The Roaring Life of the 1920s: Cultural Conflicts and Tensions

1. CHAPTER The Roaring Life of the 1920s 21 Overview Time Lines 1 Changing Ways of Life SECTION 2 The Twenties Woman SECTION 3 Education and Popular Culture SECTION 4 The Harlem Renaissance SECTION Chapter Assessment Transparencies

2. THEMES IN CHAPTER 21 Constitutional Concerns Women in America Science and Technology Migration and Immigration CHAPTER The Roaring Life of the 1920s 21 HOME “The Era of Wonderful Nonsense” Westbrook Pegler, newspaper columnist

3. What do you know? • What are your impressions of the 1920s? What kinds of music, dances, and other entertainment do you associate with the 1920s? Read the quote above and answer the following: • What kinds of “wonderful nonsense” was Pegler referring to? • What images does the phrase “Roaring Twenties” refer to? CHAPTER The Roaring Life of the 1920s 21 HOME “The Era of Wonderful Nonsense” Westbrook Pegler, newspaper columnist

4. 1920The National Woman’s Party celebrates the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. 1921Andrew Mellon is named secretary of the treasury. 1922Harlem Renaissance flourishes. 1923Supreme Court strikes down minimum wage law for women. 1925Scopes trial takes place in Tennessee. Physicist R.A. Millikan discovers cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere. 1927 Charles Lindbergh makes first solo transatlantic flight. CHAPTER Time Line 21 HOME The United States

5. 1920Pan-Africanism movement gains strength. 1921Irish civil war begins. 1924Greece is proclaimed a republic. 1925Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf. 1927Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Union’s Communist Party. 1928President Alvaro Obregón of Mexico is assassinated. CHAPTER Time Line 21 HOME The World

6. Learn About life in the cities, Prohibition, and the outcome of the Scopes trial. To Understand how the Twenties reflected conflicts and tensions in American culture. SECTION 1 Changing Ways of Life HOME

7. SECTION 1 Changing Ways of Life HOME Key Idea Americans experience cultural conflicts as customs and values change in the United States during the 1920s.

8. Section 1: Changing Ways of Life • Rural and Urban Differences • Small towns were bound by traditional morals and close ties of family, friends, and religion • Cities offered varied perspectives and options b/c of their large mixed populations, cultural variety, and greater tolerance of values and ideas • Big clash between small-town and big-city life was the debate over Prohibition

9. The Prohibition Experiment • January 1920 the 18th Amendment established Prohibition • Prohibition: manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was illegal • The church-affiliated Anti-Saloon League had led the push for Prohibition • The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union helped push the Prohibition Amendment • Government did not budget enough money to enforce the law • The Volstead Act: established a Prohibition Bureau in the Treasury Department in 1919…agency was underfunded

12. Speakeasies and Bootleggers • Speakeasies: underground hidden saloons and nightclubs • Once inside people spoke quietly or easily to avoid detection • Bootleggers: named for a smuggler’s practice of carrying liquor in the legs of boots…a person who smuggled alcohol into the United States • Prohibition not only generated disrespect for the law but also contributed to organized crime in cities • Chicago and Al Capone: a gangster whose bootlegging empire netted over 60 million a year • Took control of the Chicago liquor business by killing off his competition • Newspapers headlined over 522 bloody gang killings • Arrested for tax evasion • Later released from jail but he died at the age of 48

18. Science and Religion Clash • Fundamentalism: Protestant movement grounded in the belief that all stories in the bible are literally true • Skeptical of scientific knowledge and rejected the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin: theory stating that plant and animal species developed and changed over millions of years • Billy Sunday: baseball player turned preachers who was a fundamentalist spreading ideas throughout the South

20. The Scopes Trial • Scopes trial: trial over evolution and the role of science and religion in public schools • John Scopes: biology teacher who challenged the law and was arrested • Trial ended with Scopes guilty and fined $100 • The law outlawing the teaching of evolution remained in effect

21. ISSUE: Prohibition ISSUE: teaching evolution LEGISLATION: The Eighteenth Amendment banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. LEGISLATION: A Tennessee state law made it a crime to teach evolution. OUTCOME: Many Americans broke the law. OUTCOME: Biology teacher John Scopes broke the law, was arrested, and was convicted. SECTION 1 Changing Ways of Life HOME 1 Section Assessment SUMMARIZING What legislation was passed in response to the issues of Prohibition and teaching evolution? What was the outcome of the legislation?

22. ANALYZING How might the overall atmosphere of the 1920s have contributed to the failure of prohibition? THINK ABOUT • changing values • changing lifestyles • fashions of the time SECTION 1 Changing Ways of Life HOME 1 Section Assessment

23. FORMING OPINIONS Do you think the passage of the Volstead Act and the verdict of the Scopes trial represent genuine triumphs for traditional values? Why or why not? THINK ABOUT • changes in urban life in the 1920s • the effects of Prohibition • the legacy of the Scopes trial SECTION 1 Changing Ways of Life HOME 1 Section Assessment

24. Learn About changes in lifestyles, jobs, and families during the 1920s. To Understand how women’s roles changed. SECTION 2 The Twenties Woman HOME

25. SECTION 2 The Twenties Woman HOME Key Idea The American woman of the 1920s pursues new lifestyles and assumes new jobs and different roles in society.

26. Section 2: The Twenties Woman • Young women change the rules • The experiences of WWI, the pull of cities, and changing attitudes opened up a new world • The Flapper: an emancipated young woman who embraced the new fashions and urban attitudes of the day • Flappers used clothing, hairstyles, and behavior to claim a new freedom • Casual dating became increasing accepted • Double Standard: a set of principals granting greater sexual freedom to men than to women…required women to observe stricter standards of behavior than men did

27. Women Shed Old Roles at Home and at Work • Big business and industry produced time saving appliances that freed women from some household chores • Business growth created jobs for millions of women …women were still confined to traditional jobs

30. The Changing Family • Many changes affected families in the 1920’s • Birthrate dropped • Household labor was simplified by technology • Children spent their days in school • Adolescent rebelliousness increased

32. lifestyleswearing new clothing, wearing more makeup, playing golf, dancing jobsteachers, nurses, librarians, social workers, clerical workers, store clerks, factory workers families decline in birthrate, higher divorce rate, more leisure time for housewives because of labor-saving devices, more pressure on working-class women SECTION 2 The Twenties Woman HOME 2 Section Assessment SUMMARIZING What were some examples of the changing role of women in the 1920s? CHANGES: WOMEN IN THE 1920s

33. ANALYZING During the 1920s, a double standard required women to observe stricter codes of behavior than men. Do you think that some women of this decade made real progress toward placing both genders on an equal footing? THINK ABOUT • psychologist G. Stanley Hall’s observations • the flapper’s style and image • changing views of marriage SECTION 2 The Twenties Woman HOME 2 Section Assessment

34. FORMING OPINIONS Today the term “glass ceiling” refers to the barriers women and minorities encounter in seeking higher career positions. In your opinion, could this term be applied to women’s job opportunities during the 1920s? THINK ABOUT • technology’s impact on jobs • women’s battle for equality • roadblocks to professional success for women SECTION 2 The Twenties Woman HOME 2 Section Assessment

35. Learn About the growth of schools, movies, mass media, and spectator sports. To Understand how the United States developed a popular culture in the 1920s—a culture that many artists and writers criticized. SECTION 3 Education and Popular Culture HOME

36. SECTION 3 Education and Popular Culture HOME Key Idea The mass media, movies, and spectator sports play important roles in the popular culture of the 1920s.

37. Section 3: Education and Popular Culture • Schools and the Mass Media Shape Culture • Schools change during the 1920’s • Students were able to attend high school…specialized classes were offered • Schools had to adapt to teaching students of new immigrant families…often did not know any English • Expanding News Coverage • Newspaper circulation rose as national chains gave readers more expansive coverage from the big cities • Mass circulation magazines also emerged as Reader’s Digest and Time became popular • Radio comes of Age • For the first time Americans could hear the news as it happened • Hear the voice of the President or listen to sports • http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug00/3on1/radioshow/1920radio.htm

40. Entertainment and the Arts • Movies provided excitement and romance through a medium that was new and changing • George Gershwin: Merged traditional elements with American Jazz creating a new sound that was identified as American • Georgia O’Keeffe: Produced colored canvases that captured the scenes of New York • Sinclair Lewis: first American to win a Nobel Prize in literature • Most famous novel was Babbitt • Scott Fitzgerald: coined the term “Jazz Age” to describe the 1920’s…famous writer in the 20’s • Edna St. Vincent Millay: wrote poems celebrating youth and a life of independence and freedom from traditional constraints • Ernest Hemingway: Famous novel writer • Very critical of war

42. SUMMARIZING What were some events relating to popular culture of the 1920s? 1926Gertrude Ederle’s historic swim across the English Channel 1928production of Steamboat Willie, the first animated talkie 1920first scheduled radio broadcast 1923founding of Time 1927Tunney-Dempsey boxing match,Lindbergh’s solo flight to Paris,Babe Ruth’s record-breaking 60 home runs, The Jazz Singer SECTION 3 Education and Popular Culture HOME 33 Section Assessment

43. FORMING OPINIONS Do you think the popular heroes of the 1920s were heroes in a real sense? Why or why not? THINK ABOUT • how you define heroism • the media hyping of sports stars during the 1920s • the accomplishments of Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, Gertrude Ederle, and Charles Lindbergh SECTION 3 Education and Popular Culture HOME 33 Section Assessment

44. SYNTHESIZING In what ways do you think the mass media and mass culture helped Americans create a sense of community in the 1920s? THINK ABOUT • the content and readership of newspapers and magazines • attendance at sports events and movie theaters • the scope of radio broadcasts SECTION 3 Education and Popular Culture HOME 3 Section Assessment

45. Learn About the efforts of the NAACP, Marcus Garvey’s movement, and the Harlem Renaissance. To Understand why the 1920s were a crucial era in African-American history. SECTION 4 The Harlem Renaissance HOME

46. SECTION 4 The Harlem Renaissance HOME Key Idea African-American ideas, politics, art, literature, and music flourish in Harlem and elsewhere in the United States.

47. Section 4: The Harlem Renaissance • The Move North • Great Migration: 1910-1920 hundreds of thousand of African Americans left the South and moved north to the big cities in search of jobs • African American Goals • Founded in 1909 the NAACP urged African Americans to protest racial violence • W.E.B. Du Bois: a prominent founding member • James Weldon Johnson: NAACP executive secretary • Antilynching laws were a high priority • Marcus Garvery: founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) • Believed African Americans should build a separate society, have pride in themselves, have economic independence, and a reverence for Africa

50. The Harlem Renaissance Flowers in New York • Harlem: a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of New York's Manhattan Island • Suffered from overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty • Harlem Renaissance: a literary and artistic movement led by well-educated, middle-class African Americans celebrating Africa American culture in the 1920’s