the roaring life of the 1920s

THE ROARING LIFE OF THE 1920SChanging Ways of Life

RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCESThe 1920 census showed that for the first time, more people lived in cities than in rural areas

RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCESCities were places of change and excitementRural areas remained conservative and

traditionalUrban culture was based on popular tastes,

morals and habits of mass consumption that were increasingly at odds with the strict religious and moral codes of rural America

RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCESCity dwellers drank, read about new scientific discoveries and debated social ideas

Small town dwellers were shocked by the behavior in the cities and frightened of so many people who were strangers

PROHIBITIONThe prohibitionists had been fighting to end liquor since the early 1800s

In Jan 1920, the 18th Amendment outlawed the buying, selling, making and using alcohol

PROHIBITION This did not mean that Americans stopped

drinking Speakeasies, bars who served patrons who

knew the secret code, opened Other made homemade liquor, bathtub gin. Some were deadly concoctions

BOOTLEGGERSOthers found that they could make a lot of money by providing illegal liquor to speakeasies

Al Capone was one of many gangsters who smuggled liquor from Canada to Chicago

He was arrested only for tax evasion

PROHIBITIONA secret knock or word allowed entrance into liquor clubs

If police arrived, they would leave through a secret exit

Twenty-three skidoo

PROHIBITIONDifferent mobs fought over territory

Gun battles ensued

Ironically, 81% of America opposed Prohibition

SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Dominant social and political issues of the 1920s expressed sharp divisions in US society between young and old; urban modernists and rural fundamentalists; prohibitionists and anti-prohibitionists; nativists and foreign born

SCIENCE AND RELIGIONThe Protestant movement in rural areas was fundamentalism

Fundamentalists believe in the literal meaning of every word in the Bible

Numerous preachers took to the road and radio to preach the “good book”

RELIGIONWhile there were always rifts between the individual religions, the 1920s saw rifts between ProtestantsModernismFundamentalismRevivalists on the radio

RELIGION - MODERNISMLarge numbers of Protestants changed

their views of religion because of the changing roles of women, the Social Gospel, and scientific knowledge

They took an historical and critical view of the Bible

They believed evolution did not conflict with creationism

RELIGION – FUNDAMENTALISM

Preachers in rural areas taught every word of the Bible as literal fact

Fundamentalists believed that God created the universe in 7 days and Genesis explained the origin of life

They believed that liberals caused the moral decay of society

RELIGION – REVIVALISTS Revivalists in the past traveled the region to spread their word

Now they used the radioBilly Sunday – attacked

drinking, gambling and dancing

Aimee Semple McPherson – condemned communism and jazz

RELIGION – REVIVALISTS Sunday was a professional baseball player until he found religion

He gave up the sport and spend the rest of his life opposing alcohol

RELIGION – REVIVALISTS McPherson – using the automobile and radio, her flock totaled 2 million

She is remembered more for the scandal, than her religious convictions

She disappeared in 1926 and then claimed she was kidnapped

RELIGION – REVIVALISTS Her radio producer disappeared at the same time and she was sighted at a resort in Mexico

When she returned, she was more popular than ever

She was widowed once and divorced twice

SCIENCE - EVOLUTION Charles Darwin’s book, Origin of the Species” taught people about evolution among plants and animals

That idea carried over to human evolution

SCIENCE - EVOLUTION Some states, like TN, made it illegal

to teach evolution because it was anti-religious teachings

High school biology teacher, John Scopes, was arrested before he could teach his planned lesson on evolution

SCOPES TRIAL Scopes was defended by Clarence Darrow, a famous trial lawyer from Chicago

The prosecutor was William Jennings Bryan, a devout fundamentalist

John Scopes

SCOPES TRIAL Darrow put the Bible on trial and called Bryan as an expert on the Bible

Bryan looked old- fashioned, feeble and naïve

Darrow was sophisticated and smooth Darrow Bryan

SCOPES TRIAL Darrow asked about the age of earth

Bryan replied that he was more interested in the rock of ages than the age of rocks

He believed that creation occurred in 4004 BC

SCOPES TRIAL When asked if the world was created in 7 24-hour days, Bryan admitted that there may be some flexibility in the actual 24 hour time period

Scopes was found guilty and fined $100