1. The Jazz Age ( )
Unit 9

2. Lecture I: A Clash of Values
Return of Nativism
Sacco-Vanzetti Case (1921)
Highlighted Americans intolerance toward immigrants
and people with different political ideas.
Return of the Ku Klux Klan
New KKK emerged after WWI
Targeted “un-American ideas”
Catholics, Jews, immigrants were new targets
Controlling Immigration
Emergency Quota Act (1921)-only 3% of the total
number of foreign born people of a nationality
already in the U.S. could be admitted in a single
year
National Origins Act (1924)-only 2% allowed into
the U.S. and limited to 150,000 immigrants per year
Discriminatory by allowing more immigrants from
Northwestern Europe

3. B. The Fundamentalist Movement 1. Christian Fundamentalists
Believed in the literal interpretation of the bible
Felt threatened by the modernity of the 1920s
Held tight to traditional religious and social beliefs
2. Scopes “Monkey” Trial
John Scopes put on trial for teaching evolutionary theory to his biology students
Represented the clash between new vs. old ideas and creation vs. evolution
Clarence Darrow (Scopes) vs. William Jennings Bryan (Christian Fund)

4. 1. Greenich Village and the South Side
C. Art and Literature
1. Greenich Village and the South Side
Bohemian neighborhoods in NYC and Chicago
Center of art, literature and intellectualism
2. Modern Art in the 1920s
Bold and colorful
Urban and rural landscapes
Cubism and realism
Popular themes included isolationism
and disenchantment

5. Edward Hopper (Realism)

6. John Marin (Urban Landscapes)

7. Charles Scheeler (Cubism)

8. Writers focused on common themes
Literature in the 1920s
Writers focused on common themes
Disillusionment after WWI (Lost Generation)
Ernest Hemingway For Who the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms
Superficial attitudes and materialism
F.Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise
Criticisms of small town traditional values
Sinclair Lewis Babbit and Main Street

9. D. Popular Culture 1. Sports 2. Radio and Movies
Americans had more $ and time to enjoy entertainment and sports
1. Sports
Baseball, boxing and golf were popular
Radio made athletes worldwide celebrities
2. Radio and Movies
Helped unify the nation with a common culture by spreading new ideas and attitudes
First talkie - The Jazz Singer (1927)
First talkie cartoon – Steamboat Willie (1928)

10. E. African Americans and The Harlem Renaissance
Outpouring of African American art and literature in the 1920s
Writers
Themes focused on African American’s pride as a people, slavery and discrimination, and the Jazz Age
Popular writers included Claude McKay, Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston
Jazz
Improvisational style of music influenced by Dixieland and ragtime music popular in New Orleans
Introduced by Louis Armstrong in Chicago Night Clubs
Famous Jazz musicians included Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith

11. F. African American Politics
1. Black Votes in the North
Great Migration increased political power of African-
Americans in the North
Voted Republican and elected African Americans to
federal offices
2. NAACP Fights Lynching
Lobbied government officials and filed court cases
to get an anti-lynching legislation passed
3. Black Nationalism
Movement of African Americans who advocated
separation and independence from white society
Marcus Garvey founded the United Negro
Improvement Association (UNIA) to promote Black
pride and unity
Back to Africa Movement-Garvey’s failed attempt at creating an
African American settlement in Liberia, Africa