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Life in the 1920s: The Jazz Age and Cultural Revolution

Explore the vibrant 1920s: Prohibition, rise of gangsters like Al Capone, music icons like Louis Armstrong, Babe Ruth's baseball triumphs, and literary greats like F. Scott Fitzgerald. Uncover the era's events, from the Red Scare to the Scopes Trial, in this immersive journey through the Roaring Twenties.

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Life in the 1920s: The Jazz Age and Cultural Revolution

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  1. WARMUP • What might life be like for Americans in the 1920s? • How would the culture change? • What stories do you know about the 1920s?

  2. The Jazz Age and the Harlem Renaissance Culture of the ’20s

  3. Life in the 1920s: • Prohibition Era (1919-1933): • 18th Amendment(1919) – prohibited the making, selling, or transportation of alcohol • Volstead Act – law passed by Congress to enforce prohibition – ignored by most of the cities on the east coast

  4. Life in the 1920s: • Success of prohibition: -consumption of alcohol decreased -arrest for drunkenness decreased • Why did Prohibition eventually fail? • Not enforced – some police depts. were corrupt, just didn’t care, or were scared of the gangsters • Most people didn’t take prohibition seriously – drank anyway

  5. Effects of Prohibition

  6. Life in the 1920s: • The crime wave that began made most people think that the amendment should be repealed • organized crime got involved in bootlegging(the illegal selling of alcohol) • the most famous gangster of the 1920s was Al Capone from Chicago

  7. Life in the 1920s: • Al Capone – nicknamed “Scarface” -had a talent for avoiding jail by buying off policemen, city officials, and politicians -made up to $60 million a year from bootlegging -convicted of tax evasion in 1931 and sent to prison -released in 1939 after becoming ill with syphilis – died in 1947

  8. Life in the 1920s: • 21st Amendment(1933) – repealed the 18th Amend. and allowed local communities to decide whether or not to legalize alcohol • Slang Words from prohibition era: -bathtub gin -moonshine (made at night) -white lightning -speakeasy – secret club or bar – usually in a basement – needed a password to get in

  9. Life in the 1920s: • Entertainment: • Shorter working hours and higher wages gave Americans more spare time and more money for entertainment • Radio – first radio station in Pittsburgh, PA in Nov. 1920 – only news at first – baseball and music broadcasted later • Moving Picture Shows (“movies”) – all movies were silent films at first (had music but no talking) Ex. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Clara Bow • Sports –often called the “Golden Age of Sports” • Music / Dance – the radio made music more popular • Literature

  10. Life in the 1920s: • Sports Continued • Babe Ruth – nicknamed “The Sultan of Swat” or “The Great Bambino” -most famous baseball player of the 20s -played most of his career with the NY Yankees -hit 60 homeruns in 1927 (remained a record until 1961) -hit 714 career homeruns (remained a record nearly 40 years)

  11. Life in the 1920s: • Music and Dance Continued • Jazz was the most popular music of the 20s • started in New Orleans • Louis Armstrong was the most popular jazz musician of the 20s • George Gershwin was a popular composer – wrote “Rhapsody in Blue” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSq_nwoG43s&safe=active • popular dances included: Charleston, Fox-trot, and Tango

  12. Life in the 1920s: • Literature Continued • Famous 1920s authors include: • F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby • Sinclair Lewis – Main Street • Ernest Hemingway – A Farewell to Arms • Langston Hughes

  13. Langston Hughes • Poetry Reading: “Let America be America again”

  14. Life in the 1920s: • Return of the Ku Klux Klan • Revived in the 1920s • Membership: -1916- 100,000 -1924- 2 million -1928- 4 million -today- approx. 6,000 • Attacked African Am.’s, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants

  15. Life in the 1920s: Scopes / “Monkey” Trial • The state of TN passed a law in 1925 that made it illegal to teach evolution (Charles Darwin theory) in public schools • John Scopes, a teacher from Dayton, TN, was chosen by the ACLU to challenge the law

  16. Life in the 1920s: • He was arrested and charged – defense attorney was Clarence Darrow • William Jennings Bryan was the prosecutor • The judge refused to allow scientists to testify for the defense since “they were not around during creation” • Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, however the law was later changed

  17. DOT ACTIVITY

  18. Life in the 1920s: • The Red Scare • The fear of radicals (esp. communists and socialists) • Causes: 1) the communist revolution in Russia (1917) scared many Americans – “If it can happen there, it can happen here.” 2) terroristic violence in the U.S. – mail bombs were sent to local, state, and national leaders

  19. Life in the 1920s: • Because of the Red Scare and the power of the KKK, limits were placed on immigration • Sacco and Vanzetti Case – two Italian immigrants, who were anarchists, were accused of killing 2 men during a robbery in MA – convicted without a fair trial – both were executed in 1927

  20. Boom Time? • The years between World War I and the Great Depression were "boom times" in the United States. • A "boom" is a time of rapid, widespread expansion of economic opportunity, during which jobs are plentiful. • Jobs were plentiful in cities, especially in the North.

  21. Women in the 20s • Women are starting to assert themselves in this time period • Flappers: Women in the 20s who challenge the old norms of America.Modern women of the 1920s – young, rebellious, fun-loving, and bold – short hair, short dresses (to the knees), more makeup (esp. lipstick) – attitudes changes – ex: began to smoke and drink in public, vote

  22. The Harlem Renaissance • Explosion of culture among African Americans in New York • Langston Hughes, Louis Mailou Jones, Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong

  23. originally called the New Negro Movement. fostered a new black cultural identity. 1920s through mid-40s. an outpouring of creative expression that had long been bottled up by the constraints of segregation. Harlem Renaissance

  24. Edward Kennedy (Duke) Ellington(1899-1974) composer, musician, band leader

  25. The Great Migration • Mass exodus from the South • Between 1920 and 1930, almost 750,000 African Americans left the South for political, social, and economic reasons. • At the beginning of the period, particularly in the South, racism was rampant, and economic opportunities were scarce. • At this time in the South, African Americans were restricted to "colored" facilities clearly inferior to those reserved for white citizens. • Lynching was still being used to instill fear in entire African American communities in the South.

  26. Strange Fruit • Before I show you the video, keep in mind: • What is the singer describing? • What words or actions stand out to you? • What is the mood or tone of the song? • What issue in society might the song be about?

  27. Strange Fruit (deals with lynching) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs

  28. The “New” City – The Great Migration

  29. Causes of Migration • new farm machinery drove thousands of tenant farmers off the land. • Southern states had fewer schools and higher rates of illiteracy than Northern states. • Northern states also had more cultural attractions and booming industries. • wider opportunities for prosperity • more racially tolerant environments • a sense of actual (as opposed to theoretical) citizenship

  30. The New Negro Has no Fear • After centuries of abuse in the South, many African Americans were "voting with their feet" UNIA ParadeOrganized in Harlem, 1924

  31. The North: Home Sweet Home? • The North was a step up from the South, but it was no paradise. • Segregation in housing and hiring were the norm. • Northern racism sometimes took on a brutality that equaled anything in the South.

  32. Why "Harlem" Renaissance? • Of the almost 750,000 African Americans who moved North, nearly 175,000 moved to Harlem. • Harlem is a section of Manhattan, which covers three square miles; therefore, Harlem became the largest concentration of black people in the world.

  33. Triggers of Harlem Renaissance • the end of World War I and the return of black veterans • the support of civil rights organizations (NAACP) and black solidarity movements (UNIA) • the ascendance of Harlem as the "Negro capital of the world" • a new sense of economic, social, and cultural potential

  34. Famous Faces of the Harlem Renaissance Claude McKay “If We Must Die” “America” photo by James L. Allen

  35. Famous Faces of the Harlem Renaissance Langston Hughes(1902-1967) “Dreams” “Harlem” “The Weary Blues”

  36. Wrapup • What caused the Harlem Renaissance? • Why were the 1920s known as the roaring 20s? • What examples of changes to American culture can you give?

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