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End of WWI leads to a new
attitude (Eat drink and be
merry, for tomorrow we die!)
United States enters an
economic boom due to
total war (everyone NEEDS a
car, washing machine,
house, etc)
Women get the vote
(flappers!)
Great Migration brings JAZZ
to the North!
The “noble experiment”:
Prohibition!
America’s focus is now
entertainment (talkies,
radios, baseball) and fun!
18th Amendment
Most people ignore!
Speakeasies: secret bars
that still served alcohol
 Bootleggers: people who
made alcohol illegally
 Leads to an increase in
organized crime. Mafia
power grows and names
like Al Capone become
household words!
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Focus on entertainment
Athletes become heroes (Babe Ruth,
Shoeless Joe Jackson)
Radio and movies (Charlie Chaplin, Greta
Garbo)
Entertainment is cheap and available to
everyone
Transportation and communication have
never been easier. People like Charles
Lindberg and Amelia Earhart are famous
New inventions like Kleenex, Band Aids,
Scotch Tape, Popsicle, Frigidaire are all
designed to make people’s lives easier
Harlem Renaissance: rebirth or focus on
African American culture. Introduces
people like Marcus Garvey and Langston
Hughes!
Huge splits between people living in rural
and urban areas. Many people move to
the suburbs.
"Old" Culture "New" Culture
Emphasized
Production
Emphasized
Consumption
Character
Personality
Scarcity
Abundance
Religion
Science
Idealized the Past
Looked to the Future
Local Culture
Mass Culture
Substance
Image
Heavily rouged
cheeks
 Bobbed hair
 Shorter hemlines
 Cigarette holders
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Interest in
women’s rights:
Margaret Sanger
Nativism: anti immigration due to
WWI
 Modernism vs Fundamentalism
(Scopes Monkey Trial)
 Racism: rebirth of the Klan due to
the film Birth of a Nation
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America was afraid that
Communism would spread
to the United States
The US became
overwhelmingly anti union
and strikes.
Immigrants were often
associated with
communism
Sedition act: illegal to say
profane things about US
flag or government
Sacco and Vanzetti case
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American writers who
moved to France
Included people like
Earnest Hemingway,
Gertrude Stein, John
Steinbeck and F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Many of these authors
were disillusioned with
the world and
American society and
chose to depict life in
a depressing way.
A young teacher
in Tennessee
taught the theory
of evolution to his
students.
 He was put on trial
for breaking the
law and was
defended by
Clarence Darrow.
 William Jennings
Bryan defended
the state.
 Scopes lost and
was fined $100.
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False prosperity
 Buying on credit
 Speculative investments
 Laissez faire decisions by Republicans
 Farm prices drop
 Overproduction of goods
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Masculine women,
Feminine men
Which is the rooster, which
is the hen?
It's hard to tell 'em apart
today! And, say!
Sister is busy learning to
shave,
Brother just loves his
permanent wave,
It's hard to tell 'em apart
today! Hey, hey!
Girls were girls and boys
were boys when I was a
tot,
Now we don't know who is
who, or even what's what!
Knickers and trousers,
baggy and wide,
Nobody knows who's
walking inside,
Those masculine women
and feminine men
Assignment for today:
Write a 10 line Christmas carol
that discusses one of the
aspects of the Roaring 20s.
Choose from the list below or
make up your own:
Modernism vs
Fundamentalism
Liberated Women
New technology
Transportation and
Communication Growth
Scopes Monkey Trial
Red Scare
Sacco and Vanzetti
Rebirth of the Klan
Causes of the Depression