■Essential Question:
–How did the changes of the
“Roaring 20s” clash with
traditional American values?
■Warm-Up Question:
–?
Life in the 1920s
■The 1920s were an era of change:
–Increased wealth, consumerism,
leisure time, & new forms of
entertainment led to a “Jazz Age”
–By 1920, more Americans lived
in cities than in rural areas
–Rural Americans reacted to these
changes by attacking behaviors
they viewed as “un-American”
Prohibition
Prohibition
■In 1920, the 18th Amendment went
into effect & Prohibition began:
–Supported by rural Protestants
who believed drinking led to
crime, abuse, & job accidents
–26 states had already outlawed
alcohol before 1920
–The Volstead Act made the sale,
manufacture & transportation of
alcohol illegal
Prohibition: A “Noble Experiment”
The U.S. Treasury Dept was in charge of
enforcing the Volstead Act
As a result of prohibition, alcohol
consumption declined
Prohibition
■But, many urban Americans
resisted prohibition:
–Most immigrants considered
drinking part of socializing
–Wealthy urban Americans
wanted to enjoy themselves
–Bootleggers made illegal alcohol
& rum runners smuggled foreign
alcohol into the country
–Secret saloons (speakeasies)
were created to sell booze
Rum Runners smuggled booze from
Canada, the Caribbean, & Europe
Bootleggers & moonshiners made illegal booze
Why are they called
“bootleggers”?
Speakeasies were secret saloons or nightclubs
Prohibition
■Prohibition had some negative
effects on America in the 1920s:
–Smuggling & bootlegging
increased crime & lawlessness
–Organized crime grew & took
control of the illegal alcohol trade
–Mob bosses paid off politicians,
judges, & police departments
–The federal gov’t could not
enforce prohibition effectively
Organized
crime
grew
in
American
cities,
To control the liquor trade, mobsters resorted
in killings;
ChicagoThe
where
Capone’s
toespecially
bloody gang
mostAl
notorious
was
gang wasDay
dominant
the St. Valentines
Massacre in 1929
Gangster Al Capone made $60 million per year
in bootlegging & became a notorious icon
Prohibition
■By the end of the 1920s, only 19%
of Americans supported prohibition
–The strongest defenders of
prohibition were rural Americans
–But, most Americans believed
prohibition caused more problems
than it solved
–In 1933, the 21st Amendment
ended prohibition
Optional Prohibition
Film Clips
The Rise of
Prohibition
(4.31)
Prohibition &
Gangsters
(4.33)
Prohibition &
Corruption
(3.05)
Intolerance
Intolerance in the 1920s
■ In the 1920s, America experienced
a new wave of nativism:
–800,000 Southern & Eastern
European immigrants arrived each
year in the early 1920s
–Rural folks associated immigrants
with “anti-American” cultures:
non-Protestant religions &
supporters of anarchy or socialism
The Red Scare
■ In 1917, Lenin led the Bolsheviks in
the Russian Revolution & created
the 1st communist gov’t
■ During WWI & 1920s, Americans
feared a similar revolution in the U.S.
–Eugene Debs formed an American
Socialist Party & ran for president
–Unskilled workers were unhappy
with low wages & went on strike
Red Scare in America
Sacco & Vanzetti
■During the Red Scare, suspected
immigrants were under attack:
–In 1920, two Italian immigrants
named Sacco & Vanzetti were
arrested & charged with murder
–Sacco & Vanzetti were anarchists
(believed in no gov’t) but claimed
to be innocent of the crime
–With only circumstantial evidence,
they were found guilty & executed
Sacco & Vanzetti
Immigration Restrictions
■In 1921 & 1924, the gov’t passed
new laws restricting immigration:
–These laws created quotas that
placed a maximum number on
how many immigrants could
enter the United States
–The laws discriminated against
Southern & Eastern European
immigrants & Asian immigrants
National Origins Act &
the Sacco/Vanzetti Trial Video (2.19)
The Ku Klux Klan
■The 1920s saw an increase in
membership in the Ku Klux Klan:
–The KKK promoted traditional
values & “100% Americanism”
–Used violence & fear to attack
African Americans, immigrants,
Catholics, Jews, unions, socialists
■By 1924, the KKK had 4.5 million
members & elected politicians to
power in several states
The 1st KKK
disbanded when
Reconstruction
ended in the
1870s, but the 2nd
KKK formed in
1915 to protect
rural, Christian
values
The KKK was anti-Catholic & anti-immigrant
(many “new immigrants were Catholic)
The KKK supported
Protestant, white
American values,
including prohibition
D.W. Griffith’s The
Birth of a Nation
(1915) was one of the
most controversial
films in movie history.
Set during & after the
Civil War, the film
glorifies white
supremacy & the KKK
At its height in the 1920s, the KKK had
4.5 million members nationwide
Religion
Religious Fundamentalism
■In the 1920s, rural Americans found
comfort in religious fundamentalism
(a literal interpretation of the Bible)
–Disliked the immigrants, flappers,
socialists they saw in cities
–Evangelists used the radio to
broadcast Christian messages
–Rejected many modern scientific
theories; Towns in the South &
West outlawed teaching evolution
Religious Fundamentalism
■In 1925, teacher John Scopes was
arrested in Dayton, TN for teaching
evolution in his biology class
The Scopes “Monkey Trial” was a
national sensation
ACLU
attorney
Clarence
Scopes was found guilty & fined $100, but
Darrow
defended
Scopes;
Former
presidential
candidate
evolutionists believed they
won because
Represented
America,
William
Bryan
served
as prosecutor;
DarrowJennings
goturban
Bryan
to admit
that
the world
science
& fundamentalism
modernity
Represented
& rural
America
might
not have
been made in six
24 hour
days
Scopes “Monkey Trial” Video
(stop at 2:00)
Conclusions
■America in the 1920s experienced
a decade of change:
–Wealth, consumerism, credit,
cars, radios, advertising
–Pro-business gov’t attitude &
isolationist foreign policy
–New freedoms for women &
African Americans
–Attempts by tradition-minded
rural folks to protect against the
rapid changes of America
Closure Activity:
The Urban vs. Rural Debate
■In the chart below your notes:
–Write a sentence that describes the
changes of the 1920s from the
perspective of an urban & rural
American
–On each side, include 3 images for
each side that represent these
different perspectives
■Essential Question:
–In what ways were 1920s a
decade of change?
■Warm-Up Question:
–?
The 1920s: A Graphic Organizer
■?
The 1920s