The 1920’s and Changes in American Culture

The 1920’s and Changes in American Culture Unit 3 Part 2 Presentation

What conclusions can be drawn from these images?

Causes of Demographic Changes • Increased opportunities in urban areas caused widespread internal migration of African-Americans from the south to the north. • European immigrants, affected by poor economic conditions in Europe after WWI, flocked to U.S. cities, particularly on the East coast.

Effects of Demographic Changes • Growth of urban centers and a shift in America from rural to urban. • Growing resentment of immigrant and migrant groups.

Racism of the 1920s • As African Americans began to fight for more rights and equality, racist groups like the KKK emerged as resistance. • Violence in the south in particular caused many African American to move north. • Lynching became a weapon of intimidation used by the KKK and other hate groups.

Marcus Garvey • Led a movement known as Pan-Africanism • He promoted Black economic independence and the founding of a new independent African American nation in Africa. • Many other leaders agreed with his racial pride but disagreed with the back to Africa movement.

Great Migration: What is it? • Movement of over two million African Americans out of the South to the “Promised Land” of the Northeast and Midwest.

Great Migration: The Causes • African Americans left in search of jobs in the nation’s growing industrial cities and to escape sharecropping, tenant farming, and the deep racism they faced in the South. • Northern industrial jobs offered wages significantly higher than jobs in the South. Reports from friends and family that had previously migrated to the North inspired increased migration.

Great Migration: The Effects • During the 1910s and 1920s, Chicago’s African-American population more than doubled; Cleveland grew by three times; and Detroit increased six-fold. • Racism, housing shortages and crime greeted African Americans in Northern cities; as a result, they founded organizations such as the National Urban League and the NAACP, which were dedicated to helping them adjust to their new the lives.

Emergence of Black Neighborhoods • Confined to all-black neighborhoods, African Americans created cities-within cities during the 1920s. The largest of these was Harlem, in upper Manhattan, New York City, where 200,000 African Americans lived together.

The Scopes Trial: Battle over Evolution • A court trial over the teaching of evolution in public schools. • Clarence Darrow defended the accused teacher and William Jennings Bryan led the prosecution. (Freedom of Expression vs. Religion) • Bryan won however newspaper coverage favored Darrow and revealed a big cultural divide in the U.S.

Prohibition: Causes and Effects • Groups such as the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, advocated for banning of alcohol in order to protect women and restore order to society. • Although the 18th amendment was passed in 1919, it was hard to enforce and was repealed with the 21st Amendment in 1933.

The Changing Role of Women in the 1920s • Because of men fighting in WWI, more women were required to join the workplace. • When the war ended, many of them kept their jobs. • The ability to vote now gave them a stronger voice in society.

Jazz Reflection • What are some unique features to this type of music? • What does this style of music reflect what was going on in society at the time?

The Harlem Renaissance • 1920’s movement centered in the Harlem section of New York City, creating a vibrant and creative culture in which African-Americans authors, poets, artists, musicians, and movie stars experienced freedom of expression and support. • African-Americans determined to oppose continued racial segregation and suppression.

Jazz and Changes in Music • Jazz originated in the south in places like New Orleans but migrated north with African Americans. • Jazz music of the 1920’s reflected a breakdown of racial barriers and search for increasing opportunities. Greats included Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Bessie Smith.

Langston Hughes • Famous African American Poet who was a part of the Harlem Renaissance. • His poems highlighted the changing times and lifestyles for Americans and in particular Black Americans during the 1920s.

Georgia O’Keefe and Changes in Art • Her artwork reflected the spirit of the 1920’s, both the industrialization of the northeast and the beauty of the southwestern desert.

Ernest Hemingway and Changes in Writing • Hemingway focused a lot of his books on a character discovering themselves and who they really were. • He portrayed the generation of the 1920s as lost and without real purpose.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby • The Great Gatsby highlighted the extravagant and wealthy lifestyle of the 1920s in most American cities. • It revealed and suggested that maybe Americans were living too excessively.

The Automobile and Society • More and more Americans began to take to the roads in the 1920s. • This resulted in a more mobile society and resulted in populations spreading out again. • The result was the creation of suburbs where people lived outside a city and drive into the city for work.

Henry Ford and the Assembly Line • Ford was able to develop the first mass produced automobile that made it possible for most Americans to drive. • He developed the use of the assembly line where workers completed only one task which dramatically increased factory output in every industry.

Airplanes and Society • Although airplanes began to be used for commercial flights, it was the military that really began to use them as an effective tool and weapon.

Glenn Curtiss • Designed a plane that could take off and land from water in 1908. • Convinced the Navy to build the first Aircraft Carrier.

Charles Lindbergh • First to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927. • Became an international celebrity and national hero overnight.

The 1920’s and Changes in American Culture