Changing Ways of Life CHAPTER 13 SECTION 1

Urban Growth  1920 census- more people finally lived in cities  51% of Americans now lived in urban settings  million people left farms and towns each year for cities  Urbanization- gradual increase of people living in urban areas and how societies accommodate that change

Small Town Values  Conservative  Farms  Close relationships  Felt city life was immoral

The New Urban Scene  New York City  5.6 million people  Chicago  3 million  Philadelphia  2 million  Another 65 cities had populations of over 100,000

City Life  Cities brought in workers from all around the world  Polish, Irish, Russians, Italians, Swedes, Arabs, French, and Chinese  Night life – movie theaters and vaudeville houses  Small town migrants  adapt to the urban environment  City = change

City Life  City dwellers read and argued about current scientific and social ideas  Judged based on status and accomplishment  Tolerated drinking, gambling, and casual dating  Life was fast-paced

Conflict  1920s- Americans found themselves caught between rural and urban cultures  Big clash over Prohibition  Moral evils

18 th Amendment  January th Amendment went into effect  the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages were legally prohibited

 Movement was led by rural Christians, Protestants, Women  Reformers had long considered liquor a prime cause of corruption  Felt that too much drinking led to crime, wife, and child abuse, accidents on the job, and other serious social issues  Support for prohibition came largely from the rural South and West

 Anti-Saloon League  Lobbied for Prohibition  Affiliated with Christian Churches  Womanś Christian Temperance Union  Associated womenś rights with Temperance  Said drinking was a sin

Results  At first, saloons closed their doors and arrests for drunkenness declined  After WWI- Americans wanted to enjoy life  Most immigrants considered drinking a necessary part of socializing

Enforcing Prohibition  Volstead Act- enacted out to carry out the intent of the 18 th Amendment  18 th Amendment did not provide penalties or define what ¨intoxicating¨ liquors were  to prohibit intoxicating beverages,  to regulate the manufacture, sale, or transport of intoxicating liquor (but not consumption), and  to ensure an ample supply of alcohol and promote its use in scientific research and in the development of fuel, dye and other lawful industries and practices, such as religious rituals

 The Volstead Act  Prohibition Bureau in the Treasury Department  Patrolled coastline and inland borders  Tracked down illegal stills (equipment for distilling liquor)  Monitor highways for trucks of illegal alcohol  Overseeing of all industries that legally used alcohol  Task fell to approximately 1,500 poorly paid federal agents and local police

Bootleg Alcohol  To obtain liquor illegally, drinkers went underground to hidden saloons and nightclubs known as ¨speakeasies¨  They could be found everywhere  You needed a password or special card to gain access

 People grew bolder in getting around the law  Learned to distill alcohol and built their own stills  Alcohol was allowed more medicinal and religious purposes  Illegal prescriptions  Sales sacramental wine  Bootleggers- named for smugglers practice of carrying liquor in the legs of boots  Smuggled it in from Cuba, Canada, and West Indies