Transcript Chapter 21: The Roaring Life of the 1920s
Chapter 13: The Roaring Life of the 1920s
City Slicks and Country Hicks
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Rural and Urban Differences 1. 1920 census- 51% lived in communities w/ population of 2,500-1 million 2. New Urban Scene: a. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia b. 65 cities w/ 100,000 + c. changes in thinking and living competition, change, drinking, gambling, etc.
d. fast paced; impersonal e. rural- safe, small-town, hard work, strict morals
b. Volstead Act of 1919- est. Prohibition Bureau c. ineffectiveness of prohibition 4. Speakeasies and Bootleggers a. underground b. bootleggers: smuggled it in from Canada, Cuba, and West Indies
http://youtu.be/xIF_WdPUBFo
5. Organized Crime: a. gangs took opportunity to make and sell liquor = profits b. Chicago and Al Capone c. Late 1920s- 19% of Americans supported prohibition d. 1933- 21st Amendment: ended prohibition
B. Science and Religion Clash 1. American Fundamentalism: movement grounded in literal interpretation of the Bible a. skeptical of science b. denied evolution
2. Scopes Trial a. Dayton, Tennessee, 1925 b. ACLU: hired Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes c. William Jennings Bryan acted as special prosecutor 3. Bryan Takes the Stand: a. stand-off b/w science and religion
b. Do you think the earth was made in 6 days?
$100 1. “ Not six days of 24 hours ” c. Scopes found guilty and fined
II. The Twenties Woman
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Young Women Change the Rules 1. The Flapper a. more image than reality b. change in style- clothes, hair, etc.
c. more assertive- smoking, drinking, d. attitudes toward marriage changed equal partnership
2. The Double Standard a. “ courting ” v. casual dating b. set of principles allowing greater freedom to men than women B. Women Shed Old Roles 1. New Opportunities a. teachers, nurses, librarians, social workers, lawyers, bankers, etc.
b. clerical workers c. 1930- 10 million earned wages 1. Still made less than a man 2. No managerial jobs, etc.
2. The Changing Family a. birthrate dropped b. divorce rate doubled c. affects of child labor laws and compulsory education
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III. Education and Popular Culture
Schools and Mass Media Shape Culture 1. School Enrollment a. 1926- 4 M attended H.S.
b. emergence of modern H.S.
c. cost of education
2. Radio Comes of Age a. most powerful mass medium to emerge in 1920s b. hearing news as it happened B. America Chases New Heroes and Old Dreams 1. 1929- spent $4.5 B on entertainment
http://youtu.be/W6YNHq1qc44 http://youtu.be/zdA__2tKoIU
2. Sports Heroes of the 1920s
http://youtu.be/-OeeCfbahwQ
1. $25,000 prize b. 33 1/2 hrs. to land in Paris, France 4. Movies a. 1925- 4th largest industry b. Hollywood as movie capital 1. Charlie Chaplin 2. Rudolph Valentino c. 1927- The Jazz Singer d. 1930s “ talkies ” doubled movie attendance
http://youtu.be/BBgghnQF6E4 http://youtu.be/PIaj7FNHnjQ
5. Theatre, Music, Art a. George Gershwin b. Ashcan painting 6. Writers of the 1920s a. Sinclair Lewis b. F.Scott Fitzgerald c. Earnest Hemmingway
Georgia O
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Keeffe- produced colored canvasses capturing grandeur of NYC
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F. Scott Fitzgerald- coined term
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Jazz Age
” revealed negative side of period ’ s gaiety and freedom Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise
Sinclair Lewis- 1st American to win Nobel prize in literature
Ridiculed Americans for conformity and materialism
Ernest Hemmingway- critical of the glorification of war
tough, simplified style of writing that set new literary standard The Sun Also Rises; A Farewell to Arms
IV. The Harlem Renaissance
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African-American Voices in the 1920s 1. The Move North a. Great Migration b. 4.8 M of nation ’ s 12 M lived in cities c. 1919- 25 race riots nation wide
2. African-American Goals a. NAACP made anti-lynching laws a priority of 1920s b. est. anti-lynching organizations (Ida B. Wells) 3. Marcus Garvey and the U.N.I.A.
a. Back to Africa movement
b. Universal Negro Improvement Assoc.
1. Promoted Af. Am. Businesses 2. Black Star Line B. Renaissance Flowers in New York: literary and artistic movement celebrating African American culture
1. African American Writers and “the New Negro” a. expressed pride in African American experience; celebrated heritage b. Poet Langston Hughes c. Zora Neale Hurston
The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people.
The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people Beautiful, also, is the sun.
Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.
2. African American performers won large followings a. Paul Robeson 3. African Americans and Jazz a. instrumental ragtime and vocal blues b. Jazz born in New Orleans 1. Louis Armstrong- most influential jazz musician in history 2. Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club 3. Bessie Smith- highest paid black artist in world