PowerPoint Presentation

Al Capone

In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was passed. It outlawed the transportation, marketing, and production of alcoholic beverages in the United States. People for the prohibition believed that it would reduce family conflict, crime, and violence, however, it had the opposite effect.

Al Capone, shown in the image, is an infamous gangster from the 1920s who made millions each year smuggling liquor into the United States. Major crime organizations developed due to the amount of money that could be made by smuggling alcohol into the US.

The Negro Speaks of RiversBy Langston Hughes

I've known rivers:

I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the

flow of human blood in human veins.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln

went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy

bosom turn all golden in the sunset.

I've known rivers:

Ancient, dusky rivers.

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time in which African Americans, mostly in Harlem, focused on creative expression and cultural influence.

Langston Hughes was a well known African American figure from the Harlem Renaissance. He wrote many poems and other works of literature including this one called The Negro Speaks of Rivers.

Billy Sunday

The 1920s was a time of great cultural and social change. Many people liked the changes that were taking place, however, there were also those who felt differently. Many Americans who held fundamentalist beliefs did not like the way people were beginning to stray from traditional values. Billy Sunday was a preacher who traveled around the United States preaching his fundamentalist beliefs.

To view a video of Billy Sunday preaching, click on the link.

Link: http://youtu.be/Ykn8YcIbmfo

Women of the 1920s: Flappers

With the right to vote, women gained new respect in society. Many women began working and going to school. Some women, called flappers, completely rejected the traditional lifestyle of women. They cut their hair, wore short dresses and make up, and went dancing. Many flappers also smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol. They were a symbol of the Roaring Twenties.

Jazz Age

Jazz music became so popular during the 1920s that the decade has often been referred to as the Jazz Age. It not only existed in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, but it swept the entire country. Jazz became unbelievably popular.

Louis Armstrong was a famous Jazz musician from the 1920s. He is shown in the picture to the right.

Click on the speaker to hear one of his songs called Muskrat Rumble

Works Cited

"100 Greatest Popular Songs of the 1920s." 100 Greatest Popular Songs of the 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013. .

"Al Capone Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013. .

"Billy Sunday Warns America (1929)." YouTube. YouTube, 31 Jan. 2010. Web. 26 Jan. 2013. .

"Louis Armstrong - Muskrat Ramble." YouTube. YouTube, 19 June 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2013. .

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers." Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013. .