The 1920s

The Roaring Twenties

Life in the Jazz Age

The Roaring Twenties

Rural VS. Urban Society

Rural Agricultural Small towns and farms Conservative Values Strong links to family and

church Church set moral

standards Farmers suffer

financially… Why?

Urban People begin to move

into cities in the 1920s N.Y. = 5.6 million Chicago= 3 million Why did cities grow so

quickly? Freedom from families

and church leads to what?

The Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age

Where had African Americans moved during and after WWI? Why?

Harlem 1920s: Population grows from 152,000 to 330,000 Overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty are eclipsed by

the rich cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Jazz is born in the early 20th century in New Orleans

Joe Oliver and his Creole Jazz band move north and bring jazz with them

Trumpet player Louis Armstrong is part of the band and will become the most important and influential musician in the history of jazz.

Harlem Renaissance is above all a literary movement

Writers express pride in their African American culture and heritage

Langston Hughes is the movement’s best known poet

His poems often move to the tempo of jazz or the blues.

Louis Armstrong

Langston Hughes

“ I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then.

Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

Women in the 1920s

In the rebellious, pleasure loving air of the 1920s, many women begin to assert their independence. What rights do women have before the 1920s?

A New Life for Women

The flapper: emancipated woman who embraced new fashions and urban attitudes

Women get new job opportunities

Society begins to view marriage as more of an equal partnership

The 19th Amendment is ratified in 1920

Flappers

American Society

Schools From 1914 to 1926: Enrollment goes from 1

million to 4 million Began to focus on college prep Had to meet needs of growing immigrant students

Expanding news coverage Literacy is increased by widespread education Radio comes of age

New Heroes

More money and leisure time= need for entertainment Sports

Babe Ruth becomes known as the Sultan of Swat Jack Dempsey reigns supreme in the boxing ring Red Grange (a.k.a. The Galloping Ghost) and Knute

Rockne’s Fighting Irish make college football popular Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim

across the English Channel

America’s Most Beloved Hero

Charles Lindbergh is America’s Golden Boy

Movies, Theater and More

Films: By 1925, movies are America’s 4th largest industry Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow, and Rudolph

Valentino rise to stardom in silent movies 1927 The Jazz Singer- America’s first film with

sound 1928 Steamboat Willie

Steamboat Willie

George Gershwin establishes himself as America’s foremost modern composer

Painter Georgia O’Keefe begins her career F. Scott Fitzgerald writes about the life of the

wealthy, while Ernest Hemingway condemns the glorification of war.

The Charleston