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The Roaring 20’s. America After WWI. The 1920s. Warm-up! Name two scandals associated with Warren Harding’s presidency and the importance of each. Impact of the Automobile.
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The Roaring 20’s America After WWI
The 1920s Warm-up! Name two scandals associated with Warren Harding’s presidency and the importance of each.
Impact of the Automobile • Car sales grew rapidly in the 1920s because Henry Ford’s assembly line cut cost by dividing the process into simple tasks. • Ford’s idea was to increase sales by lowering price.
Changing Lifestyles Due to the Automobile • Millions of jobs were created through factories, oil refineries, roads, highways, truck stops, gas stations, restaurants and tourist stops • Many Americans began to move to the suburbs to escape crowded conditions in cities
Mass Culture • Radio (took off in 1920 Election) • Movies (1927 began Golden age of Hollywood (talking pictures) • New Morality – glorified personal freedom. (Above, lines outside a movie theatre)
Fashion Fads, flappers Marathon Dancing The Jazz Age
More Fads • Flagpole sitting: Where young people would sit for hours and even days on top of a flagpole. (The record: 21 days!)
The Dance Craze • The Charleston • Has a quick beat • Dancers kick out their feet • Popular dance for Flappers: Women who wore short skirts (to the knees), bright red lipstick, hair cut short, smoked and drank in public, and drove fast cars
New Music Jazz: Born in New Orleans, created by African Americans, combination of West African rhythms, African American songs and spirituals, European harmonies Famous jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, “Jelly Roll” Morton
A New Generation of American Writers • Depressed about their awful experiences in World War I • Criticized Americans for being obsessed with money and fun • Many became expatriates (people who leave their own country to live in a foreign land) and moved to Europe
Ernest Hemingway • Wrote about experiences of Americans during WWI and in Europe • Wrote A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man in the Sea
F. Scott Fitzgerald • Wrote about wealthy young people who go to constant parties but cannot find happiness • He wrote The Great Gatsby • His characters had flappers, bootleggers, and movie makers
The Harlem Renaissance • In the 1920s, many African American artists settled in Harlem, New York City • Black artists, musicians, and writers celebrated their African and American heritage
Another famous figure of the era was Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born American who took pride in his African heritage. Conflict with Du Bois • Garvey thought the NAACP discouraged African American self-confidence, and that their goal of breaking down barriers between races threatened African racial purity. • Du Bois and the NAACP were suspicious of UNIA too, and The Crisis published an investigation of UNIA. • The FBI charged UNIA with mail fraud, and UNIA collapsed when Garvey went to prison and then left the country upon release. Garvey’s Rise • Formed the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which promoted self-reliance for African Americans without white involvement. • Garvey wanted American blacks to go back to Africa to create a new empire. • Garvey wanted African Americans to have economic success. His Black Star Line promoted trade among Africans around the world. • About 2 million mostly poor African Americans joined UNIA. Marcus Garvey and W.E.B. Du Bois
Harlem Renaissance Poets Claude McKay: From Jamaica, wrote the poem, “If We Must Die” that condemned lynchings Countee Cullen: Taught high school in Harlem, wrote of the experiences of African Americans
Langston Hughes • Most well-known of the Harlem Renaissance poets • Also wrote plays, short stories, and essays • First poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” • Encouraged African Americans to be proud of their heritage • Protested racism and acts of violence against blacks
Heroes of the 1920s • Athletes: • Bobby Jones: Won nearly every golfing championship • Jack Dempsey: Heavyweight boxing champion for 7 years • Bill Tilden and Helen Willis: Tennis champions • Gertrude Ederle: 1st woman to swim the English Channel
Babe Ruth • Grew up in an orphanage • Often in trouble as a boy • Hit 60 homeruns in one season, and 714 overall • Called the “Sultan of Swat”
Better Working Conditions • Workers began to get more rights at work. • International Harvester Company gave employees 2-weeks of paid vacation. This set the trend. • Wages increased (Ford Doubled his to $5 a day!)
Rise of the Airline Industry • 1903 Wright Brothers fly the first plane with a person on it (Kitty Hawk, NC) • Commercial Flights became popular in the 1920s. • Glenn Curtiss began building practical plains – Government began supporting the industry – Postal Service took advantage of it.
Charles Lindbergh • A great hero of the 1920s • The first person to fly an airplane across the Atlantic Ocean alone • Flew from New York to Paris • Called “Lucky Lindy” because he had to fly for 33 ½ hours and didn’t carry a parachute, a radio, or a map
Focus Questions • List three ways the 1920s influenced how we live today. • Who were the flappers and why were they important? • What is an expatriate? • Explain the significance of the Harlem Renaissance. • Who was Charles Lindbergh?