1920s America

Completely Useless Information If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4,950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom. The fleshy projection above the bill on a turkey is called a snood. The average bed is home to 6 billion dust mites.

Opposition to Open Immigration Fear of people flooding into America from war- torn Europe and veterans returning to limited job opportunities led to stricter immigration policies throughout the 1920s. The rise of the Ku Klux Klan demonstrated the anti-immigrant sentiment by some Americans.

The KKK Returns The Ku Klux Klan had died out during the 1880s, but had a resurgence in Georgia in 1915 calling for “100% Americanism.” The Klan now targeted blacks, Latinos, Jews, Catholics, anyone not born in the United States, socialists, communists….anyone who was different from the accepted White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant.

The KKK Returns (cont.) The new KKK had a major influence on politics at all levels (local, state, and national). – 4.5 million members by 1924 with many in the midwest (not just in the south).

Religion In 1925, Tennessee passed the first law prohibiting the teaching of Darwinian evolution in public schools. John Scopes decided to challenge the law with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) by teaching evolution and was charged with violating the law.

Religion(cont.) Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. The trial (also known as the Scopes Monkey Trial) demonstrated the battle between science and religion in America and the change from traditional views.

Prohibition Reformers viewed alcohol as the cause for American problems- corruption, crime, abuse, infidelity, accidents, etc. – This movement against alcohol was known as Prohibition. 18 th Amendment-banned the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages. – Supported by Women’s Christian Temperance Union, rural areas in the South and West, and areas of large native populations.

Prohibition(cont.) Prohibition ushered in an era of law-breaking: – Speakeasies - bars and nightclubs that sold alcoholic beverages illegally. – Bootlegging – the unlawful production, selling, or transporting of alcohol. o Al Capone reportedly made $60 million a year from illegally selling alcohol.

Prohibition (cont.) Government did not fund efforts to enforce laws effectively, thus prohibition was a failure. – 21 st Amendment (1933) repealed the 18 th, making alcohol legal again.

Role of Women The 19 th Amendment (1919) gave women the right to vote and ushered in a new era for women.

Role of Women (cont.) Flappers – emancipated young women who rejected traditional roles for women (the cult of domesticity). – Embraced new fashion and hairstyles – Embraced new attitudes – smoking, drinking in public, new dancing

Role of Women (cont.)

More women continued to enter the workplace. – “Women’s Profession”: Nurses, teachers, librarians, typists, filing clerk, secretaries, stenographers – Few managers – men argued, women’s real job was at home

New Experiences in Mass Media During the 1920s Americans were able to experience new forms of leisure and entertainment through the development of the radio, movies, jazz, and a wealth of great American literature.

Radio KDKA in Pittsburg established the first commercial radio station in 1920 and soon hundreds of stations popped-up across the country. Provided millions of people with access to news, sports, and advertising. – Could hear things they never had access to before as they happened live: the World Series, the voice of the president, election returns, and commercials (the price for “free” radio). – Fireside Chats-President FDR – Broadcast new types of Music including Jazz By 1929, 12 million families owned radios.

Movies Hollywood emerged as the movie capital of the world by the end of the 1920s. The addition of sound to movies doubled movie attendance by 1930.

Movies (cont.) Movie palaces popped up in every major city, where millions of patrons flocked to see the stars of the day (Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, and Clara Bow). These movies influenced American culture. This provided an escape from Depression Era realities.

Newspapers and Magazines Shaped cultural norms Reader’s Digest, Time, and The Saturday Evening Post appealed to a general middle class audience Sparked fads Like crossword puzzles and the Chinese game Mah Jong

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