Standard 16

Aftermath of WW1

Red Scare

• After WW1, inflation caused economic problems in USA

• Led to large amount of strikes

– Seattle Shipyard

– Boston Police Strike

• Many Americans thought this would lead to Communists taking over

Red Scare

• Homemade bombs were intercepted in the mail that were sent to prominent Americans

• One bomb made it to Atty Gen. A. Mitchell Palmer’s house

• Palmer created the Federal Bureau of Investigation

– Detained thousands of suspects and deported almost 600

A Mitchell Palmer

Immigration Restrictions

• Fear and prejudice of Communists led to rise in racism and nativism

• Example of prejudice would be Sacco and Vanzetti case – Executed for robbery and

murder of two employees at a shoe factory

– Were Anarchists – Even though evidence was

sketchy, they were convicted

Rebirth of KKK

• KKK restarted atop Stone Mountain in 1915

– Lost influence in 20s because of scandals

• US immigration policies changed after war

– 1921- Emergency Quota Act

– 1924- National Origins Act

Henry Ford

First car built by Ford in 1893

The Model ‘T’ Ford

• Henry Ford set out to build a car which everyone could afford to buy.

• It was slow, ugly and difficult to drive, and was nick named the ‘Tin Lizzie’ by the American people.

The Model ‘T’ Ford

• The attraction of the Model T Ford (T=Touring) was that its price never increased.

• Costing $1200 in 1909, the price in 1928 was only $295.

• By 1929 Ford was producing more than one car per minute

Mass Production

Ford invented the idea of using an Assembly Line to speed up production.

Mass Production

• Ford was able to sell cars cheaply because they were mass-produced and every part was Standardised (only one color and one engine size were available).

• By producing large numbers of cars on an Assembly Line Ford needed fewer skilled workers.

Key Quote – Henry Ford

How would this have helped to cut production costs?

‘A customer can have any color he likes for his car so long as it's black’

Car Industry

Mass productions &

Standardisation lead to

increased car sales.

More Standardised

parts are needed

More jobs are

created in other

industries.

Steel

Glass

Rubber

Leather

More people with

jobs means that

they can afford to

buy a car!

Jobs in Diners,

Motels & Gas

Stations.

More Oil

is used.

More roads

are built.

The Cycle

of

Prosperity!

Economy

• Economy was consumer oriented

• Electronic devices became very popular

Wireless telegraphy by Marconi

Impact of Radio

• KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcast the first radio show in 1920

• Soon majority of US households gathered around radios at night for entertainment

• Now everyone across the country can listen to the same thing

• Advertising became a powerful selling tool

Movies

• In the mid 20s, Hollywood boomed when talking movies were made possible

• “The Jazz Singer”- first “talkie”

• Movies were a cheap, accessible form of entertainment

Entertainment

PROHIBITION

• Rationing during WW1 helped the cry for prohibition

• 1919- 18th Amendment and Volstead Act – Very hard to enforce

• Rise in organized crime/gangsters

• 1933- 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition

Culture of 1920s

The Harlem Renaissance

• A cultural movement that spanned the 1920s-30s. It was known as the "New Negro Movement". It was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.

• This was the "flowering of Negro arts and literature", as James Weldon Johnson preferred to call the Harlem Renaissance.

Cultural Expressions

• Includes music, art, designs, names, signs and symbols, performances, architectural forms, handicrafts and narratives.

• Cultural Expressions embody know-how and skills, and they transmit values and beliefs.

• They also enhance cultural diversity and the preservation of cultural heritage.

JAZZ

• Started in the early 20th century in the Southern USA, and quickly spread to nationwide

• Mixture of African and European music traditions

The Jazz Age

• The radio audience and the African American migration to the cities made jazz popular.

– Improvisation of music

– And offbeat rhythm.

Jazz Musicians

“Satchmo”

• Louis Armstrong (1901 – 1974)

• Nicknamed:“Satchmo” and “The Gift”

• He went form New Orleans to Chicago to the world.

• Famous for playing Trumpet and singing “scat”

Tin Pan Alley • The start of Tin Pan Alley was the early 1900’s, when a

number of music publishers set up shop in the same district of Manhattan.

• Tin Pan Alley was originally a specific place in New York City, West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue.

Jazz Clubs and Dance Halls

• To hear the “real” jazz – you had to go to NYC and the neighborhood of Harlem.

– There were over 500 jazz clubs in Harlem.

– The Cotton Club was the most famous night club.

Irving Berlin • He was an American composer

and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in history.

• During his 70-year career he wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the music for 19 Broadway shows and 18 Hollywood films, his songs were nominated eight times for Academy Awards.

Jazz Heroes in Writing

• Langston Hughes is best-known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. He famously wrote about the Harlem Renaissance, saying that "Harlem was in vogue".

• Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die”