Transcript Title

16.1 - A Booming Economy
Focus: How did the booming economy of the 1920s lead to
changes in American life?
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Post WWI
Soldiers were returning
New production techniques
 American industry thrived
16.1- A Booming Economy
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Automobile Industry
Henry Ford
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Revamps mass production
• Rapid manufacture of large numbers of identical products
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Assembly Line
Interchangeable parts
Revolutionizes production, wages, working conditions, &
daily life
Model T
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Ford’s first mass produced Automobile
1908
$850.00
16.1- A Booming Economy
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Ford – Model T
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Price continues to fall
 1919 - only 10% own
 1927- 56%
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Cost fell – $290.00 (First affordable car)
 Due to mass production
 Scientific management
• Improved mass production techniques
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Saving time, effort, and money
Improved work life
 More pay, fewer hours, weekend off
16.1- A Booming Economy
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Other industries thrive
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Steel, glass, rubber, goods etc.
Gas stations created, highways
Roads - created government jobs
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Automobile - America Shifts
Create motels, diners
Life changes as a whole
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Less use of mass transit
Moving away from cities
Taking vacations
16.1- A Booming Economy
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Consumer Revolution
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More money in circulation
More goods bought
Electric goods boom, life improves
Growth in advertising
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Economy
Magazine, newspapers, etc…
Growth in buying “wants” not “needs”
Installment buying gains popularity
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Buy now pay later
Like credit cards
16.1- A Booming Economy
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Purchasing/ Consumerism
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Cause stocks to rise rapidly
Creates a Bull Market
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Stock Market
Or “boom” in stock prices
Trying to get rich quick
Buying on Margin
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Purchasing stocks on “margin” – pay only a percentage of actual cost
If stocks fell, you owed money plus interest
Like double debt
Leads to crash of 1929
16.1- A Booming Economy
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Cities, Suburbs, and Country
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Rise in city populations
 Jobs/ industry
 Great Migration
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Improvement in transportation
Leads to growth of suburbs
 Mass transit, automobiles
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16.1- A Booming Economy
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Suburbs
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Cities, Suburbs, and Country
Middle to upper class
Leaving cities to decay
America’s wealth was poorly distributed
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Top of society growing wealth
• Gave appearance of strong economy
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Middle to lower class - increasing problems
Farming income steadily drops
16.2 - The Business of Government
 PIC
16.2- The Business of Government
Focus: How did domestic and foreign policy change
direction under Harding and Coolidge?
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1920 - Harding takes Presidency
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Followed Wilson
Pushed conservative policies
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Warren G. Harding
Aiding business
Wanted a “return to normalcy”
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Laissez-faire economics (minimum govn’t interference)
16.2- The Business of Government
 Big
 Andrew
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Business Policies
Mellon
Appointed Sec. of Treasury
Passes policies to advance business
Trims spending
18 billion to 3 billion
Creating a surplus in treasury
16.2 - The Business of Government
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Big Business Policies
Harding raises tariffs by 25%
 European nations respond
• American goods harder to sell overseas
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Harding (w/ Mellon) reduced government interaction
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Hurting all economies involved
With Big Business
Harding didn’t fully abandon social goals
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Appoints Herbert Hoover - Sec. of Commerce
Hoover advances social goals – success in working together
16.2- The Business of Government
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Ohio Gang
Harding - was very friendly,
trusted others to make decisions
for him
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Appointed friends to positions
• Saw position as a chance to get rich
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Leads to Corruption
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Harding is from Ohio
Thus the Ohio Gang
Friends took money
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Laundering, dirty, scandalous
16.2- The Business of Government
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Albert Fall - Sec. of Interior
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Takes control of land - Teapot Dome, Wyoming
Oil Reserves, intended for Navy
Leases land to private oil men
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Teapot Dome Scandal
For “loans” aka bribes
Leads to Senate investigation
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Fall sentenced to prison
16.2- The Business of Government
 Harding
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Dies while in office
 August 2,1923
 Heart Attack
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American people mourn
 Greatest loss since Lincoln
 Until scandals are revealed
 Public perception shifts
16.2- The Business of Government
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Calvin Coolidge
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Harding’s – VP
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Different from Harding
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“Silent Cal”
Honest, quiet, frugal
Less progressive
Economy wasn’t solely on the government’s shoulders
By the book
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Limiting opportunity for corruption
16.2- The Business of Government
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Favored productive business
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Due to job creation
Continued to reduce debt
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Calvin Coolidge
Trims budget
Reduces taxes (Business incentives)
6 years of economic prosperity for Middle America
16.2- The Business of Government
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Calvin Coolidge
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Beneath the Surface - problems brewed
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Farm prices drop, land lost
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Unions demand
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Better conditions, more pay
African Americans
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Face discrimination (Jim Crow)
As did Mexican Americans
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Coolidge (remained “Silent)
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16.2 - The Business of Government
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America’s Role in the World
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US Foreign Policy
Stay away from the Arms Race – limit construction of large
warships, etc.
• Washington Naval Disarmament Conference
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Kellogg- Briand Pact - 1928
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Agreement between US and other nations
Outlaws war as an instrument of national policy
Designed by US Sec of State and Prime Minister of France
Impossible to enforce (in reality)
Refusal to join the World Court
• Which tried to solve international problems - mediate
• US stays clear - isolationism
16.2- The Business of Government
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US desired owed funds
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From Britain and France
Britain and France were waiting as well
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US and War Debts
German reparations
US enters an agreement with Germany
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Dawes Plan
Loans Germany money - to give British and French
US hoping to create interest on owed funds
Crash of 1929 - hurts the plan and system of payment
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
Focus: How did Americans differ on major social and
cultural issues?
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City dwellers
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Standard of living rising
City dwellers now outnumbered “country folk”
Farmers
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1920’s
Standard of living dropping
Urban-Rural Division
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Heightened by major issues
Differing beliefs
* Sectionalism - by living arrangement, not North v. South
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Traditions vs. Modern Thought
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Modernism - Growing trend in the United States
 Value science and secular thought over excepted
religious beliefs
 Faith vs. Fact
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Further separation in lifestyle
 Rural (Church) vs. Urban (Modern)
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Education
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Traditions vs. Modern Thought
Rural - education (books) - not as vital to success
Farming knowledge, strength, endurance are key
Urban - education more important
Mastery of Math and Language - determined jobs
1930
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High school graduates in the United States - increasing
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Traditions vs. Modern Thought
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Religion
 People were becoming frustrated
 Scientific and secular approaches
 Perceived as attacks on faith
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Turn to fundamentalism
 A strict adherence to the “holy book”
 Literal adherence to Bible’s teachings
• Answers to all questions
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Traditions vs. Modern Thought
Teaching the Theory of Evolution
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Evolution of human species
• Life developed gradually from simpler forms of life
• Charles Darwin
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Touchy subject for devout Christians who favored
creationism
Saw no need for teaching evolution in public schools
Scopes Trial
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Major focal point
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Scopes Trial
John Scopes
 Biology Teacher - TN
 Imprisoned for teaching evolution
 Takes case to trail (Monkey Trial)
• Common misconception - about Darwin's theories
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Trial - Scopes defended by Charles Darrow
 Prosecutor - William Jennings Bryan
 Heated arguments/ showing division over issues
 Furthered the Rural/ Urban split
 Scopes – found guilty, fined $100
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Nativists
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Immigrants took jobs
Threatened religion
Threatened culture
Pass pre-war literacy test
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Restricting Immigration
Had to be able to read and write (own language) to enter the US
Post- war
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Red Scare
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Immigration
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Quota System
 Quota Act 1921
 National Origins Act 1924
 Limited immigration from certain countries
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Mostly excluded Asians, limited other nations
 Generally let in other “white” immigrants
• England and Ireland
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Mexicans continue to immigrate
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Farming - legally entering country- job competitions - violence
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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The Ku Klux Klan – Updated
Originated during Reconstruction – aimed at AA who sought to vote
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Targeted Blacks, Jews, Catholics, and Immigrants
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Burned crosses
Boycotted certain establishments
Controlled Politicians - in some areas
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Opposition - those embracing the “Melting Pot”
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NAACP
Jewish – Anti-Defamation League
Klan fizzles due to corruption within itself
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Lied to members, stole from members, bribes
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Prohibition
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Rose from the Temperance Movement
 “Drys” favored no alcohol - Dry counties
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1919 - 18th Amendment ratifies
 no alcohol
 distribution (manufacturing) or sale
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Volstead Act  Enforced 18th
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Leads to serious issues…
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Prohibition
“Wets” – opposed prohibition
 Would increase organized crime
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Wasn’t illegal to drink, so people illegally bought
Bootlegging
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Sold illegal alcohol
Stills (moonshine), foreign alcohol
Sold at “speak easies” – secret drinking establishments
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Prohibition
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Gave rise to large criminal empires
 Money to be made
 Law often turned a blind eye
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Al Capone
 Chicago
 Bootlegger
 Lead to other forms of crime (selling):
• Prostitutes
• Drugs
• Leading to robbery and murders
16.3- Social & Cultural Tensions
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Prohibition
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Yet another dividing factor
 Cities favored
 Rural did not
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City dwellers - sought to repeal the 18th
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1933 - 21st amendment would repeal 18th
16.4- A New Mass Culture
Focus: How did the new mass culture reflect technological
and social changes?
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(1)How had life changed for American in the 1920s?
 Automobile – travel - vacations
 Radio, Movies, Spectator Sports
 More leisure time
• Except for farmers
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Technology was increasing
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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 City
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Dwellers
Average work week fell, while salaries went up
70 hours - 1850
45 hours - 1930
 Farmers
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What allowed for this leisure time?
did not enjoy as much
Sun-up to sundown
Lacked funds for leisure activities
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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(3) What role did the film industry play in the United States in
the 1920s?
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Free time + Money = movie goers
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60-100 million a week
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Movies portrayed culture
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Silent films - at first
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Cheap
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Immigrants – little English
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Stars like Charlie Chaplin
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1927 film industry changed
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The Jazz Singer
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First film with synchronized sound
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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(4) How did the radio and phonograph break barriers?
Radio (originally by Marconi – 1890s)
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Improved in the 1920’s
1923 - 600,000 radios in use
• Over 600 radio stations
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Americans across the country
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Listened to the same broadcast
Learned the same songs and dances
Uniting Americans through music - less sectionalism
Phonograph (record player)
16.4- A New Mass Culture
(5) What role did heroes play in pop culture, give examples?
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Spectator Sports create heroes for many Americans
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Many Americans followed via radio
Babe Ruth (baseball), Red Grange (football), Bobby Jones (golf)
Journalist help create idols
America needed heroes - Post WWI
• Americans capable of dreams
Charles Lindbergh
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May 1927- Spirit of St. Louis
First solo, non stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean
• New York to France – 33 hours
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Becomes instant celebrity
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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(6) How did women attempt to
increase their positions in
society ?
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Challenged political, economic,
social, and educational boundaries
 Trying to prove their role outside
the home
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A shift in typical female dress and
presentation
 Wore shorter clothing, wore
make-up, in the public eye
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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(7) What was a flapper, what role did they play?
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Young women
 Short skirts
 Rouged cheeks (rosy)
 Cropped hair - the bob
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Challenged expected roles for women
 More publicized then imitated
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Not everyone wanted to be a flapper
But many women desired greater freedoms
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16.4- A New Mass Culture
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(8) What changes were made in the lives of
women, in the 1920’s?
Gained power with suffrage
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19th Amendment
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Pushed for equal rights
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Began to break through the glass ceiling
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Achieving positions in previously untouchable
industries
Journalism
Aviation
Banking
Medical fields
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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Women
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Live longer
Work more often
Have children later
Some women work
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(9)How did family life shift?
Home life improves (technology)
Rural and Urban women differ greatly
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Urban enjoyed less of a strain to complete household chores
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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(10) Who was Sigmund Freud and what role did he
play in American arts in the 1920’s?
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Freud – An Austrian psychologist
 Suggested that actions
 Were both:
• Choice & sub- conscious
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Writers and artist explore the subconscious mind
16.4- A New Mass Culture
 (11)How
were paintings of the 1920’s different?
 Modernism
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Clashing with traditionalism
 Shift
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to new styles
Often bold and different
16.4- A New Mass Culture
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What was the “Lost Generation”?
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Writers that had lost faith
 Cultural norms, not excepted
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Realist - no longer favored heroism - following the war
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F. Scott Fitzgerald - Great Gatsby
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Highlights issues with the American Dream
Meaning of life, and war
Ernest Hemingway- A Farewell to Arms
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
Focus: How did African Americans express a new sense of
hope and pride?
 Harlem
Renaissance
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After WWI & Great Migration
 Millions of African Americans relocated
 Northeast
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Lead to a flowering of music and literature
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Jazz - Harlem Renaissance
 Lasting impacts on culture
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
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“Black Consciousness/Culture”
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African American sought opportunity
 Northward
 Away from Jim Crow
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Found life to be better:
 Jobs
 Positions of authority
 Pay
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Growing Voice
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
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“Black Consciousness/ Culture”
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Did not escape racism
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Often forced into:
 Poor housing
 Low paying jobs (still higher then southern jobs)
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200,000 settle in Harlem, NY
 Jamaican settlers and southern settlers
 Unique culture created
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
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Marcus Garvey
Born in Jamaica
 “Blacks exploited, everywhere”
 “Back to Africa”
 Supported separation of races
• Advocated black pride
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Gathered much support
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Fizzled after his deportation – prison for fraud
Ideas lasted
 Influenced Nation of Islam and Black Power movement
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
 Jazz Age
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F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the term
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Hybrid of African & European Music
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Originates in the South & Midwest
 New Orleans – cultures combine
 Spread north with Great Migration
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
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Louis Armstrong
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Jazz Age
Ambassador of Jazz
Trumpet - legend
Jazz - played in speakeasies
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Associated with alcohol
Cotton Club – AA played to all white audience
Phonograph spread the style
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
 Jazz Age
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African American Culture
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Depth and richness
Bridge the cultural gap
 Duke Ellington
• Great composer - ~ 2,000 arrangements created
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Great contribution
 Influences all musical types and genres
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
 Jazz Age
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Jazz & Blues showed both the highs and lows
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Not the only form of expression
 Writings, poetry, art
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Harlem Renaissance
 Cultural outpouring
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
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Literature
“New
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Negro”
Break from the past
Expressive, outspoken
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Cane – plea to remember and preserve the past (short stories,
poems, sketches)
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Claude McKay – militant writer - outspoken – attack on politics
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Langston Hughes - celebrated culture
 Diversity and everyday life of African Americans
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Zora Neal Hurston
 Their Eyes were Watching God longing for independence
felt by women, black & white
16.5- The Harlem Renaissance
 Lasting
Impact
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Voice to African American Culture
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Altered the “white” view
 Opened their eyes
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Ended with economic collapse (1929)
 Starting point - later civil rights movement