The Roaring Twenties

“Return to Normalcy”

What does that mean?

MEGATRENDS• AMERICANIZATION

– Nativism– Policitcal Conservatisism

• FUNDAMENTALISM– Science– Religion– Prohibition

• RACISM– Rebirth of the Klan– Backlash against the Klan

• MODERNISM– Consumerism– Materialism

Americanization and Racism

Immigration to the U.S. by Decade1913 1,197,892 1939 82,898 2001 1,058,902

1914 1,218,480 1940 70,756 2002 1,059,356

1915 326,700 1941 51,776 2003 703,542

1916 298,826 1942 28,781 2004 957,883

1917 295,403 1943 23,725 2005 1,122,373

1918 110,618 1944 28,551 2006 1,266,264

1945 38,119

FEAR OF COMMUNISM

• Red Scare– Communist Party formed in America after a

revolutionary overthrow of Russia’s Czar (King)– Americans were afraid that Communism would

suffocate Democracy• Palmer Raids– Agents hunted down suspected communists,

socialists, and anarchists and deported them.– Does this infringe upon Civil Rights?

KU KLUX KLAN

• A result of the Red Scare• Devoted to 100% Americanism• By 1924 had 4.5 million members– White– Protestant– Native-born– Paid to recruit new members

SACCO AND VANZETTI• Fed Nativist suspicion of Immigrants

– Italian– Anarchists– Dodged WWI draft

• Arrested!– For the robbery and murder of a factory paymaster and guard– Claimed their innocence and provided alibis– Evidence against the two was circumstantial– Found guilty and sentence to death

• Stereotyped?– Mistreated because they were radicals and immigrants

THE QUOTA SYSTEM

• 1919 – 1920– Immigration rose from 141,000-805,000

• Established the maximum number of people who could enter the U.S. from each foreign country. An answer to Nativism– Prohibited Japanese immigration and cut down on

European immigration

RENAISSANCEHARLEM

Strange Fruit

• Sang by Billie Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,Here is a strange and bitter crop.

African American Contributions

– W.E.B. DuBois: Intellectual voice of black community in Harlem

– NAACP: headquarters to Harlem– Marcus Garvey: Universal Negro Improvement

League; Black Star Cruise Line

Harlem Renaissance Graphic Organizer

• Summary of the Movement– Background– Why was it also called

the Jazz Age– Purpose of Movement

• Art and Music – Description of Jazz Age– What was it meant to

express?

• Politics– Name what important

figure and give a 2-3 sentence description of his purpose

– Define the Back to Africa movement

• Literature– Name AT LEAST 2

important figures.– What did the authors

write about?

MEGATRENDS• AMERICANIZATION

– Nativism– Policitcal Conservatisism

• FUNDAMENTALISM– Science– Religion– Prohibition

• RACISM– Rebirth of the Klan– Backlash against the Klan

• MODERNISM– Consumerism– Materialism

The Roaring 20s

The Social, The Political, The Crazy

The Second Industrial Revolution

• U.S. develops the highest standard of living in the world

• The twenties and the second revolution– electricity replaces steam – modern assembly introduced

The Automobile Industry• Auto makers stimulate

sales through model changes, advertising

• Auto industry fosters other businesses– Steel, rubber, glass,

paint, petroleum• Autos encourage

suburban sprawl

How are they going to sell all of this new technology?

The Dawn of Modern Advertising

• Psychology – Agencies hired psychologists to study how to

appeal to people’s desires for things• Use the backs of you handouts to analyze the

Ads we are about to review.– Who is the Ad for?– What is being advertised?– How is the advertiser appealing to the public?

Question?

• How can these modern conveniences make life easier and faster for the American public?

Instant Gratification• Prosperity: people thought it was gonna last forever!– Production increased with demand and businesses grew– Bad side = farmers were producing too much food and

prices fell (because of the efficiency of machinery• Installment Plans– People begin to buy on credit– Americans stopped looking towards the future and only

worried about the “here and now.”– What are some things you can buy on an installment plan?

Twenties Products• Cars• Road Maps• Makeup• Mouthwash• Stoves• Refrigerators• Hosiery• Camera• Soap• Toothbrush

• Face Soap• Disposable Razors• Joint rubs for men

– Think Bengay• Laundry Soap (Lux Brand)• Food/Candies• Washing Machines• Vacuum Cleaners• Electric Sewing Machines

Fundamentalism

DEFINITLEY A BIG BANG

• Science v. Religion– A protestant (non-Catholic) movement that took the

Bible literally (word for word)– Evolution v. Creationism

• Scopes Monkey Trial– A fight over teaching evolution in school– John T. Scope and Clarence Darrow v. William Jennings

Bryan– Ruled against the teaching of evolution and made it a

crime to teach in school

Scopes v. Fundamentalism

Inherit the Wind

Modernism

Thrill Seekers• Charles Lindbergh’s

solo flight across Atlantic Ocean

• Gertrude Ederle's swim across the English Channel

• Dance marathons• Running and Bicycle

races

Movies and Radio…

• The film industry matured and expanded.• Talkies by 1929• Movies more explicit, less romantic• Movie attendance 100 mil a week

The Flowering of the Arts

• Lost Generation: "Exiled" American writers put U.S. in forefront of world literature

• Alienation from 20s’ mass culture– T.S. Eliot: emptiness of the modern man– Ernest Hemingway: sought violence and

adventure– F. Scott Fitzgerald: emptiness of wealth

Social Woes…..

THE BIG DRINK

• Prohibition: the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages are legally nixed – Passage of the 18th Amendment– Led to a rise in organized crime and gang wars because of

the money that could be made off of illegal liquor. • Speakeasies: a place where alcoholic drinks were

sold and consumed illegally– Had to speak quietly “easily” so they wouldn’t get caught

• Bootleggers: a person who smuggled alcoholic drinks into the USA during Prohibition

Vroom! Vroom!

• Gave freedom to Americans– Able to move away from the cities (suburbs)– Dating

• Made it necessary to pave roads– Route 66

• Houses started coming with garages• Gas stations, repair shops, motels, etc begin to

pop up.

COUNTRY MICE MEET THE BIG CITY

• Culture Shock– City folk are more outspoken and not afraid to

share their opinion– Are more liberal in their thinking– Not all friendly– How does the influence of the “Big City” life

spread?

City Life in the Jazz Age

• Rapid increase in urban population

• Skyscrapers symbolize the new mass culture

• Communities of home, church, and school are absent in the cities

OH NO SHE DIDN’T!• Flapper: a free-thinking young woman who embraced

new fashions and attitudes– Wore makeup– Cut their hair– Smoked– Drank– More outspoken (assertive)– Saw marriage as an equal partnership

• Double Standard: gives more freedom to men than to women– Women must behave better than men