The Roaring 20s Prosperous decade for most Americans Called the Roaring 20s because new forms of mass media and communications and challenges to traditional values

New Mass Media that challenges traditional values

Radio KDKA – Pittsburgh – First commercial Radio Station broadcast on the night of the 1920 Presidential Election By 1929, 40% of American households own a radio

Radio Radio advertising creates national markets for consumer products

Radio Radio broadcast of Jazz made this new music popular and respectable among Americans.

Radio Politicians use this as a communication tool, also The most notable use of Radio as a political communication Tool is Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats” that will Broadcast later during the Great Depression

The Movies Another major form of mass entertainment in the 1920s were films. They started off as silent films until the first talking Picture – The Jazz Singer in 1927 Movies created national stars and would provide escape during the Great Depression Rudolph Valentino Charlie ChaplinClara Bow

Print Media Magazines Newspapers

Rise of Media causes national “fads” Crossword Puzzles Mah Jongg The rise of mass media and communications leads to immense social change in the 1920s

Charles Lindbergh Charles Lindbergh flew the first transatlantic solo flight in 1927 in his airplane the Spirit of St. Louis He would suffer the tragic kidnapping and murder of his child and subsequent media circus around the trail of the accused.

Social Change & Traditional American Values Challenges to traditional American Values resulted in  Conservative Reaction  Social Conflict

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution  Challenged the traditional Christian belief in the Bible’s account of creation  Evolution means gradual change  In biology, refers to the changes in a population over time  Charles Darwin – English biologist  Book The Origin of Species - the idea of natural selection  Focused on the importance of competition and evolution in species development By the 1920s, may Christians in America viewed Darwin’s Theory of Evolution an attack on their religious beliefs

Scopes Trial  1925 – Tennessee legislature makes it illegal to teach any theory contrary to the Bible’s story of Divine creation  John Scopes – high school biology teacher wanted to teach Darwin’s Theory of evolution  Newspapers and radio cover the Scopes Trial as a sensational major news story  Scopes is found guilty, but the press makes the prosecution’s lawyer look foolish and Tennessee appear to be backward

Women in the 1920s Traditional American values also challenged by young women In 19 th Century Victorian American, the role of the middle class woman was of obedient wife and loving mother.

19 th Amendment Passed in 1920 Gave women the right to vote Voted nationally for the first time in the 1920 presidential election This was the result of decades of activism, beginning in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention, which included many other demonstrations and rallies. The National Women’s Party was formed in the early 1900s by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. The party’s protests resulted in imprisonment of many suffragettes, some of whom were violently mistreated. Iron Jawed Angels clip

Changes to traditional American Values The Flapper Rebellious, young, middle class women of the 1920s Behaved and dressed in unconventional ways This rebellion upset American traditionalists Flappers openly expressed sexuality in movies, novels and everyday life. They bobbed, their hair, used LOTS of makeup, wore short skirts, smoked cigarettes in public and danced the tango and Charleston They drank illegal alcoholic beverages (more about that to come)

The 18 th Amendment Made the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages illegal Took effect in 1919 Protestant reformers worked for ratification – alcohol was a sin that could destroy American family One of the final reforms of the Progressive movement

Unintended Consequences Gangsters smuggled massive quantities of alcohol into the US and use profits to establish organized crime Illegal bars - “speakeasies” opened in many cities Widespread violation of the 18 th amendment contributed to the attack on traditional American Values REPEALED 1933 BY THE 21 st Amendment in 1933

Harlem Renaissance Name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem (New York) between World War I and the middle of the 1930s African-American writers and musicians located to the area and clubs playing jazz and the blues attracted white audiences who came to dance and drink in Harlem speakeasies

Anti-Immigration Feelings Three Factors that contributed to a rise in intolerance 1)Racial and religious prejudice against people who were different 2)Job competition 3)Fear of radical ideas like communism

The KKK – Part 2 The Klan from Reconstruction was mostly confined to the South, was now popular in the entire country Not just anti African-Americans, but anti- Catholic and anti-Jewish Claimed to defend traditional American Values Blamed Roman-Catholic and Jewish immigrants for many of the nations problems

Anti-Immigration Legislation Laws that limited immigration: Immigration act of 1921 – first quota – numerical limits - on most immigration to the United States This particularly discriminated against Southern and Eastern Europe The Immigration Act of 1924 placed even stricter quotas on immigration These two laws had the effect of cutting off most immigration from Europe until after World War II.