Transcript The 1920s

The 1920s
The Jazz Age
Why it Matters…
» The 1920s was a decade of rapid change and
clashing values.
» Nativism again became popular, with many
Americans wanting to focus on tradition and
“traditional culture”.
» However, there was also a rising youth culture, that
saw these values and wanted to rebel.
» Huge advancements in art, literature, and music,
changed American society.
» For the first time, there were real celebrities Hollywood actors, jazz musicians, models and
“vamps”, explorers…
» Some say the ‘20s were the first “modern” age.
Anti-Immigrant feeling
» At the beginning of the 1920s,
there were a few trends
happening in America.
-> Following WWI, there was
a nation-wide recession
-> An influx of immigrants,
and increasing racial and
cultural tensions led to
racism and nativism.
-> Nativism - anti-immigrant feeling
» Many immigrants were coming
from Europe. Many Americans
saw these immigrants as a threat to stability.
-> Immigrants were also a threat to jobs - millions of men had
returned from war, and needed to return to their jobs.
-> Many new immigrants faced ethnic and religious prejudice.
Anti-Immigrant feeling
-> On April 15, 1920, two men
shot and killed two employees
of the Slater & Morrill Shoe
Company in Braintree, MA.
» The two killers then robbed
the company.
-> Police arrested Nicola
Vanzetti
Sacco
Sacco, shoemaker, and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti, a fish-seller.
» Newspapers revealed that the two men were anarchists,
and that Sacco owned a gun similar to the murder weapon.
-> Before there could really be an investigation though, many
jumped to the conclusion that Sacco and Vanzetti had
committed the murders.
Why would people jump to this conclusion?
Sacco & Vanzetti
» Many assumed Sacco
and Vanzetti had
committed the murders
because they were
anarchists, and
immigrants.
-> Without much evidence,
Sacco and Vanzetti
were found guilty, and sentenced to death.
-> Many Americans applauded the verdict - anti-foreign and
nativist feelings made people have an “us vs. them”
attitude.
-> Over the next 6 years, Sacco, Vanzetti, and their lawyers
fought the case. However, they were executed August 23,
1927.
» The entire time, they proclaimed their innocence.
Eugenics
-> Nativist and racist feelings in the
1920s were reinforced by a new
movement - eugenics.
-> Eugenics is a psuedo-science
(false science) that deals with
improving hereditary traits.
» It was first developed in Europe,
but became popular in the United States
-> Eugenics emphasized that human inequalities were inherited,
and warned against “breeding the ‘unfit’ and ‘inferior’.”
» Eugenics seemed to support the nativist belief that the
“original” group of Americans were superior.
» According to eugenics, white Protestants of northern
European descent were the “ideal” group.
» This psuedo-science also gave fuel to racism.
Immigration Control
» After WWI, American
immigration policies changed.
» Nativists argued to “Keep
America American”
-> 1921, President Warren G.
Harding signed the
Emergency Quota Act.
» The Act established a quota
system, limiting immigration.
-> According to the Act, only
3% of the total number in
any ethnic group could
immigrate in a year.
-> The Act appeared to be fair, but discriminated against
Eastern Europeans.
The New Morality
->Many Americans during the 1920s
embraced a “new morality”
»Ideals of a happy family, a good
career, and good friends became
popular.
»Women were also working outside
the home more and more,
especially single women.
->These women – ones who worked
in offices and as secretaries – were often called Girl
Fridays.
» Women also attended college more frequently in the
1920s, and found support for their sense of independence.
-> The prevalence of the car also gave a new sense of
freedom to 1920s youth.
Fashion
» Fashion also developed during the
1920s
-> Women cut their hair into “bobs”,
and wore pantyhose and stockings,
paired with short dresses.
» The chic “flapper” became a style icon
-> Flappers were young, dramatic,
stylish and importantly,
unconventional. The flapper smoked
cigarettes, drank prohibited alcohol,
and dressed in short skirts.
-> Coco Chanel became a fashion icon as well – her “little
black dress” was soon in every closet.
Women’s Suffrage
» During the 1920s, women
also fought for the right to
vote – and won.
-> August 18, 1920: Speaker
of the house, Gillett, signed
the 19th Amendment.
-> Women are now granted
the right to vote.
» Women had fought for the
right to vote for nearly 100
years – many suffragettes
did not live to see women
get the vote.
Prohibition
-> Many progressives and traditionalists also supported
prohibition - the banning of alcohol.
» Many believed the prohibition of alcohol would reduce
unemployment, and reduce crime.
-> The Eighteenth amendment was passed in January 1920 prohibiting the sale and consumption of alcohol in the United
States.
-> A new branch of the government,
the Prohibition Unit had trouble
enforcing prohibition.
» During the 1920s, agents made
more than 540,000 arrests, but
most Americans ignored the law.
-> Speakeasies flourished in major
cities - 32,000 in New York City
alone.
Crime
-> Because of prohibition, bootlegging
became big business.
» Organized crime in major cities made
money by supporting and supplying
speakeasies.
-> In part because of this, organized
crime groups became more and more
powerful. In some cities, gangsters
could “buy” politicians and police officers.
-> Al Capone, gangster, bootlegger, and
crime boss, had judges and police on his
payroll.
» Al Capone was finally brought to justice
by Eliot Ness, an agent of a special
Treasury Department task force. Al Capone’s official crime: tax
evasion.
-> Ultimately, prohibition was ended by the 21st Amendment - which
repealed the 18th.
Fundamentalists
» Although many Americans
followed the “new morality”,
others waned a return to
traditional values.
-> These Fundamentalists
formed a religious group they wanted a strict, literal
interpretation of the Bible,
and a return to a traditional
way of life.
-> Fundamentalists especially had a problem with evolution
- which had recently been proposed by Charles Darwin.
» Eventually, this would lead to a clash between
creationists and evolutionists in the Scopes Trial.
Scopes Trial
-> In 1925, Tennessee passed the Butler Act
» This Act outlawed any teaching that denied
the story of creation as told in the Bible.
» The American Civil Liberties Union
wanted to stand up to this Act, and so
advertised for a teacher who would be
willing to be arrested for teaching evolution.
The ACLU wanted to prove a point.
» John T. Scopes, a high school biology
teacher, volunteered.
-> Scopes was arrested and put on trial for
teaching evolution. This is known as
The Scopes Trial or The Scopes Monkey Trial.
-> Scopes was found guilty (thought the conviction was later
overturned) and the Act remained in place.
-> However, this case was widely publicized, and made the
fundamentalist movement lose a lot of support.
1920s Slang
- Like any era, the 1920s had its own slang…
-
Egg – a man (a tough guy is a ‘hard boiled egg’)
Applesauce, Baloney, Banana Oil – nonsense (BS)
Big Cheese – important person
Bee’s Knees – something/someone you like
Cake-eater, Drugstore Cowboy, Lounge Lizard – Ladies’
man
Heebie-jeebies – to be creeped out
Hotsy-Totsy, Cat’s Pajamas – Cute/attractive girl
Kiddo – girl or young person
Pinch/Pinched – to get arrested
Swell – Awesome, great, the best
1920s Art
- During the 1920s, American artists and writers challenged
traditional ideals.
-> Artists such as Edward Hopper focused on realism, he
wanted to show the disenchantment that people often
felt
with the world.
-> Other artists
took their cue
from Europe
– cubism and
the art deco
style started
to become
very popular,
especially in
cities.
1920s Literature
- Poets and writers of the time period varied greatly.
- Some poets and critics had an important impact on the
literary culture. Gertrude Stein could make or break
someone’s career by giving them a review.
-> Important playwrights of the time included Eugene
O’Neill, who for the first time in theatre showed real
people in real situations.
-> Poets, such as T.S. Eliot and Langston Hughes were
also important, and popular during the time (as they are
now).
-> Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and other
writers and novelists focused mostly on realism –
Fitzgerald
wrote about the ‘20s themselves, while Hemmingway
wrote
on war.
Harlem Renaissance
- After WWI, the population of African Americans in northern
cities increased greatly.
- The cities were full of nightclubs and music.
-> No neighborhood was more popular during this time than
Harlem.
-> Harlem is considered
the “heart and soul” of
the African American
renaissance.
- It’s in Harlem that
African Americans
created an
environment that led
to huge advancements
in the arts, literature,
and music, as well as social change.
Harlem Renaissance
- Louis Armstrong arrived in Chicago
from New Orleans – introducing the
first form of jazz.
-> Jazz is a style of music influenced
by Dixieland music (southern music),
and ragtime.
- Armstrong broke away from the New
Orleans tradition of playing in a
band or ensemble and began performing solos.
- Armstrong became the first great jazz musician.
-> Duke Ellington was also highly influential – his piano and fullband pieces helped to define the new jazz genre.
Years later, Ellington wrote about the music:
“Everything, and I repeat everything had to swing. And that was just
it, those cats really had it; they had that soul. And you know you can’t
just play some of this music without soul. Soul is very important.”
Politics
-> The same pride in culture that fueled the
Harlem Renaissance also changed politics.
-> African-Americans became a powerful
voting group in the 1920s.
-> In 1928, African-American voters in
Chicago gained a majority, and helped to
elect Oscar DePriest – the first African
American representative in Congress
from a Northern state.
- DePriest introduced new laws: providing
pensions to formerly enslaved African
Americans, to declare Lincoln’s birthday a public holiday,
and to fine and imprison those officials who allowed
lynchings.
Why is it so important that DePriest was elected?
The NAACP
- Throughout the ‘20s, the NAACP battled against segregation and
discrimination.
- NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People.
-> One of the NAACP’s major points was to protest against
lynching – executions by hanging that were often done without
trial.
- Many members of the NAACP
fought for desegregation, and
equality of all people. However,
other groups began to emphasize
African-American nationalism.
-> This “Negro Nationalism” would
emphasize and celebrate the
unique aspects of African-American
culture.
Marcus Garvey
- Originally from Jamaica, Marcus
Garvey became an important
leader of the “Negro Nationalism”
movement.
-> Inspired by Booker T. Washington's
call for African-American selfreliance, Garvey founded the
Universal Negro Improvement
Association.
-> The UNIA aimed to promote black
pride and unity.
-> The central message of Garvey’s
movement was that African
Americans could gain political
power by educating themselves.
- Garvey also advocated (supported) separation of African
Americans from whites.
Marcus Garvey
-> Garvey ultimately lost support over time.
-> He wanted to remove African Americans from the United States,
and settle in Liberia, which alienated many people.
- Many people who had once supported Garvey began distancing
themselves from him because of his extreme statements.
- Garvey also alienated prominent members of the Harlem
Renaissance, by saying that they were “flatterers of the white
man”.
- Garvey was ultimately
convicted of mail fraud, and
deported back to Jamaica.
-> Though Garvey lost support,
he and his movement inspired
many African Americans to be
proud of their heritage, and
to embrace their own unique
culture.
Harding
-> Warren G. Harding was elected
President in 1920.
-> Harding ran on the campaign of
normalcy – a return to normal life
following WWI.
- Harding seemed relaxed, and easygoing.
At first, he was a very popular president.
- However, Harding lost popularity by
appointing his friends to important
positions.
-> The Ohio Gang was made up of
Harding’s poker friends, and soon many
were given positions with political power.
- Several scandals also began during Harding’s term, however,
they became Calvin Coolidge’s problem.
- Harding died of a heart attack before his term ended.
Scandal
- After Harding’s death, several scandals came to light.
-> The biggest of these was the Teapot Dome Scandal.
- Harding’s secretary of the interior, Albert Fall, had allowed
private people to invest in land that was supposed to belong
to the U.S. Navy. This land (in Teapot Dome, Wyoming) was
very rich in oil.
-> Another scandal involved Harding’s attorney general, Harry
Daugherty.
- Daugherty had accepted portions of a bribe from a German
politician. The politician was trying to organize the sale of a
German company to the United States.
-> Daugherty further incriminated himself by refusing to turn
over bank records, and refusing to testify.
- President Coolidge demanded Daugherty’s resignation.
Coolidge
- Coolidge was a very different president from Harding. Harding
was easygoing, and loved to talk. Coolidge preferred his privacy
and his silence.
- Coolidge made many new appointments to the Cabinet, and
wanted to distance himself from Harding.
-> Coolidge believed that a big part of being President was to make
sure that government interfered with business as little as
possible.
-> Coolidge finished Harding’s term, and then ran for election in
1924.
-> His slogan “Keep Cool
with Coolidge” was very
successful. People liked
the idea of a scandalfree presidency.
International
-> Both Harding and Coolidge supported the idea of
isolationism.
-This meant that America would focus on rebuilding its
own economy and society following WWI, and would not
get involved in foreign affairs.
-> However, because America traded so much
internationally, it was impossible not to get involved,
at least to some degree.
-> The Dawes Plan offered a solution to some of the
problems people were facing in Europe.
-The goal of the Dawes Plan was to stabilize the
European economy so that America could continue to
make money trading in Europe.
Dawes Plan
-> The Dawes Plan was an agreement between the
United States, Britain, and Germany.
-As part of the Treaty of Versailles (that ended WWI),
Germany had to make reparations, or payments, to
other countries. But they were in debt.
-> According to the Dawes Plan, American banks would
make loans to the Germans that would allow the
Germans to make the payments they owed other
countries.
-Britain and France would also agree to accept less
money from Germany, to ease the strain.
-> Though it was well-intentioned, however, the money
basically moved in a circle…
Dawes Plan
Abolishing War
- Americans also wanted the threat of foreign war to be
removed.
- In 1928, American Secretary of State Frank Kellogg
and French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand proposed a
treaty to outlaw war.
-> On August 27, 1928, the United States proposed the
Kellogg-Briand Pact.
- Eventually 62 nations would sign it.
-> Though it had no binding force, the pact was very
popular – it stated that all countries who signed it
would agree to try to settle their differences through
peaceful means, instead of war.
Crash!
- The good times of the 1920s came to an end very
suddenly.
-> Herbert Hoover won the election of 1928, prohibition
was lifted, and it seemed like times were better than
ever before.
-> However, in
1929, the stock
market crashed.
-> The nation fell
into a Great
Depression.