What were the new roles for American women in the 1920’s?

1. What were the new roles for American women in the 1920’s? • Gained the right to vote • They were elected to state and local offices • Entered the work force • More and more women attended college

2. Why do you think women tended to vote as their husbands and fathers did? • Had same political views • They were from similar backgrounds • From fathers, they had heard political viewpoint for years • Pressure

3. How do you think World War I changed women’s lives? • They began to work outside of the home • This brought more and more independence • They wanted to break away from traditional roles

4. How were supporters of women’s rights different from flappers? • Supporters of women’s rights wanted to advance women’s causes • Flappers were perceived as frivolous in attitude and behavior

5. Why do you think flappers lived in mostly urban areas? • Small towns and rural areas typically held traditional values • There was a growing divide amongst urban and rural people on values and what was normal and acceptable

6. What were the effects of growing urbanization in the U.S. in the 1920’s? • Shifts in values • Greater interaction between rural and urban populations (car, transportation) • More young people were going to school • School attendance increased along with growth of American industry (why?)

7. What surprising information was revealed in the 1920 census? • More people lived in urban areas than rural areas

8. How did the automobile change life in rural areas? • People living in rural areas spent more and more time in towns • This began to make them more urban in outlook and values

9. Why do you think increasing educational opportunities changed rural populations? • More people went to high school, on to college or to city jobs • Did not return to the farm • Began to see massive population movement away from the countryside

10. In what ways did the 1920’s reveal a national conflict over basic values? • Conflicts between urban and rural values • Rise of fundamentalism • Growth of Ku Klux Klan (most were workers, farmers, small business owners who saw their way of life ending) • Targeted not just African Americans but also recent immigrants, Catholics, Jews • Scopes trial

11. What were the traditional values of rural America? • Religious • Hard-working • Self-reliant • Independent

12. What was the issue at heart of the Scopes trial? • Whether or not evolution could be taught in public schools • Came to represent a number of other things (rural vs. urban)

13. Why did fundamentalists want to ban teaching evolution in schools? • They believed teaching evolution undermined religious faith; went against the Bible

14. What did the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act do? • Made it illegal to manufacture, transport, or sell alcohol • Volstead Act was created to enforce the amendment (Prohibition agency)

15. What were the main arguments in favor of Prohibition? • Promote family stability • Reduce crime • Use grain for better purposes (food)

16. How did Americans obtain alcohol during Prohibition? • From smugglers • Made their own • Prescribed as medicine

17. How did the passage of the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act lead to the rise of organized crime? • Demand for alcohol remained high • Led to organized crime controlling the smuggling and illegal sales of alcohol • Al Capone - Chicago

18. What was the Great Migration, and what problems and opportunities faced African Americans in the post- World War I era? • Thousands of African Americans moved to the North to escape segregation and violence; also for economic opportunities • Problems – violence, racial tension • Opportunities – better jobs, higher wages

19. Why did northern industries recruit workers from the South? • During World War I – demand for armaments, planes, ships, etc. – factories could not find enough workers to fill the jobs

20. What factors contributed to racial tension in northern cities? • Shortage of jobs after the war created competition among blacks and whites • African Americans had different expectations about how society should treat them due to their service in the war

21. Why do you think African Americans moved to Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C.? • These cities had large industries which created jobs • African-American neighborhoods in these cities gave African Americans a home

22. What was Harlem, and how was it affected by the Great Migration? • African American neighborhood in upper Manhattan in New York City • It became the center for African American culture and activism

23. What was the purpose of the NAACP? • To end discrimination and mistreatment of African Americans

24. How did the NAACP differ from the UNIA? • NAACP founded by African Americans and whites to end discrimination and mistreatment of African Americans • UNIA founded by African Americans (Marcus Garvey); wanted them to look out for their own interests; did not want white involvement; pushed for a world-wide African movement

25. Why do you think poor African Americans were attracted to the UNIA? • Garvey was a charismatic leader • Appealed to African American self-interests • Wanted to maintain racial purity of African Americans

26. Who were the key figures of the Harlem Renaissance? • James Weldon Johnson – journalist, educator, lawyer; wrote the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”; became leader of NAACP; published a book of poetry called God’s Trombones • Langston Hughes – poet, writer; wrote of both black defiance and hope • Artists – William H. Johnson, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence • Paul Robeson – actor • Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong – jazz artists

27. What was a common theme of Harlem Renaissance writers? • Defiance, resistance

28. How did the writings of Langston Hughes differ from other Harlem Renaissance writers? • He wrote of hope, not just defiance • His writings recorded the distinctive culture of Harlem in the 1920’s

29. What is jazz? • A musical form known for improvisation; many times it’s composed “on the spot” • Also know for its spirit, creativity • Louis Armstrong – “Man, if you have to ask what it is, you’ll never know”

30. What influence might the Harlem Renaissance have on future aspiring African American writers and artists? • The understanding that African Americans could be heard and achieve fame in their chosen careers • Creativity