Roaring ‘20s
Chapter 31
Jazz Age
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1920's collectively known as the "Roaring
20's", or the "Jazz Age"
in sum, a period of great change in American
Society - modern America is born at this time
for first time the census reflected an urban
society - people had moved into cities to enjoy
a higher standard of living
A Society in Conflict
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for immigrants – the point of origin had shifted to S & E
Europe and new religions appeared: Jewish, Orthodox,
Catholic
N. European immigrants of early 19c. feared this shift and felt
it would undermine Protestant values
this fear was known as NATIVISM
many wanted Congress to restrict immigration, leading to a
quota system that favoured n. areas of Europe
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National Origins Act
fear of immigrants (from SE Europe) led to a sentiment
known as the Red Scare (fear of comm. post-Bolshevik Rev.)
A Society in Conflict
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Wilson’s Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer,
wanted to take a shot at the presidency - he
used fears of both immigrants and communism
to his advantage
he had J. Edgar Hoover round up suspected
radicals, many of which were deported (Palmer
Raids)
Sacco-Vanzetti Trial
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Italian immigrants and radicals
Unfair trial – convicted and executed
KKK
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Anti-Black
Anti-Catholic
Anti-Immigrant
Anti-Semitic
Anti-bootleggers
Anti-women’s suffrage
Great rise and then fall in the 1920s
Prohibition
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“Noble Experiment”
bans manufacture and sale of alcohol
adopted in 1919 - 18th AMENDMENT
an outgrowth of the temperance movt
in WWI, temperance became a patriotic
mvmt. - drunkenness caused low
productivity & inefficiency, and alcohol
needed to treat the wounded
Prohibition
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difficult law to enforce...
organized crime, speakeasies,
bootleggers were on the rise
Al Capone virtually controlled
Chicago
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“Eliminated” competition
Bribed police officers
Prohibition finally ended in
1933 w/ the 21st Amendment
Scopes Trial
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Dewey – learn by doing
Science vs. Religion
Scopes – high school biology teacher who
was indicted for teaching evolution
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Defended by Clarance Darrow
Wm. Jennings Bryan prosecuted for
fundamentalists
Outcome – Scopes loses, but it was a hollow
victory for fundamentalists
Heroes of the ’20s
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Babe Ruth – homerun king
Jack Dempsey – boxing king
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First million dollar gate
Charles Lindbergh – pilot who
crossed the Atlantic
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Wholesome, handsome youth
Consumerism
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Radio
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Advertising!
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Knitted the nation together
By persuasion, seduction, sexual
suggestion
Make Americans want more, more, more
Installment Plan/Credit
Hollywood Films
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First Talkie – the Jazz Singer -- 1927
Consumerism
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Assembly line methods and mass
production techniques
Frederick Taylor – father of scientific mgmt.
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Eliminate wasted motion
Automobile and related industries
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Ford mastered the standardized assembly line
By 1929, 29 million cars were registered in US
Glass, rubber, fabric, service stations, etc.
women...
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1920 - 19th Amendment gave them the federal
vote
after 1920, social circumstances changed too as
more women worked outside the home
and more women went to college and
clamoured to join the professions
1st birth control clinic – Margaret Sanger
women didn't want to sacrifice wartime gains amounted to a social revolt
women...
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characterized by the FLAPPER/ "new
woman"
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public...)
 Independent
 Justified new sexuality with writings of
Freud – sexual repression leads to ills
 Danced to Jazz Music
Great Migration
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Great Migration
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1910-1920
Hundreds of thousands of African-Americans moved
from the South to the cities of the North
In search of jobs
However, northern cities, in general, did not welcome
the massive influx of African-Americans
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Tensions escalated
Approx. 25 race riots in the summer of 1919
Harlem Renaissance
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African American Writers
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Claude McKay
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Literary movement led by well-educated, middle class African
Americans
A new pride in the African American experience
Celebrated heritage
Novelist, poet, and Jamaican immigrant
Urged African Americans to resist prejudice and discrimination
Langston Hughes
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Harlem Renaissance’s best known poet
Poems described the difficult lives of working class African
Americans
Poems moved to the tempo of jazz and blues
African Americans and Jazz
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Jazz was born in New Orleans
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Blend of instrumental ragtime and vocal blues
Joe Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band traveled North to
Chicago
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Louis Armstrong
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Carried Jazz with them
Joined Oliver’s group
His talent rocketed him into stardom
Jazz spread quickly to other cities
Popular music for dancing
Marcus Garvey
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Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born immigrant)
established the Universal Negro Improvement
Association
believed in Black pride
advocated racial segregation b/c of Black superiority
Garvey believed Blacks should return to Africa
he purchased a ship to start (the Black Star line)
attracted many investments: gov't charged him with
w/fraud
he was found guilty and eventually deported to
Jamaica, but his organization continued to exist
UNIA Parade, 1924
1920s Literature
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F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Ernest Hemingway
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The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms
Anti-war experience
Sinclair Lewis
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Great Gatsby, This Side of Paradise
Commentary on false American ideals
Babbitt – anti-conformity and materialism
Lost Generation – rebelling against American
society of the 1920s