Chapter 17 The Jazz Age

The Growing Economy (2) Chapter 17 The Jazz Age

The Growing Economy In the 1920’s widespread ownership of automobiles, radios, and other innovations changed how Americans lived. By the mid 1920’s the automobile had become an accepted part of American life and was seen as more important than indoor plumbing by many. U.S. wages increased and the work week decreased allowing people more disposable income and more personal time. (1923-1929) This was possible because mass-production increased supply while reducing cost and enabling the manufacturers to the lower cost to the consumers.

The Growing Economy Henry Ford was the first to use the moving assembly line which divided the operations into simple task as the line moved past them. In automobile production this enabled a new car to be built every 93 minutes (versus 12 hrs before the line). By 1925, a new Model-T would roll off every 10 seconds. The assembly line also reduced the price of cars where the common man could afford one. They reduced in price from $850 down to $295 in less than 20 years due to improved methods and high production. Ford believed lower cost = higher sales.

The Growing Economy Car revolutionized American life and helped to create a new type of worker, the auto commuter, who could work greater distances from where they lived. The money derived from such allowed higher wages too. Ford did make certain requirements however known as the creation of the “Sociological Department” which set requirements that the workers had to meet in their daily lives.

The Growing Economy The radio industry began a few short years after the radio’s invention in 1913. Radios would announce Warren Harding’s Presidential victory publically by 1920. By 1920, NBC set up a network of stations to broadcast daily shows. A few years later CBS would assembly an even larger groups of stations. The use of radio to advertise helped to keep the American public buying, the factories running ,and more money in people’s pockets.

The Clash of Values (3) Chapter 17 The Jazz Age

The clash of Values The 1920’s , often referred to as the “Roaring Twenties”, was a time of prosperity in the United States, however, not everyone was open to all the new trends. Many in the rural areas saw it as a time when traditional values were under attack. Nativism had returned and with it a suspicion of immigrants and their motives. Two immigrants, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti had been accused of a double homicide in Mass.

The clash of Values The two were reported to be anarchists (people who oppose all forms of govt.). Based on flimsy evidence, but largely on the fact they were immigrants and anarchist. They were convicted and executed. The KKK would flourish during this time and rise to membership throughout the U.S. at over 4 million.

The clash of Values The movement to ban alcohol grew stronger in the early 1920’s. Prohibition was passed with the 18th Amendment. Congress passed the Volstead Act making the U.S. Treasury Department responsible for enforcing Prohibition.

Cultural Innovations (4) Chapter 17 The Jazz Age

cultural Innovations For many Americans in the 1920s, nothing matched the allure of motion pictures. The early movies were silent with subtitles explaining the plot. The first “Talking Picture” was released in 1927 and began the golden age of Hollywood. Tootsie

cultural Innovations Music also played a large role in American culture as it could be heard in all part of America on the radio. Irving Berlin was one of the most famous songwriters in the 1920’s. Berlin worked in an area of New York city known as Tin Pan Alley where composers wrote much of the popular music of the era. Mass Media- radio, movies, newspapers, and magazines aimed at the broad audience , not only entertained the masses, it also created a sense of shared experiences and helped unify the nation.

African –American Culture (4) Chapter 17 The Jazz Age

African-american Culture The Harlem Renaissance was a creative era for African-American artist and writers. The growing African-American population in the North meant they had meaningful political power to continue the struggle for human rights. The flowering of African American music, arts, poetry and political voice became known as the Harlem Renaissance after the neighborhood in which much of it was occurring. Writers and poets such as Claude McKay, Langston Hughes and Zora Hurston gained fame and a national voice from their work here during this time. Langston Hughes was a prolific writer who became a leading voice of the black experience in America Zora Hurston Melvin Tolson Langston Hughes

African-american Culture Dark Symphony Melvin Tolson And from that day to this Men black and strong For Justice and Democracy have stood, Steeled in the faith that Right Will conquer Wrong, And Time will usher in one brotherhood. African-american Culture I, Too Langston Hughes I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table When company comes. Nobody’ll dare Say to me, “Eat in the kitchen,” Then. Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America. "If We Must Die" Claude McKay If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die So that our precious blood may not be shed In vain; then even the monsters we defy Shall be constrained to honor us though dead! O kinsmen! We must meet the common foe! Though far outnumbered let us show us brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death blow! What though before us lies the open grave? Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! I Too, sing America

African-american Culture New Orleans native and cornet/trumpet player Louis Armstrong moved to Chicago and introduced an early form of a new type of music influenced by Dixieland and ragtime- Jazz. Armstrong would break away from the Dixieland tradition and create his own form of jazz that influenced those in Chicago and expanded what Jazz music would become. Armstrong would become the first great cornet/trumpet soloist in Jazz music. Jazz is one of the only types of music totally created in the United States. Out of Jazz and African spirituals would come the blues. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfeKUNDDYs&feature=related

African-american Culture The venue were many African American entertainers got their start was the Harlem nightclub known as the Cotton Club The Cotton Club black entertainers, was located in a largely black neighborhood but was a whites only nightclub. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mq4UT4VnbE&feature=related