U3C10 The Roaring Twenties U.S. History

Main Idea American culture underwent rapid and radical change in the 1920s. Signs of this change were everywhere-in the music and fashions of the day, in the habits and pastimes of Americans, in the art and literature of the country’s most creative minds. Large population shifts and new technologies transformed the nation from rural to urban and from traditional to modern.

Essential Question What rapid and radical cultural changes occurred in the 1920s?

American Life Changes: New Roles for Women 19th Amendment in 1920 1924- Nellie Taylor Ross- first women governor-Wyoming most women voted as men in their lives more women worked outside the home and attended college during the economic boom of the 1920s flappers presented a lifestyle of great independence and freedom

Effects of Urbanization 1920 census: first time that more urban than rural farming slump sent people to cities for work automobile sent people to cities as cities grew, education increased due to new state laws as American industry increased so did education due to more income immigrants benefitted from education as well

Conflicts Over Values Urban vs. Rural values Rise in fundamentalism: Billy Sunday Fundamentalism vs. evolution Scopes trial: Science teacher that broke Tennessee law by teaching evolution Clarence Darrow represented Scopes William Jennings Bryan led prosecution

Prohibition since early 1900s, alcohol believed to hurt families, grain was needed for food for troops in WWI, bias against immigrants 18th amendment, 1919 made alcohol illegal; 1920-Volstead Act was the law to enforce it Prohibition created criminal empires: bootleggers, speakeasies

The Harlem Renaissance: The Great Migration due to the demand for war equipment at the outbreak of WWI, southern African Americans streamed north to cities such as Detroit and Chicago in search of opportunity; known as the Great Migration. Racial tensions rose after WWI due to a shortage of jobs.

Life in Harlem New York City was a destination for African Americans during the Great Migration, most lived in the neighborhood of Harlem, it became the unofficial capital of African American culture and activism in the US. W.E.B. DuBois, key figure in the rise of Harlem, helped found the NAACP, editor of The Crisis, helped promote African American arts movement in New York in the 1920s, known as the Harlem Renaissance. Marcus Garvey, formed UNIA, Universal Negro Improvement Association, their motto was “back to Africa”; clashed with NAACP, forced to leave US.

A Renaissance in Harlem Literature: James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay Performing Arts: Louis Armstrong, Cab Callaway, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith Fine Arts: William H. Johnson, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence

A New Culture is Born: Mass Entertainment in the 1920s The Jazz Singer- first talkie in 1927, staring Al Jolson Radio/Movies part of new media of 1920s In 1920, 1 radio station, KDKA near Pittsburgh, in 1922, 570 Radios broke down cultural barriers Movies exploded in popularity in 1920s Americans bought 100 mil tickets/week; population was 123 mil.

An Era of Heroes Popularity of movies created celebrities and heroes for Americans to follow Film Stars: Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, Clara Bow, Mary Pickford Charles A. Lindbergh-first successful transatlantic flight: 1927 Amelia Earhart: first woman to fly to Europe, disappeared in 1937 Radio created a passion for sports; Red Grange, Helen Wills, Bobby Jones, Babe Ruth

Arts of the 1920s The 1920s, a period of great economic and social change provided themes for novelists F. Scott Fitzgerald is most closely linked with the 1920s Ernest Hemmingway: A Farewell to Arms George Gershwin: Jazz composer-Rhapsody in Blue