Transcript Roaring 20s Cultural High and Low Points

1920’s Economics
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Booming Business & Stock
Market
Big money is made by big
industrialists
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Automobile, oil, and steel
New technology creates new
jobs
Little government regulation
allows industry to grow
faster
Uneven Prosperity
Farmers lost money when
Europe recovers from WWI
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Stop buying American farm
products
Coal miners suffer because
oil replaces coal as a source
of energy
Railroads lose business due
to cars and trucks
Labor unions suffer due to
government hands off
approach
1920’s Life & Times
Fun times & Fads
 Flappers
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Young women who
rebelled against tradition
Short hair, short dresses,
smoking, and bootleg
alcohol
Other fads include:
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Flagpole sitting, dance
marathons, the Charleston
(dance)

Fear of Communism &
Anarchy (people who
oppose the government)
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Communist leaders
(Lenin/USSR) called for
workers everywhere to
overthrow their
governments
Americans saw strikes
across the nation as the
start of a communist
revolution (Red Scare)
During the Red Scare,
thousands were arrested
1920’s Art & Social Attitudes

Jazz blends W. African
rhythm, African American
Spirituals, European
Harmony
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new brand of music is
appreciated by all
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Harlem Renaissance
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Rebirth of African American
culture
Langston Hughes was the
best known poet of the era
Writes about the experiences
of African Americans
African Americans face
widespread prejudice

Rebirth of KKK
Racial tensions cause rioting in
big cities
Return of nativism (antiforeign feeling)
Quota system limits the
amount of immigrants that
can enter the U.S.

System favored immigrants
from N. Europe over W. Europe
Notable Events
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Sacco and Vanzetti Trial
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Trial symbolized the anti-foreign feeling of the 1920’s
(Nativism)
Sacco & Vanzetti were Italian immigrants who were
arrested for robbery and murder with limited evidence
After a trial that many thought was unfair, they were
executed
Scopes Trial
The trial centered on the debate between the Biblical
Creation Theory versus Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
 John Scopes taught evolution in class and was arrested
 Scopes was convicted and fined and the laws against
teaching evolution remained but were rarely enforced
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Notable Events
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Marcus Garvey and the back to Africa
movement
 Garvey
urged African Americans to go back to their
roots in Africa
 Few left but the movement built racial pride
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Election of 1928
 Herbert
Hoover (R) easily beats Alfred E. Smith (D)
 Smith is the first Catholic to run for president
 Anti-Catholic feelings play a part in the outcome
 Americans believe that Hoover will continue
prosperity
 1 year later the economy crashes
Heroes of the 1920’s
 Charles
 Crosses
Louis
 Babe
A. Lindbergh
the Atlantic in the Spirit of St.
Ruth
 Helped
 Helen
the Yankees win 7 World Series
Wills
 Becomes
tennis champ and a role model
for women
Conclusion
What were the HIGH points & LOW points of
1920’s culture and society?
New technology
helped create an
economic boom &
jobs
 New freedoms for
women
 Jazz & classic
literature

Uneven prosperity
 Increased racism &
nativism
 Tough times for
farmers & Unions
 Fear of communism
& anarchy
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Chicago, 1922. Female Beach Goers
Arrested for Indecent Exposure
I, too sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
Eat in the kitchen,
Then.
Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—
I, too, am America.
Anything Goes
Words & Music by Cole Porter 1927
In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking
Now heaven knows, anything goes
Good authors too who once knew better words
Now only use four letter words writing prose
Anything goes
“America must be kept American”
Calvin Coolidge
“The business of America is business.
The man who builds a factory builds a temple.
The man who works there worships there”
Calvin Coolidge