Rapidly Changing Social Life of America The roaring Twenties Rapidly Changing Social Life of America

A Return to Normalcy The presidential election of 1920 took place in a post-World War One world Millions of people are dead and Europe is shattered In this uncertain time presidential candidate Warren Harding promises to help America return to “normalcy” With this being one of his major campaign points Harding wins the election to become the 29th President of the U.S. Harding would not finish his term however, dying of a heart attack in 1923.

Business and politics Calvin Coolidge, Harding’s VP became the 30th U.S. President. Coolidge’s presidency would exemplify the business excesses of the Roaring Twenties Coolidge believed whole heartedly that business was the most important thing to our society He believed business would promote the growth of America economically, the growth of arts and sciences, and fund charities He believed that the government should have a very limited role and could not have positive impact on anything

Anything but Normal Despite Harding’s hopes for a return to normalcy, the “Roaring Twenties” were anything but The 1920s were a time of rapid social and economic changes Women take new roles in society The city changes how people live Conservative religious thought challenges the changing world African-American culture begins to take on a new form while there is a simultaneous resurgence of racism

New roles for women During WWI many women entered the workforce to fill jobs vacated by men gone to war. With the conclusion of the war most women lost these jobs to the men returning from war. With the economic boom of the 1920s women rejoined the workforce in large numbers. While women worked a wider array of jobs than ever before, most were working in low pay jobs. The most common were nurses, teachers, and domestic servants.

New Roles for women In 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment is ratified granting women the right to vote. As a result the first woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming, is elected in 1924. However, sweeping national change was not brought about by new women voters. Why? Most women tended to vote as their husbands, fathers or other men in their life voted.

New roles for women Women were also challenging the idea of traditional gender roles. Women were still seen as the primary caregiver to children and were largely dependent on men for financial support. However, many were beginning to challenge these views in the search for equality. The flapper emerges as the champion for this change. A flapper was a young woman intent on enjoying herself and resisting traditional standards of behavior They shorten their hair and their hemlines. They wear make-up and smoke cigarettes. Flappers are a vast minority of women, but they become a symbol for challenging the traditional image of women.

Effects of urbanization For the first time in American history more people live in cities than in the countryside. The process of people moving from the country to cities is known as rural-to-urban shift. Why do people move? Most often it’s for economic opportunity. While industry is growing, agriculture shrinks. As urbanization grows so do education rates. Why do you think this is so? Many states began requiring a certain level of education to get students out of the workplace and to teach immigrants about American culture. Also, as families are more economically successful they can afford to allow, and pay for, their children to receive an education.

Values Change, values clash City life led to shifts in the values that people lived their lives by. City life challenged the traditional lifestyle of rural America. One point of view that gained popularity in an attempt to battle the confusion of the time was fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is the belief that all events in the Bible are literally true, they happened exactly as the Bible describes. Part of fundamentalism is the view of the creation story as exactly how everything was created. This view is called Creationism.

The scopes trial The conflict between fundamentalism and modern science gain a very wide audience in the nationally publicized Scopes Trial. The Scopes Trial is often referred to as the “monkey trial.” It is the trial prosecuting a Tennessee science teacher for teaching evolution instead of creationism. The prosecution was led by fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan One of the highlights of the trial was when the defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, got Bryan to admit on the stand that he didn’t believe everything in the Bible literally. Scopes is found guilty, but the trial was more a statement on the freedom of speech. In addition Scopes was not punished as the case was thrown out on a technicality

A massive demographic shift Beginning just prior to the 1920s is the Great Migration The Great Migration is a large scale movement of African Americans out of the south and into the cities of the North Between 1916 and 1970 over 6 million African Americans will be part of this movment This was motivated largely by how unsatisfactory life was for African Americans in the south In the north racism was less institutionalized and more economic opportunity existed Not that it was all easy, the summer of 1919, the Red Summer, demonstrated that racial issues persisted Across nearly 40 cities in the north nearly 200 people died in various race related riots.

Harlem Renaissance Harlem in New York City had around 100,000 black residents in the 1920’s, which made it one of the largest black communities in the world. It is in Harlem that the Harlem Renaissance is centered The Harlem Renaissance was an explosion of art, literature, and music created by African Americans It helped give birth to a new and distinct modern African American culture Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes are two writers/poets who are most associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes (below), spent most of his life in Harlem and became one of most highly regarded poets of his time. Zora Neal Hurston (above), originally from Fl Hurston went to college in NYC and became a highly regarded author

Harlem Renaissance A big part of this movement was musical with Jazz taking cities by storm Jazz was a new musical form that gained popularity during the 1920s. It featured many different types of instruments and relied a lot on improvisation, meaning no two experiences were really the same Notable figures of the period include Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington The Savoy Ballroom in Harlem became well known for being one of the few places of the era that permitted interracial dancing.

Marcus Garvey During this period a new approach to Civil Rights is developed by a Harlem resident named Marcus Garvey Garvey operated in way that established Civil Rights activists like W.E.B. DuBois resented Garvey argued that blacks should return to Africa. Garvey believed that African Americans should segregate from white society to reduce tension and avoid political conflict. He felt that African Americans should not need to get involved with whites to protect their interests W.E.B Dubois said, “He is, without doubt, the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America and in the world. He is either a lunatic or a traitor.”

Resurgence of the KKK Membership in the KKK grew post-WWI, with the group reaching it’s peak membership in the mid 1920’s with 5 million members, with most of these residing in the Midwest and the “Bible Belt”. Some people attribute the “rebirth” of the KKK in part to the silent film The Birth of a Nation. While a technical masterpiece for the time, the film was incredibly racist and portrayed the KKK as a heroic organization defending white virtue from aggressive black men The KKK opposed the diversity that was transforming American culture and opposed those who were not white, protestant, and “native” Americans. The practice of cross burning, employed by the KKK was introduced in 1915 The image to the left is a still from The Birth of a Nation and it shows a black character, played by a white man in makeup, being apprehended by the KKK

Things to Consider The 1920s are a difficult time to describe simply It was a time of technological innovation and social advancement for some people While women do get more political rights and social freedom, little real change is brought about It was also a time where science would come under attack from fundamentalists It is a time where it becomes clear to African Americans that the north was not some promised land free of racism In addition the institutionalized racism of the south becomes reinforced and more entrenched