Life in the Twenties

Prohibition To decrease the crime rates, family violence, poverty and block the reduction of the efficiency of soldiers and workers during wartime, the Congress passed the Volstead Act in October Prohibited the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages (18th Amendment)

Prohibition part2. - Conflicts Particularly in the cities, prohibition was extremely unpopular and widely ignored - they were sold in clubs or bars illegally Alcohol illegally smuggled in from Canada, Mexico, or the West Indies Bootlegging: in large cities, criminal gangs controlled liquor sales

Prohibition part3. - Al Capone One of the bootleggers, Al Capone had a small army of mobsters in Chicago Wanting to monopolistically control over all liquor sales in Chicago, his mob attacked other liquor sellers in Chicago, which caused violent wars

What did the government do? He organized a squad of young detectives to go after gangsters - their nickname was the Untouchables Federal Prohibition Bureau hired special agent Eliot Ness to prevent bootlegging, corruption, and violence.

The Result of Prohibition? Positive Alcoholism and the number of alcohol- related deaths declined Negative Widespread breakdown of law and order As a result, Its Act was repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933

Political cartoon

Youth Culture

“New Woman” - Flappers Flappers are stylish, adventurous, independent and often career- minded women Wore Shorter skirts and transparent silk hose Drove cars and participated in sports Variety of occupations: some drove taxis, ran telegraph lines and flew airplanes

Radio Diversity - stations broadcast church services, local news reports, music, and sporting events Discovered they could make money by selling advertisement spots - allowed businesses to advertise their products. Late 1920s, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) made all Americans across the country listen to the same broadcast at the same time

Movies New advances in the art of moviemaking attracted even larger audiences The introduction of sound led to the creation of new types of films - musicals and newsreels 80 million Americans flocked to the theatres More entertainment, jobs and impact in daily lives

Movies part 2. - Conflicts Changed standards of morality and sexuality portrayed in films troubled many Americans Some Americans demanded for regulations In 1922, Will Hays became the head of a newly created movie industry group - a code to limit offensive material in movies.

Sports Professional Sports were put together in the U.S. in the late 1800s With the introduction of new technology in the 1920s, professional sports became a form of mass entertainment available to most Americans

Football Between 1921 and 1930 fans at college football games doubled Red Grange was a college football star who joined professional football teams Grange’s first game on Thanksgiving Day 1925 attracted 35,000 fans

Books and Magazines Monthly and weekly publications provided new sources of information and entertainment Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post were very popular Reader’s Digest reprinted articles from other magazines in shorter forms

Celebrities and Heroes With the growth of media, celebrities gained huge audiences Young Americans copied the lifestyle and personal habits of many actors Athletes - Babe Ruth, Jim Thorpe Pilots - Charles Lindbergh, Ameilia Earhart

Revivalism The decline of moral standards worried many Americans Religious leaders wrote books and preached about evils of popular entertainment and alcohol Aimee Semple McPherson was one of the most popular revivalists - used strong Christian messages and Hollywood style entertainment to spread message

Fundamentalism Fundamentalists resisted many of the practices of other Protestants –Believed that every word of the Bible should be regarded as literally true –Modern ideas such as the theory of evolution were criticized

Scopes Trial Teaching the theory of evolution in public schools was outlawed by the Tennessee legislature The American Civil Liberties Union offered to defend any Tennessee schoolteacher who would challenge the law and John Scopes took the offer The trial uncovered the division between traditional religious values and new values based on scientific ideas Scopes lost the trial but fundamentalist ideas were portrayed as narrow minded As a result, people’s support for fundamentalism decreased