The 1920s Unit Intro and Vocab
Nicknames of the 1920s Jazz Age Roaring 20s The Heroic Twenties Laissez-Faire Decade Era of Wonderful Nonsense The Lawless Decade Age of Disillusionment Age of Intolerance
Age of Intolerance KKK Nativism Funda-mentalism: Scopes Trial The Red Scare Intolerance in the 1920s Quota System Marcus Garvey Anti-Mexican Attitude Blacks in the North
America 1865-1920: The Great Transition
America in 1865 America in 1920 Farming economy Rural society Protestant nation English-speaking Stable, settled, unchanging Local emphasis Culture of independence West as “escape” Isolated from world “Middle class” nation Technologically stable Sense of Community Industrial economy Urban society Multi-religious Polylinguistic Unsettled, ever changing Mass culture Culture of dependence West closed U.S. a global power “New” rich & poor Technological leaps Social Darwinism
Psychological Changes “Price of Industrialization” America in 1865 America in 1920 U.S. is unique, different from & superior to the “old world” U.S. without class conflict U.S. politics uncorrupted Fear that U.S. is becoming like Europe Growing conflict (rich/ poor, rural/city, race, etc) Corruption dominant
The 20th Century: A Search for Order
How to respond to the problems of industrialization, immigration, and urbanization? How to maintain American uniqueness? How will the U.S. be “different” from Europe and other societies?
The decade of the 1920s represents the search for these answers.
Unit Vocabulary
distrustful, pessimistic; having a low opinion of humanity cynical distrustful, pessimistic; having a low opinion of humanity
Victorian Era Era of the 1830s – 1901; named after Britain’s Queen Victoria; a time of relative peace and prosperity
normalcy term coined by President Harding; referred to the time before WWI and the Progressives when the U.S. was “normal”
ideology System of beliefs that guides an individual or a group (i.e. a nation) and determines its actions
Communism political system with a dictatorship and an economic system with an extreme form of socialism
Member of the Russian Communist Party Bolshevik Member of the Russian Communist Party
Republicanism ideas of the Republican party in the 1920s; smaller government; laissez faire, and isolationism
fundamentalism emphasis on the basic truth as related to religion; the belief that every word in the Bible is the literal truth
modernism emphasis on science and secular values over traditional ideas about religion
total abstinence from all alcoholic beverages temperance total abstinence from all alcoholic beverages
Prohibition Banning of all manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages
an increasing consumption of goods/products consumerism an increasing consumption of goods/products
good times in a country relating to economics prosperity good times in a country relating to economics
period of rising stock prices Bull Market period of rising stock prices
a share of ownership in a corporation stock a share of ownership in a corporation
gambling on the stock market speculation gambling on the stock market
period of falling stock prices Bear Market period of falling stock prices