Unit 5 Lecture 10 The Roaring Twenties

Coolidge and Prosperity Harding replaced by Calvin Coolidge “Do nothing Cal” – pro-business, laissez faire policies President… “the business of America is business” – growing wages, production, and technology Automobile industry booms Henry Ford’s assembly line makes cars widely available and affordable-clip

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Cars and Planes Cars connect rural and urban areas – the beginnings of urban sprawl Route 66, “The Mother Road,” connects Chicago to L.A. Roadside towns and business develops across country Airlines are born – Pan-Am, 1927 2

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Consumerism Grows Electricity becomes widely available to Americans Appliance sales soar Modern advertising begins Overproduction of goods Many buying on installment plans 4

20’s Life Americans leave small towns and farms en masse for the excitement and opportunities of cities Small-town values and mores often abandoned for more liberal behaviors Fast paced life style and freedoms 5

A New Kind of Woman Until 20’s, women were still viewed as in 1800’s Uncertainty of war, freedom of cities, changed ideas about gender roles (and the world in general) Flappers – Emancipated women of the 20’s. short hair, modern dress, attitudes, and behavior But, double standard for male/ female behavior still existed

Women’s Roles Change More women work outside the home Families smaller on average with availability of birth control Margret Sanger’s clinic

Prohibition Established in 1920 by 18th amendment Many resent law / enforcement is weak Growth of speakeasies – secret drinking clubs Bootleggers – liquor smugglers Organized Crime seizes on prohibition Al Capone most notorious

Moral Backlash Some resentment in society over changing values Growth of Fundamentalism-religious movement focused on literal interpretation of the Bible – rejects science. Billy Sunday and Aimee Semple McPherson – important evangelists

Scopes Trial State of Tennessee makes it illegal to teach evolution ACLU and teacher John Scopes challenge law Clarence Darrow defends Scopes against William Jennings Bryan Science vs. Religion in public schools Scopes loses trial, but literal belief in Bible is brought into question

Culture of the 20’s Growth of Jazz and Blues Music “Lost Generation” of writers including Stein, Fitzgerald, and Hemingway Harlem Renaissance- blooming of African American artistic culture in New York City. Marcus Garvey promotes Black Nationalism Charles Lindbergh becomes first man to cross the Atlantic by plane – “Spirit of St. Louis”

Culture of the 20’s Growth of sports culture – Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey Hollywood Stars, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin. First film with sound, The Jazz Singer – 1927 Growth of newspapers and magazines like Time and Life Growing education and literacy rates

Charlie Chaplin Steamboat Willie dance the Charleston!

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