SECTION 2: THE TWENTIES WOMAN
Transcript of SECTION 2: THE TWENTIES WOMAN
Opening:
Conservative
Backlash Stations
Work Period:
Role of women and
anti-immigration
PPT/Notes
STANDARD 6.2 -EXPLAIN THE CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF THE
SOCIAL CHANGE AND CONFLICT BET WEEN TRADITIONAL AND
MODERN CULTURE THAT TOOK PLACE DURING THE 1920S
Closing:
Quiz
AMERICAN SOCIETY IN THE 1920S
Although the 1920s are
thought of as a care-free
boom time, society was
divided by the trauma of
change. Not everyone
experienced prosperity!
Social changes were the
result of:
Industrialization
Immigration
Urbanization
By 1920, more than half of
the population lived in
cities, and there was an
increasing emphasis placed
on science.
All of these factors led to
social change which led to
conflict between traditional
American conservatism and
modern scientific
liberalism.
THE TWENTIES WOMAN
After the tumult of World War I, Americans were looking for a little fun in the 1920s
Women were becoming more independent and achieving greater freedoms (right to vote, more employment, freedom of the auto) Chicago
1926
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Women gave up wartime jobs when soldiers returned. After fighting for suffrage (the right to vote) since Seneca Falls in 1848, women gained the vote through the 19 th amendment to the Constitution. Did not make politics more moral as they had promised to do…most voted the way their husbands did. Chicago
1926
ROLES FOR WOMEN
Women did not gain new opportunities, and many continued working as nurses, teachers, phone operators, & secretaries. Also domestic servants, factory workers and sweatshop laborers.
Women earned less than men and were kept out of many traditional male jobs (management) and faced discrimination
Early 20th Century teachers
ROLES FOR WOMEN
Movement to the cities during the war nurtured new sexual attitudes and aroused public anxiety about the decline of moral values.
The iconic image of the flapper represented this change but posed little threat to the traditional roles of wife and mother.
POSTWAR AMERICAN WORKERS
War-time propaganda
of “100 percent
Americanism” turned
American nativism into
xenophobia (dislike of
people from other
countries).
High inflation,
competition from
returning veterans and
end of wartime
concessions to workers
led to labor unrest.
A TIME OF LABOR UNREST
Strikes (Boston police,
coal miners) frightened
middle and upper class
Americans as did the
Russian Revolution and
growing socialist
movement in Europe.
1920S: TOUGH TIMES FOR
UNIONS
The 1920s hurt the labor movement
Union membership dropped from 5 million to 3.5 million
Why? African Americans were excluded from membership and immigrants were willing to work in poor conditions
Ford Foundry workers in 1926; only
1% of black workers were in Unions
at the time
FEAR OF COMMUNISM
Anarchist bombs exploded in 8 American cities in 1919.
One perceived threat to American life was the spread of Communism
Communism is an economic and political system based on a single-governmental party, equal distribution of resources, no private property and rule by a dictatorship
SOVIET UNION
COMMUNISM
Russia was transformed into the Soviet Union in 1917, a Communist state
Vladimir Lenin led the Bolsheviks and overthrew the Czarist regime
He was a follower of the Marxist doctrine of social equality
A Communist party was formed in America, too
Lenin
RED SCARE AND THE
PALMER RAIDS Taking advantage of
public fear, Mitchell Palmer led a series of raids.
The government arrested 4,000 alleged communists who were held without bond.
Later, hundreds were deported.
Palmer later discredited by an incorrect prediction about anarchist attacks.
He brought fear against dangerous foreigners.
THE KLAN RISES AGAIN
As the Red Scare and anti-immigrant attitudes reached a peak, the KKK was more popular than ever
By 1924, the Klan had 4.5 million members
The film “Birth of a Nation” intensified racism and the Red Scare added radicals, immigrants and Catholics to those targeted by the KKK.
THE KLAN RISES AGAIN
The Klan was now a national organization with a following in small towns and cities of the Midwest and the South.
Thought they were moral regulators and targeted bootleggers and gamblers by burning crosses, public beatings and lynchings.
However, Klan leaders involved in sex scandals and corruption undermined “moral leadership”.
ANTI-IMMIGRATION
Congress, in response to nativist pressure, decided to limit immigration from southern and eastern Europe and Asians barred entirely.
The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system to control and restrict immigration based on Social Darwinism and Anglo Saxon superiority.
America changed its formally
permissive immigration policy
PROHIBITION
One example of the clash between city & farm was the passage of the 18 th Amendment in 1920 due to anti-German sentiment and grain shortages during the war years.
This Amendment launched the era known as Prohibition
The new law made it illegal to make, sell or transport liquor, but not to consume it.
Prohibition lasted from 1920 to
1933 when it was repealed by
the 21st Amendment
SUPPORT FOR PROHIBITION
Reformers had long believed alcohol led to crime, child & wife abuse, and accidents
Supporters were largely from the rural south and west
The church affiliated Anti-Saloon League and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union helped push the 18 th Amendment through
Poster
supporting
prohibition
SPEAKEASIES AND BOOTLEGGERS
Many Americans did not believe drinking was a sin
Most immigrant groups were not willing to give up drinking
To obtain liquor illegally, drinkers went underground to hidden saloons known as speakeasies
People also bought liquor from bootleggers who smuggled it in from Canada, Cuba and the West Indies
ORGANIZED
CRIME
Prohibition
contributed to the growth
of organized crime in
every major city
Chicago became
notorious as the home of
Al Capone – a famous
bootlegger
Capone took control of
the Chicago liquor
business by killing off
his competition
Al Capone was finally convicted on tax
evasion charges in 1931
GOVERNMENT FAILS TO
CONTROL LIQUOR
Eventually, Prohibition’s fate was sealed by the government, which failed to budget enough money to enforce the law
The task of enforcing Prohibition fell to 1,500 poorly paid federal agents --- clearly an impossible task
Federal agents pour wine
down a sewer
SUPPORT FADES, PROHIBITION
REPEALED
By the mid-1920s, only
19% of Americans
supported Prohibition
Many felt Prohibition
caused more problems
than it solved
The 21st Amendment
finally repealed the 18th
amendment and ended
prohibition in 1933
SCIENCE AND RELIGION CLASH
Another battleground during the 1920s was between fundamentalist religious groups and secular thinkers over the truths of science
The Protestant movement grounded in the literal interpretation of the Bible is known as fundamentalism
Fundamentalists found all truth in the Bible – including science & evolution
SCOPES TRIAL
In March 1925, Tennessee passed the nation’s first law that made it a crime to teach evolution
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promised to defend any teacher willing to challenge the law – John Scopes did
Scopes was a biology teacher who dared to
teach his students that man derived from
lower species
SCOPES TRIAL
The ACLU hired Clarence Darrow, the most famous trial lawyer of the era, to defend Scopes
The prosecution countered with William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential nominee
Darrow
Bryan
SCOPES TRIAL
Trial opened on July 10,1925 and became a national sensation In an unusual move, Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert on the Bible – key question: Should the Bible be interpreted literally? Under intense questioning, Darrow got Bryan to admit that the Bible can be interpreted in dif ferent ways Nonetheless, Scopes was found guilty and fined $ 100 The conflict between social conservatives who advocate conformity to a traditional moral code and liberals who advocate individual rights took place in the 1920s and continues today.
Bryan Darrow