The Roaring Life of the 1920s CH.13

Changing Ways of Life SECTION 1

Rural and Urban Differences Urban Scene ◦New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia were the major urban centers of the 1920s ◦Small towns were slow paced and conservative while cities were fast paced and people debated new scientific and social ideas ◦Drinking, gambling, and casual dating Prohibition ◦Eighteenth Amendment (1920) ◦Supported largely by the rural south and west ◦Most immigrant groups considered drinking a part of socializing ◦Underfunding made the law unenforceable

Rural and Urban Differences Speakeasies ◦Hidden saloons where people had to present a card or know the password to enter Bootleggers ◦People who distilled their own alcohol Organized Crime ◦Sprung up in every major city as a result of prohibition ◦Chicago-Al Capone had an organization that brought in an estimated $60 million a year from

Fundamentalism A Protestant movement grounded in the literal interpretation of the Bible Believed that all knowledge could be found in the Bible and therefore rejected scientific ideas and theories like the theory of evolution

The Scopes Trial ◦ ACLU publicly stated it would defend any teacher who challenged Tennessee’s law against teaching the theory of evolution ◦ John Scopes was arrested for violating the law in 1925 ◦ ACLU hired Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes ◦ William Jennings Bryan served as special prosecutor ◦ Scopes was found guilty and fined $100

The Twenties Woman SECTION 2

Young Women Change the Rules The Flapper ◦An emancipated young woman who embraced new fashions and urban attitudes ◦Smoking and drinking in public ◦Openly talking about sex ◦Viewed marriage as an equal partnership ◦The flapper was more an image than a widespread reality The Double Standard ◦Women had to adhere to stricter standards of behavior than men

Women Shed Old Roles New Work Opportunities ◦College educated women worked as teachers, nurses, and librarians ◦Clerical work (typists, filing clerk, secretary, etc) ◦Women earned less than men Changing Family ◦Access and acceptability of birth control ◦Mass-produced goods ◦Marriages based increasingly on romantic love ◦Teen rebelliousness

Education and Popular Culture SECTION 3

Shaping Culture School Enrollments ◦Increased due to economic prosperity and higher educational standards in industry Expanding News Coverage ◦Included news from across the country and around the world ◦Mass circulation newspapers, magazines, and tabloids shaped popular culture Radio ◦News, entertainment, advertisements, live sporting events, and presidential addresses

New Heroes and Old Dreams Lindbergh’s Flight ◦Won $25,ooo and became a national hero Entertainment and the Arts ◦Silent movies and “talkies” ◦George Gershwin (composer) blended traditional music with jazz ◦Georgia O’Keefe-painter ◦Dance marathons became popular as well as flagpole sitting

New Heroes and Old Dreams Writers ◦Sinclair Lewis ◦Ridiculed Americans for conformity and materialism ◦F. Scott Fitzgerald ◦Portrayed the negative side of wealth and living as if life had no meaning ◦Edna St. Vincent Millay ◦Wrote poems celebrating new freedoms ◦Ernest Hemingway ◦Criticized the glorification of war

The Harlem Renaissan ce SECTION 4

Black American Voices in the 1920s The Move North ◦The Great Migration had caused tensions that culminated in 25 urban race riots in 1919 NAACP Goals ◦Urged protests of racial violence, especially lynching ◦James Johnson helped spear the NAACP campaign for an antilynching law in Congress ◦Secure civil rights

Black American Voices in the 1920s Marcus Garvey and UNIA ◦Jamaican immigrant who called for Black Americans to build a separate society ◦Founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914 ◦Encouraged his followers to return to Africa

Renaissance in New York Writers ◦Claude McKay- poems about life in black ghettos and experience of being black in a white dominated world ◦Langston Hughes- poems about the lives of the working class Performers ◦Black performers won large followings with all audiences ◦Paul Robeson was a famous dramatic actor whose support of the Soviet Union and Communism led him to leave the country

Renaissance in New York Jazz ◦Louis Armstrong ◦Talented trumpet player ◦Duke Ellington ◦Jazz pianist and composer ◦Bessie Smith ◦Blues singer and highest paid Black artist in the world