LIFE & CULTURE IN AMERICA IN THE 1920S THE ROARING TWENTIES LIFE & CULTURE IN AMERICA IN THE 1920S

President Harding (1920-1923) Personal Information Major Policies “Return to Normalcy” (laissez faire) Isolationism Washington Naval Conference “Ohio Gang” Administration scandals: Teapot Dome Scandal Dies in office (August 1923)

President Coolidge (1923-1929) Personal Information “Silent Cal” Conservative Politician “The government that does least, does best”. McNairy-Haugen Bill Kellogg-Briand Pact

“Silent Cal”

Americans on the Move Urbanization still accelerating. 1920: New York 5 million Chicago 3 million

Ford’s Model T Henry Ford, circa 1916

Cities were impersonal URBAN VS. RURAL Farmers struggle post-WWI. 6 million moved to cities. Urban life seen as “immoral”. Rural life seen as safe, moral. Suburban boom: trolleys, street cars etc. Cities were impersonal Farms were innocent

Demographical Changes Demographics: statistics that describe a population. African-American Migration: Why? Jim Crow laws Job opportunities 1860 – 93% in south; 1930 – 80% in south Struggles: Racism follows. Lower pay, lousy jobs.

Other Migrations Post-WWI: European refugees to America. Limited immigration from Europe & Asia. Employers turned to Mexican & Canadian immigrants. Barrios : Spanish-speaking neighborhoods.

THE TWENTIES WOMAN Girls, they wanna have fu-un. Independent and achieving greater freedoms. Voting, more employment, freedom of the auto, etc. Chicago 1926

THE FLAPPER Challenged traditional manners & morals. Embraced new fashions & urban attitudes. Extreme: “Vamp”

THE CHANGING AMERICAN FAMILY American birthrates declined early 20th century. Development of birth control. Margaret Sanger: Birth control activist Founder--American Birth Control League Planned Parenthood Margaret Sanger and other founders of the American Birth Control League - 1921

Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933. Clash between city & rural values: 18th Amendment Illegal to make, distribute, sell, transport or consume liquor. Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933.

SUPPORT FOR PROHIBITION Reformers believed alcohol led to crime, abuse, laziness, etc. Supporters were largely from rural south and west.

Poster supporting prohibition

SPEAKEASIES AND BOOTLEGGERS Majority against prohibition. Most immigrant groups against. Drinkers go to speakeasies. Bootleggers smuggled and manufactured it. Prohis “tried” to enforce it. Speakeasies

Al Capone was finally convicted on tax evasion charges in 1931. ORGANIZED CRIME Growth of organized crime Al Capone – Chicago, Illinois 60 million per year (liquor only) Al Capone was finally convicted on tax evasion charges in 1931.

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Valentines Day – February 14, 1929 Chicago: Capone vs. Moran Moran’s gang virtually destroyed.

GOVERNMENT FAILS TO CONTROL LIQUOR Prohibition failed: Why? >>“Unenforceable” Public support crashed. Created more problems than fixed.

PROHIBITION REPEALED The 21st Amendment finally repealed Prohibition in 1933.

SCIENCE AND RELIGION CLASH Fundamentalists vs. Seculars: Literal interpretation of the bible Truth in the bible, not science. Modern science challenges.

SCOPES TRIAL March 1925: Tennessee makes teaching evolution illegal. ACLU challenges. John Scopes

SCOPES TRIAL ACLU hired Clarence Darrow. Prosecution countered with William Jennings Bryan. Bryan

SCOPES TRIAL July 1925 “Trial of the Century” Darrow seemed to win on “points”. Nonetheless, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. Bryan Darrow

EDUCATION AND POPULAR CULTURE Enrollment in high schools quadrupled between 1914 and 1926.

Mass Media Increases in Mass media during the 1920s: Examples: Newspapers Magazines Radio Movies Newspapers: 27 million to 39 million Increase of 42% Motion Pictures: 40 million to 80 million Increase of 100% Radios: 60,000 to 10.2 million Increase of 16,983%

EXPANDING NEWS COVERAGE Literacy increased in the 1920s… Reader’s Digest, Saturday Evening Post, Time – circulations of over 2 million a year. Tabloids created. Newsreels.

RADIO COMES OF AGE Most powerful communication. Faster, larger audience. Sports, politics, news, “vaudeville shows”, etc.

ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS Silent films through 1927. First sound movie: Jazz Singer (1927) First animated with sound: Steamboat Willie (1928) By 1930, millions went to the movies weekly. Walt Disney's animated Steamboat Willie marked the debut of Mickey Mouse.

Icons of 1920s

LINDBERGH’S FLIGHT Charles Lindbergh May 27, 1927: First nonstop solo trans-Atlantic flight. Spirit of St. Louis NYC - Paris 33 ½ hours later $25,000 prize

Amelia Earhart 1932: First female to fly solo across the Atlantic. 1935: First person to fly from California to Hawaii 1937: “Attempt” to fly around the world

AMERICAN HEROES OF THE 20s 1929: Americans spent $4.5 billion on entertainment. Babe Ruth begins trend of “sports heroes”.

EDWARD KENNEDY “DUKE” ELLINGTON Orchestra leader at the famous Cotton Club. One of America’s greatest jazz composers.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG Extremely influential Jazz musician, originally from New Orleans.

1920s DANCING FADS Charleston Swing Dancing Dance Marathons

Walt Disney Co-founder of Disney Corp. Winner of 32 Academy Awards.

WRITERS OF THE 1920s F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the phrase “Jazz Age” . Paradise Lost and The Great Gatsby. Emptiness of New York elite society .

WRITERS OF THE 1920 Ernest Hemingway The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, criticized the glorification of war “Lost Generation” writers. Hemingway - 1929

THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE Great Migration: hundreds of thousands of African Americans move north to Northern cities. 1920: Over 40% lived in urban areas. Migration of the Negro by Jacob Lawrence

LANGSTON HUGHES Best-known, HR poet. Themes surrounding the African-American experience in America.

Garvey, “Provisional President of Africa”. MARCUS GARVEY Marcus Garvey: black separatist leader. 1914: Founded Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) “Back to Africa” Movement Garvey, “Provisional President of Africa”.

Saccho and Vanzetti were executed for robbery and murder in 1927. Nativism in the 20’s: Sacco and Vanzetti Saccho and Vanzetti were executed for robbery and murder in 1927.