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The Roaring 20’s

The Roaring 20’s. Modern Society. Return to Conservatism. Simpler past. Time of Great Change. The Roaring 20’s. An era of prosperity, Cultural Conflict Republicans. 1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or the "Jazz Age"

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The Roaring 20’s

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  1. The Roaring 20’s Modern Society Return to Conservatism. Simpler past Time of Great Change

  2. The Roaring 20’s An era of prosperity, Cultural Conflict Republicans

  3. 1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or the "Jazz Age" • in sum, a period of great change in American Society - modern America is born at this time • for first time the census reflected an urban society - people had moved into cities to enjoy a higher standard of living

  4. Ageof Prosperity • Economic expansion • Mass Production • Assembly Line • Age of the Automobile • Ailing Agriculture…

  5. an agri. depression in early 1920's contributed to this urban migration • U.S. farmers lost agri. markets in postwar Europe • at same time agri. efficiency increased so more food produced (more food = lower prices) and fewer workers needed = incomes drop • Demand for agricultural goods not rising as fast as production • so American farmers enter the Depression in advance of the rest of society

  6. Black Americans in this period continued to live in poverty • sharecropping kept them in de facto slavery • 1915 - boll weevil wiped out the cotton crop • white landowners went bankrupt & forced blacks off their land • Demographic change – movement away from farms, countryside

  7. Blacks moved north to take advantage of booming wartime industry (= Great Migration) - Black ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem • within these ghettoes a distinct Black culture flourished • But both blacks and whites wanted cultural interchange restricted

  8. Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born immigrant) established the Universal Negro Improvement Association • believed in Black pride • advocated racial segregation b/c of Black superiority • Garvey believed Blacks should return to Africa • he purchased a ship to start the Black Star line • attracted many investments: gov't charged him with w/fraud • he was found guilty and eventually deported to Jamaica, but his organization continued to exist

  9. Consumer Economy

  10. Creating Consumers • Marketing – installment plans • Advertising – big business in the 1920s • Prior to WWI - @ 500 mill, by 1929 – 3 bill • Targeted women, children, fear, hopes • Outrageous false claims, no laws yet • Saturday Evening Post – rural families • Readers’ Digest – modern, urban life • Time Magazine – condensed news of week

  11. The Land of Automobile • Henry Ford – Model T • Used Frederick Taylor’s “scientific management” • Assembly line • $850 in 1909 vs. $290 in 1924 • “Auto-tourism,” vacationing, • Contributed to develop of a “youth culture”

  12. Culture of the Roaring 20’s Radio 1st commercial station in 1920: KDKA Pittsburgh Westinghouse,& RCA form NBC in 1927 Silent Movies Charlie Chaplin “Talkies” The Jazz Singer Starring Al Jolson Mary Pickford “America’s Sweetheart” By 1929, over 80 million went to movies

  13. Celebrities Babe Ruth &Ty Cobb Charles Lindbergh The Spirit of St. Louis Jack Dempsey

  14. The 20’s isThe Jazz Age The Flappers make up cigarettes short skirts Writers F. Scott Fitzgerald Ernest Hemingway Musicians Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington Artists Edward Hopper Georgia O’keefe

  15. The Jazz Age • Expressed sadness, pain, joy of black America • Harlem’s Cotton Club – admitted only white customers despite fact performers were frequently black • Big Band music – both black and white jazz players • Harlem Renaissance – cultural center of African American writers, artists, musicians

  16. I, Too – Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to the eat in the Kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, eat well, and grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me “Eat in the kitchen,. Besides, they’ll then see how Beautiful I am, and be ashamed – I, too, am America.

  17. The New Woman • 1920's also brought about great changes for women... • 1920 - 19th Amendment gave them the federal vote • Alice Paul pressed on (although unsuccessfully” for ERA • after 1920, social circumstances changed too as more women worked outside the home • and more women went to college and clamoured to join the professions • women didn't want to sacrifice wartime gains - amounted to a social revolt • characterized by the FLAPPER/ "new woman" • (bobbed hair, short dresses, smoked in public...)

  18. The Lost Generation Personal alienation Contempt of materialism, consumerism, business as usual, society devoid of idealism War had been a fraud “Debunkers” – savage ridicules of conformity of middle class life H.L. Mencken American Mercury Sinclair Lewis Main Street, Babbit Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise The Great Gatsby T.S. Eliot The Waste Land William Faulkner Sound and Fury The Disenchanted

  19. Anti-immigrant Red Scare Belief immigrants = radicalism 1921, Quota System 1924 National Origins Act Sacco-Vanzetti Trial Italian immigrants Unfair trial A Society in Conflict

  20. Re-rise of Nativism

  21. for immigrants – the point of origin had shifted to S & E Europe and new religions appeared: Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic • N. European immigrants of early 19c. feared this shift and felt it would undermine Protestant values • many wanted Congress to restrict immigration, leading to a quota system that favored Northwestern Europeans (quota based on 1890 census not 1910 census) • fear of immigrants (from SE Europe) led to a sentiment known as the Red Scare (fear of comm. post-Bolshevik Rev.) • Communist advocates a int'l revolution by the proletariat/workers - fears that this ideology could find its way into the U.S.

  22. at this time, W. Wilson was gravely ill following a stroke • his Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, wanted to take a shot at the presidency - he used fears of both immigrants and communism to his advantage • he had J. Edgar Hoover round up suspected radicals, many of which were deported (Palmer Raids)

  23. The Ku Klux Klan Great increase In power Purge Impure aliens Anti-immigrant Anti-Semitic Anti-Catholic Anti-black Anyone who Posed challenge To traditional values – anti divorce, bibles in school, etc Anti-women’s suffrage Anti-bootleggers

  24. Scopes “Monkey” Trial Evolution vs. Creationism Science vs. Religion Dayton, Tennessee Famous Lawyers John Scopes High School Biology teacher

  25. Religious Fundamentalism • Religious Revivalism denouncing evils of modern society, popular entertainment • Bible must be interpreted literally • Rejected teachings of Charles Darwin • Attacked the Modernists, adapted religion to fit teachings of modern science • Evangelist Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson

  26. The Monkey Trial • ACLU (free speech, expression) represented for free anyone who would challenge Tenn law • Judge opened trial with a prayer, wouldn’t allow expert testimony from evolution scholars • Clarence Darrow called Bryan to stand as “expert witness”, tricked him into admitting that religious dogma can be interpreted differently • Fundamentalists appeared narrow-minded, foolish

  27. Prohibition 18th Amendment Volstead Act Gangsters untouchables Al Capone

  28. PROHIBITION - on manuf. and sale of alcohol • adopted in 1919 - 18th AMENDMENT • an outgrowth of the long time temperance movement • in WWI, temperance became a patriotic mvmt. - drunkenness caused low productivity & inefficiency, and alcohol needed to treat the wounded • a difficult law to enforce... organized crime, speakeasies, bootleggers were on the rise • Al Capone virtually controlled Chicago in this period - capitalism at its zenith… • Prohibition finally ended in 1933 w/ the 21st Amendment • forced organized crime to pursue other interests…

  29. Republican Leadership • Many Americans believed Republican party more likely to restore stability • Dominated all branches of gov’t • Favored business and social stability = economic growth

  30. Domestic Issues Normalcy Prom. Cabinet Pos. Herbert Hoover Charles Evan Hughes Andrew Mellon Quota System (1921) Nat’l Origins Act (1924) Teapot Dome Scandal Sec. of Interior Albert Fall Leased Oil reserves in Wyoming in return for $2 mill bribe Foreign Issues Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922) Opposed L of N Avoid entangling alliances Disarmament Washington Conference of 1921 Dawes Plan Warren Harding (1921-1923)

  31. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) • Silent Cal, ““Keep Cool with Coolidge • Restore dignity, prestige to Presidency • Extremely minimal role for gov’t • The chief business of American people is business • Refused Hoover’s insistence to regulate buying of stock on credit during 1920s • Kellogg-Briand Act (1927): 15 nations pledged to outlaw war (unrealistic, unworkable – no provision for enforcement)

  32. Herbert Hoover Held Cabinet posts under Harding & Coolidge Nat’l Food Admin. Favored Prohibition 1st time women vote made huge impact Won by huge margin – hoped “coolidge prosperity” would continue under Hoover Alfred E. Smith 1st Roman Catholic to run Against Prohibition Urban area votes The Election of 1928

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