1 Chapter 25 The Roaring Twenties (1919-1929) Textbook Pages 716-743.
American Life in the “Roaring Twenties” 1919-1929 Chapter 31.
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Transcript of American Life in the “Roaring Twenties” 1919-1929 Chapter 31.
Red Scare• Bolshevik Revolution created a fear of communism in America
• Palmer Raids (1919-1921)– Used Alien and Sedition Acts to identify foreign agitators and
arrest or deport them
• Anti-Red statutes– IWW (Wobblies) were persecuted for radical beliefs
• Businesses used fear of communism to break unions and labor
• Sacco and Vanzetti
– Were convicted of murder, but were found guilty and executed largely because they were Italians, atheists and anarchists
Ku Klux Klan and Nativism• Ku Klux Klan
–In 20s it focused mainly on anti-Immigrant sentiments–Attacked blacks, Jews, Catholics, communists–Mid 1920s it had 5 million members
• Nativism
–Wanted limits on immigration• Emergency Quota Act 1921
– Established fixed ratios of immigrants from specific countries based on 1910
• Immigration Act 1924– Lowered ratios and changed base year to 1890
to keep southern Europeans out
• Resulted in immigrants becoming more isolated• Cultural Pluralism
–Favored immigration and saw benefits and strengths as a result
Prohibition (18th Amendment)
• Prohibition movement led by women and churches
• 18th Amendment establishes Prohibition, Volstead Act passed to enforce it– Used to attack immigrants– Argued liquor led to poverty, unemployment, violence
• Wets vs. Drys– Oppose prohibition (mostly eastern cities) vs favor
prohibition (mostly west and south)
• Organized Crime develops to profit off sale of alcohol– Police and politicians were bribed – Chicago most notorious
– Expanded into prostitution, racketeering, gambling
• Crime leads to legalization– 21st Amendment repeals 18th Amendment
Scopes Trial• States began increasing amount of years for
education• John Dewey
– Led progressive education reform movement – John Scopes, a teacher in Tennessee, was
arrested for teaching Darwin’s Evolution• Clarence Darrow defended teacher; William
Jennings Bryan prosecuted• Trial represented conflict between science and
theology– Fundamentalism was seen as a force of
repression and ignorance
Mass Consumption Economy• Consumer Spending
– American economy boomed in 1920’s– Individuals have higher income so spend more money– Many goods available to buy – radio, washing machine,
refrigerators
• Installment Buying– Development of credit allows more purchases
• Collateral– Must have something of value equal to loan
• Synthetic Goods– Artificial products allow more and cheaper products
to be made
• Golden Age of Sports
Automobile
• Assembly Line– Brought parts of production in one spot which
increase speed but decreased uniqueness of production
– Developed by Henry Ford• Ford made cars cheap and paid workers well to
let them buy cars• Automobile industry in US
– Centered in Detroit, led by Ford and Ransom Olds– Ford developed Model T (Tin Lizzie)– Many industries and jobs were tied directly or
indirectly to cars
Humans Develop Wings
Charles Lindbergh was first person to fly solo nonstop across Atlantic in Spirit of St Louis
Amelia Earhart – first woman to fly solo across Atlantic
• Wilbur and Orville Wright– First plane to fly in air at Kitty Hawk, NC (December
17, 1903), lasted less than a minute• Planes were not important
• Commercial airlines and air mail develop after World War I– Created new industry for wealth and growth
Radio and Film• Long distance broadcasts were possible by late 1920s
– Allowed live broadcasts of events
• The Great Train Robbery (1903) first movie• Birth of a Nation (1915) first full length movie
(glorified KKK)• Jazz Singer (1927) first movie with sound
starring Al Jolson• Steamboat Willie (1928) introduced Mickey
Mouse and was first cartoon with synchronized sound
• Movies helped immigrants assimilate– Allowed for working classes to unite across
ethnic lines
Flapper• 1920 census for first time most Americans lived in cities
• Women in Roaring 20s– Worked in low paying “women’s” jobs– Margaret Sanger advocated for birth control and
contraceptives– Alice Paul’s National Women’s Party lobbied for Equal
Rights Amendment
• Flappers were women who challenged traditional roles of dress, attitude, behavior
• Sigmund Freud redefined attitudes towards sexuality
Jazz and Harlem Renaissance
Duke Ellington
Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong
• Jazz develops as a uniquely American musical style developed in New Orleans that was energetic, lively and represented spirit of times– WC Handy; Jelly Roll Morton; Joe King Oliver; Louis Armstrong
• Harlem Renaissance– Period of African American literature, poetry, music
• Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Claude McKay– Increased pride and vibrancy of African American culture during
this time
• Back to Africa movement– United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) led by Marcus
Garvey believed African Americans should migrate back to Africa
– Encouraged black racial pride• Inspired Nation of Islam movement later on
Lost Generation• Lost Generation were artists who saw little hope for future
– World War I created sense of cynicism and disillusionment
– Criticized emptiness of wealth, mediocrity and conformity of middle class
• Sought new sense of values and morals
– Were not traditional New England WASPs
– Expatriates
– many moved to Paris to escape American culture