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The Roaring 20s

The Roaring 20s. Unit Overview. Organizing Principle.

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The Roaring 20s

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  1. The Roaring 20s Unit Overview

  2. Organizing Principle • The “Roaring Twenties” were an oddity in a sense as they were ushered in on Warren G. Harding’s campaign slogan, “a return to normalcy.” On one hand, this decade is largely marked by isolationism and a McKinley style conservatism in the political realm. On the other hand, this period of introversion displays a radical cultural shift in the American identity that challenged rural American traditions. In this sense, the decade of the 1920s was largely a departure from normalcy.

  3. The Automobile • Infant industry • Inventors and promoters • Henry Ford and Ransom E. Olds • Factory assembly • 1910: 69 companies—181,000 cars • Frederick W. Taylor • Father of scientific management • Ford Motor Company • Standardized parts • Moving assembly line • 1930: 20 million cars made

  4. The Gasoline Age • Auto industry • Ousts steel as industrial powerhouse • Employs 6 million people (1930) • Concomitant industries • Glass, rubber, fabrics, highways, service stations… • Oil—gasoline • Rails declined • Market economy • Faster and more independent • Social change • Vacations, demographics, female autonomy, suburbanization, dangers of the road, youth in rebellion

  5. Ze Plane! Ze Plane! • “Miracle at Kitty Hawk” • 17 December 1903 • Starts the air age • Uses of the airplane • Entertainment—stunt fliers • Transcontinental mail route • NY to SF (1920) • Charles Lindbergh • Spirit of St. Louis—NY to Paris • Impacts • Transportation, isolationism, rails, war…

  6. Temperance “The reign of tears is over! The slums will soon be only a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile and the children will laugh. Hell will be forever for rent!” • Billy Sunday

  7. The Prohibition “Experiment” • The 18th Amendment • Bans the sale or manufacturing of alcohol • Volstead Act—enforces amendment • Supported by churches and women • Difficult to enforce • Criminalizes a major component of the social scene • Officials bribed • Naysayers • Soldiers, working class, foreigners, city dwellers… • Big Picture • Unsuccessful as a law • Savings increased and work attendance increased

  8. Illegal Consumption • Speakeasies & Blind Pigs • Hidden saloons • Shiners • Distill own concoctions • Bathtub gin • Bootleggers & Rumrunners • Alcohol smugglers • Canada • West Indies

  9. Organized Crime Syndicates • Chicago • Al Capone (Scarface) • Monopoly on Chicago liquor • Smuggling • Speakeasies • Bribe and violence • $100 million • Arrested in 1931 • Organized crime • Grossed 12—18 billion/year • Drugs, prostitution, and gambling • Protection money

  10. Religion meets Science • “Fundamentalism” • Literal interpretation of Holy Scripture • Bible provides all knowledge • Skeptics of science • Evolution

  11. The Scopes Trial • 1925: Tennessee outlaws teaching evolution • John T. Scopes breaks law • Legal council by ACLU • National spectacle • Thousands in attendance • William Jennings Bryan versus Clarence Darrow • Bryan called as expert witness for defense • Darrow makes a mockery of fundamentalists • Scopes found guilty

  12. The Dynamic Decade • Characteristics of the 20s • Urban population>rural population • Opportunities for women—women’s work • Women’s rights • Margaret Sanger—birth control • Alice Paul—Equal Rights Amendment of 1923 (fails) • Modernism replaces fundamentalism • “Flappers”—challenged societal norms • Sexual mores loosen • Double Standard • Jazz Age

  13. Media in the 1920s • Radio • Mass broadcasts homogenized American culture: • Sports casts, politics, programs, music… • Film • Nickelodeons to full length features • D.W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation (1915) • “Hang the Kaiser” films—WWI propaganda • The Jazz Singer (1927)—first “talkie” • Media facilitated acculturation of immigrants

  14. Harlem Renaissance • In between WWI and WWII, African-American ideas, politics, art, literature, and music emanated from Harlem and impacted the culture of the United States.

  15. Key Events &Players • Great Migration • UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association): • Founder: Marcus Garvey • Pan-Africanism • Blacks should push for a separate society • Langston Hughes • Describes the struggles of black working class • Uses jazz and blues tempos

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