring' captures.
Consumer Goods (Unit 7)
Automobiles, radios, and household appliances were the physical proof of materialism. KC-7.1.I.A connects mass production of these goods directly to higher living standards, so the goods themselves are your go-to evidence when you argue about 1920s values.
Gilded Age conspicuous consumption (Unit 6)
Materialism didn't appear from nowhere. Gilded Age elites flaunted wealth too, but the 1920s democratized it. Mass production and credit meant ordinary families, not just Vanderbilts, could chase status through stuff. That continuity-with-change setup is DBQ gold.
No released FRQ has used 'materialism' verbatim, but the concept sits inside a very common exam move, explaining how 1920s technology and mass media reshaped American culture (LO APUSH 7.7.A). On multiple choice, expect a 1920s advertisement, a Sinclair Lewis or Fitzgerald excerpt, or a critic complaining that Americans worship the dollar, followed by a question asking what development the source reflects. The answer usually points to mass production of consumer goods or the spread of national culture through radio and cinema. On short answers and DBQs, materialism works best as analysis vocabulary. Use it to explain WHY consumer spending boomed, or as one side of the decade's modern-versus-traditional culture clash alongside Prohibition and religious fundamentalism.
Consumerism is the economic behavior, the actual mass buying of goods, often on installment credit. Materialism is the value system behind it, the belief that possessions and wealth define success and happiness. On the exam, use consumerism when you're describing what people did with the 1920s economy, and materialism when you're describing what people believed or what critics like the Lost Generation writers attacked.
In APUSH, materialism means the 1920s shift toward valuing possessions and wealth over traditional or spiritual values, not the philosophy about physical matter.
Mass production techniques focused the economy on consumer goods and raised living standards (KC-7.1.I.A), which made widespread materialism possible.
Radio and cinema spread a national consumer culture (KC-7.2.I.A), turning the desire for goods into a shared American identity.
Materialism is the belief; consumerism is the behavior. Keep that distinction sharp in essays.
Materialism fueled the decade's culture wars, since traditionalists and writers like Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald saw it as moral decay.
It makes a strong continuity-and-change argument, building on Gilded Age conspicuous consumption but spreading to the middle class through credit and mass production.
Materialism is the 1920s cultural shift toward prizing material possessions, wealth, and comfort over traditional or spiritual values. It was driven by mass production of consumer goods, installment credit, advertising, and mass media like radio and cinema, all covered in Topic 7.7.
Consumerism is the behavior, the mass buying of goods like cars and radios, often on credit. Materialism is the value system behind it, the belief that owning things defines success. The 1920s had both, and the exam rewards you for using the right one.
Not on the AP exam. The philosophical definition exists, but APUSH uses materialism in the cultural sense, meaning the 1920s prioritization of possessions and wealth. If you see it on a question, think consumer culture, not metaphysics.
New technologies and manufacturing techniques (like the assembly line) made consumer goods cheap and abundant, raising standards of living and personal mobility (KC-7.1.I.A). Advertising and new mass media, especially radio and film, then spread a national culture centered on buying (KC-7.2.I.A).
No. Writers like Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald criticized it as shallow, and religious traditionalists saw it as moral decline. That backlash is part of the decade's broader modern-versus-traditional culture clash, which also produced Prohibition and the fundamentalist movement.
Connect this key term to the AP exam workflow: review the course, practice questions, and check related study tools.
Review units, study guides, and course resources.
Check this vocabulary in multiple-choice context.
Apply key concepts in written AP responses.
Estimate the exam score you are working toward.
Review the highest-yield facts before practice.
Put the full course together before test day.