The Roaring 20’s

SSUSH16 The student will identify key developments in the aftermath of WW I. a. Explain how rising communism and socialism in the United States led to the Red Scare and immigrant restriction. b. Identify Henry Ford, mass production, and the automobile. c. Describe the impact of radio and the movies. d. Describe modern forms of cultural expression; include Louis Armstrong and the origins of jazz, Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley.

The Red Scare a. Explain how rising communism and socialism in the United States led to the Red Scare and immigrant restriction.

Communism and Socialism in the U.S. Eugene Debs and socialism  Eugene Debs ( )  Helped establish Socialist Party of America  Ran for President in 1904, 1908, 1912 and 1920  Served 5 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act Socialism: system of government that argues the workers should control the government and that government should own industry, ex. Communism

Communism and Socialism in the U.S. Espionage Act and Privacy  Espionage Act of 1917  Made it illegal to interfere with military recruitment or operations, or to openly support America’s enemies  Most famous violator: Eugene V. Debs  Schenck v. United States (1919) – Constitutional, not a violation of 1 st Amendment [freedom of speech]  Still in effect today  Some want Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, charged under the Espionage Act for his actions in releasing classified military documents from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Debs was a pacifist. He, along with many other socialists, argued that the United States should not enter World War I

Communism and Socialism in the U.S. Red Scare  Nationwide fear of communists  Why?  Bolshevik Revolution in Russia (1917)  Goal: Worldwide Communism [Comintern]  Anarchist bombings throughout U.S.  Rise of labor unions/workers rights advocates

Communism and Socialism in the U.S. Red Scare  Palmer Raids ( )  Series of attacks on American communists  Began after series of bombings targeting important Americans  Led by A. Mitchell Palmer, U.S. Attorney General  Many arrested / deported  Most poor immigrants

Communism and Socialism Red Scare  Sacco and Vanzetti  Two anarchist immigrants charged with murder in 1920  Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti  Little evidence, but sentenced to death anyway  Executed August 23, 1927 Judge Webster Taylor, speaking about Vanzetti: “although he may not actually have committed the crime attributed to him, is nevertheless morally culpable [guilty], because he is an enemy of our existing institutions…The defendant’s ideals are cognate [associated] with crime.” [as quoted in The Year the World Went Mad, by Allen Churchill]

Communism and Socialism in the U.S. Immigration Restriction Immigration = problem Solution? Quotas First limits: 350,000 persons/yr., no more than 3% of current population National Origins Act of 1924 Quota reduced to 2% and 150,000 total Banned Asian immigration

Summary  Identify or define the following:  socialism  Eugene V. Debs  Espionage Act of 1917  Palmer Raids  Sacco and Vanzetti  Immigration quotas  National Origin Act of 1924  Answer the following:  Why do you think that the U.S. wanted to limit immigration in the 1920’s?

The Assembly Line b. Identify Henry Ford, mass production, and the automobile.

Henry Ford ( )  Formed Ford Motor Company in 1903  Became famous for his “Model T”

Model T  Four cylinder, twenty horsepower “touring car”  First introduced in 1908  Mass produced  Could be sold cheaply  Available only in black  15,000,000 sold between

Model T  Original price: $850  Top speed: 40 mph  Carried 10 gallons of gas  Capable of travelling 225 without refilling YearPrice in $ Price Adjusted to 2010’s $ 1908$850$20, $826$19, $780$18, $780$18, $690$15, $600$13, $550$11, $360$7, Information from a 1920 Ford News Bureau publication, discussing the first Model T. Early Costs of Model T

Radio and the Motion Picture c. Describe the impact of radio and the movies.

Radio  Invented in 1896 by Guglielmo Marconi (“wireless telegraph”)  Received 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics  First used on ships to communicate  Not monitored 24/7 until after sinking of Titanic  First Commercial Radio Station:  KDKA, Pittsburgh PA  First broadcast November 2, 1920

Radio  Commercial Radio Networks:  Why?  Hard to produce local shows that were entertaining  Cheaper to share information/programs  National Broadcasting Company (NBC)  First commercial radio network  Organized in December 1926 DID YOU KNOW: By 1930, what we today consider the first three “major networks” had already been formed: NBC, CBS and ABC

Map of NBC-Red & Orange Networks, 1934

Motion Pictures  First “moving picture” shown: April 23, 1896  Koster and Bial's Music Hall in New York City by Edison  “Nickelodeons”  Small movie theaters that sold tickets for $.05  “democratic”  Cheap  No sound  Consolidation of major companies  "Big Five" - Paramount, Warner Brothers, RKO, 20th Century-Fox and Lowe's (MGM)  "Little Three" - Universal, Columbia, and United Artists

Impact of Radio and Movies  Nationalization of culture – “Modern American Mass Culture”  People from different parts of the country experienced the same radio shows and movies  See handout

Cultural Expression in the 20’s d. Describe modern forms of cultural expression; include Louis Armstrong and the origins of jazz, Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance, Irving Berlin, and Tin Pan Alley.

Jazz  Developed between 1890 and 1935, originally around New Orleans, LA  Originally played in dance halls and vaudevilles  Moved north during the “Great Migration”  Became popular in the 1930’s and 1940’s as Swing

Louis Armstrong ( )  Most influential jazz musician  From New Orleans  Became famous throughout America

Harlem Renaissance  African-American cultural movement of the 1920’s and 1930’s  Made possible by the Great Migration  Centered in Harlem, New York City  Led to a new cultural identify for African- Americans

HARLEM

Harlem Renaissance  Major Figures  Literature  Zora Neale Hurston  Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)  Langston Hughes  Poetry  James Weldon Johnson  “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”  Music  Jazz  Intellectual Leaders  W.E.B. DuBois  Marcus Garvey

Langston Hughes ( )  Poet  Influential figure in the Harlem Renaissance  Famous works:  Dream Deferred  I, Too Sing America

Irving Berlin ( )  Russian immigrant & composer  Became famous composing “ragtime” music  Famous songs:  Alexander’s Ragtime Band  God Bless America

Tin Pan Alley  Neighborhood in New York where many composers lived  28 th Street between 5 th and 6 th Avenues  Famous Composers:  Irving Berlin  Scott Joplin  George Gershwin

The Lost Generation  Nickname for American writers of the period  Work reflected:  Disillusionment following World War I  Concern for consumer culture that had developed

The Lost Generation  Famous members of the Lost Generation:  Ernest Hemingway  The Sun Also Rises (1926)  A Farewell to Arms (1929)  For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)  Old Man and the Sea (1952)  F. Scott Fitzgerald  This Side of Paradise (1920)  The Great Gatsby (1925)  Sinclair Lewis  Main Street (1920)  Babbitt (1922)

Visual Arts of the 1920’s  Major Themes:  Urban, industrial settings  Examples:  Edward Hopper  Georgia O’Keeffe  Alfred Stieglitz  Charles Sheeler

Architecture in the 1920’s  Characterized by emphasizing function and straight horizontal lines, with materials reflecting purpose of the structure  “form follows function”  Famous architects:  Louis Sullivan  “Father of Skyscrapers”  Frank Lloyd Wright