Semester 2 Unit 1: The 1920’s
Notes 4: Cultural Changes – Urban vs. Rural, Prohibition, Women, and Science vs. Religion
Urban vs. Rural
The 1920’s saw the growth of the ___________ and the decline of the rural. The 1920 census showed
that 51.2% of Americans were living in communities with populations over ____________ people.
Between 1922 and 1929, almost ___________________ people left farms and towns for cities each year.
The differences between the city and the country were at the heart of most of the cultural _____________
in the 1920’s. The cities were the areas of new _____________, inventions, and lifestyles. They were
also where people went to break with tradition. The rural areas were the places that maintained
________________________, shunned many of the new changes and tried to ____________________
American life the way it was in the 1800’s.
Prohibition
In January 1920, one of the biggest debates between urban and rural areas was won by the rural - the
______ Amendment went into effect and banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of
_________________ beverages. The Prohibition movement was backed by the church-affiliated
_______________________________League and The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
The 18th Amendment worked at first as saloons ______________________ their doors and arrests for
drunkenness declined, but the idea of Prohibition did not work with the _______________ of the 1920’s.
People began to ___________ to drink and go out to clubs at night. Many _________________ groups
(don’t forget that many immigrants were still based in cities at this time) also did not believe that
drinking was a _______. To outwit the 18th amendment, people began to ___________________ sell
alcohol.
Soon ________________________ opened to satisfy the desires of the people. These were illegal,
hidden nightclubs and saloons that could be found everywhere. Others began to _____________ liquor in
from Canada, Cuba, and the West Indies. These people were called ____________________________.
Prohibition generated a large _____________________ for the law in America. It also helped to begin
the organized ______________ movement in American cities. For instance, ___________________, a
Chicago bootlegger and gangster, made over $60 million a year. Capone was able to take over the
Chicago bootlegging business by ____________________ his competition.
The government was not able to stop much of this illegal activity because the Prohibition Bureau was
only given _____________ agents to deal with the entire country. By the mid-1920’s, only _________ of
Americans actually supported Prohibition. But this amendment would not be repealed until 1933 with the
_________________________________.
Women in the 1920’s
Women won the right to vote in 1920 with the _________________________. This began a new time for
women in America. Women began to throw out traditional attitudes to many things including
____________________, child-rearing, __________, and public behavior. One of the way that women
chose to demonstrate their new ideas was the _______________________.
The flapper was a woman who embraced the new _________________ and urban attitudes of the day.
Flappers often wore waistless dresses that fell at the knee, clipped their hair into “_________”, and
smoked, drank, or talked about sex in public! Women also began entering the workforce in new areas
such as professional and _________________ fields.
Unit 1 The 1920’s
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Semester 2 Unit 1: The 1920’s
Notes 4: Cultural Changes – Urban vs. Rural, Prohibition, Women, and Science vs. Religion
The 1920’s also saw the first time that women were legally able to acquire birth control information from
their doctors. This allowed married women to ________________ how many children to have. Many
women also experienced greater ____________________ in marriage as marriages were based more on
romantic love and companionship.
Religion vs. Science
Another example of a clash between tradition and the _________________ world during the 1920’s was
the conflict between religion and science. The 1920’s were a time of new scientific inventions and
discoveries. Some of these contradicted the ideas of ________________________ religion.
___________________________ was a movement in Protestant religion that was grounded in a
__________________, non-symbolic, interpretation of the Bible. In the 1920’s fundamentalism showed
itself in a variety of ways: In the ____________ and West, preachers led _________________ based on
the authority of the Scriptures. These revivals were also broadcast on the new media of the time _________.
The greatest clash between religion and science in the 1920’s was the conflict over Charles Darwin’s
theory of _________________, which he had advanced in the 1800’s and was gaining supporters in the
1920’s. In the 1920’s may fundamentalists began to call for laws __________________ the teaching of
evolution in schools
Evolution
Darwin’s theory of evolution states that plant and animal species had developed and
_________________ (evolved) over millions of years
The Bible
Fundamentalists particularly argued with the idea in evolution that humans evolved from ___________.
They turned to the Bible which said that God _______________ the world and all living things on it
(including man) in ______________
In March 1925, ___________________ passed the first law banning the teaching of evolution. The
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promised to ________________ any teacher who would
challenge the law. John T. Scopes, a young biology teacher, accepted the _____________________.
The court case (known as the _____________________________) was extremely well publicized. The
ACLU chose the most famous trial _________________ of the day, Clarence Darrow, to defend Scopes.
William Jennings Bryan, three time _________________________________ candidate, former Populist
party leader, and fundamentalist minister, led the prosecution.
What was the outcome of the Scopes Trial? How did it change America?
Unit 1 The 1920’s
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