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The Roaring 20s Chapter 11

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The Roaring 20s We will discuss 5 topics from the era throughout the week: Monday- The Automobile Industry Tuesday- The Scopes Trial Wednesday- Prohibition Thursday- Mass American Culture Friday- The Harlem Renaissance

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The Automobile Industry The car was invented in 1886, but its popularity and availability didnt expand until after WWI Mass production- rapid manufacture of large numbers of identical parts Had been used on smaller products such as sewing machines and typewriters Cars contained thousands of parts

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The Automobile Industry Early in the century, only wealthy city dwellers could afford cars Henry Ford developed the Model T in 1908- it sold for $850 Profits allowed him to expand his business and build factories along the Detroit river, which had easy access to materials for producing cars

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The Automobile Industry While more affordable, the Model T was still out of the price range of many Americans Employing experts to dissect his mass production methods, Ford introduced the assembly line to his factories In 2 years, the process for making a Model T went from 12 hours to 90 minutes

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The Automobile Industry With the improvements in manufacturing, the price of the Model T plummeted to $290 by 1927 1919- 10% of Americans owned a car 1927- 56% of American owned a car

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The Automobile Industry Ford also introduced many innovations in how his workers were treated: Doubled minimum wage from $2.35/day to $5/ day Reduced workday hours from 9 to 8 First major industrialist to give his workers Saturday and Sunday off These changes allowed Fords workers to become consumers as well

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The Automobile Industry As the auto industry grew, so did other related industries (steel, glass, rubber, gasoline, insurance, etc.) Road construction boomed and expanded Service stations, diners, and motels developed Growth of suburbs took place as it became easier to get to work in the city Not all news was good: the railroad industry suffered as a result of the freedoms gained by car ownership

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The Scopes Trial The 1920s were a clash of many different ideas between those who lived in urban areas vs those in rural areas: Modernism- emphasizing science and secular values over traditional ideas about religion Fundamentalism- emphasized Protestant teaching and the belief that every word in the Bible was literal truth

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The Scopes Trial These 2 ideas clashed when it came to education Rural (fundamentalists) did not place much value on higher education (just know your 3 Rs!) Urban (modernists) believed a good education was the difference between low and high paying jobs During the 20s more Americans attended college than ever before

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The Scopes Trial In 1925, these two ideas clashed over the teaching of evolution in public school Fundamentalists: man was made directly by the hand of God Modernists: man evolved over time from simpler beings (Charles Darwins theory)

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The Scopes Trial Tennessee law forbid the teaching of evolution The ACLU convinced a biology teacher, John Scopes, to challenge the law- he was promptly arrested

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The Scopes Trial Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 The trial never did solve the central issue of Evolution vs Creationism and still remains today

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Prohibition By 1917, 75% of counties in the US were dry During WWI, it was deemed unpatriotic to turn corn, wheat, and barley into liquor when soldiers needed food

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Prohibition 18 th Amendment was passed in 1919 Volstead Act officially enforced the amendment 2 sides of the issue: Drys- improved individuals, strengthened families, and created a better society Wets- didnt stop drinking and encouraged crime

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Prohibition People got around the law in a number of ways: People made their own alcohol or smuggled it from other countries Bootleggers sold illegal booze Speakeasies became hotspots for drinking, gambling, and prostitution

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Prohibition One of the biggest problems with Prohibition was there wasnt an effective way to enforce it Organized crime networks had too many resources to outsmart (or outgun!) police

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Popular Culture Leisure time: City dwellers enjoyed more down time than ever before Work hours went from 70 hrs/week in 1850 to 45 hrs/week in 1930 Salaries and wages increased

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Popular Culture The movies were a popular way for city dwellers to spend their free time Silent pictures were very popular as stars such as Charlie Chaplin entertained audiences across the country

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Popular Culture The movie industry changed forever in 1927 with the release of the first movie to have synchronized sound- The Jazz Singer Talkies replaced silent films in popularity

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Popular Culture Phonograph: First radio broadcast was made on November, 1920 Soon music from different areas of the country spread all over

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Popular Culture The 1920s were an age of heroes Babe Ruth became famous for his big bat Charles Lindberg became famous for his trans- Atlantic flight

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The Harlem Renaissance The Great Migration did provide a better life for many African Americans While they found better paying jobs in the North, African Americans still faced racism in the North Hundreds of thousands settled in Harlem, NY and demanded a real solution to the nations racial problems

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The Harlem Renaissance Leaders like Marcus Garvey encouraged black pride and support for black-run businesses Ideas from the time period carried on into the 1960s

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The Harlem Renaissance The New Negro was a term that came to represent the move away from silent acceptance of racism in the US Authors of the time called for African Americans to not stand for prejudice and rise up against inequality Langston Huges captured the diversity of the African- American culture in more than 50 works of literature

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The Harlem Renaissance Jazz- a musical form based on improvisation became extremely popular during the 1960s Started in New Orleans, LA and mixed different cultures and traditions Louis Armstrong became the spokesman for the style

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The Harlem Renaissance Jazz music became popular with all races- and eventually spread to Europe Became a symbol of America- a place where different cultures could come together and create something unique together

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The Harlem Renaissance The Harlem Renaissance will end with the Great Depression Became the foundation of the Civil Rights movement