The Roaring 20’s• Section 1- A Booming Economy• Section 2 – 1920’s Politics• Section 3 – Social and Cultural Chan

ges • Section 4 – Popular Culture• Section 5 – The Harlem Renaissance• Last Slide

Jumpstart AssignmentWhat does this video tell you about the

1920’s in America?

Jumpstart Assignment• What type of music would you say

is most popular today? Why is it popular, what is it’s theme, who does it appeal to, etc..?

The Roaring 20’s1) Automobile Drives Prosperity

a) Henry Ford – carmaker, revolutionized production, wages and working conditions.• Mass production – rapid manufacture of

large numbers of identical products• Model T – first car for the average

American• Scientific Management – improving

efficiency

Automobile Changes America• Stimulated growth in other industries• Road Construction/Highway system• Motels• Freedom to travel• Growth of suburbs, decline of cities

Consumerism• Consumer Revolution – 1920’s saw a flood

of new affordable consumer products.–Installment Buying – putting down a

small down payment, paying back the rest over time–Buying on the Margin – buying stocks

on credit

Who was hurt?• Farmers – saw a drastic reduction in

prices of farm goods (grains, corn, etc…)• Cities – suburbs were growing at the

expense of some cities

Jumpstart Assignment• Do you think that it would be

interesting to be alive during the 1920’s in America? Why or why not?

Jumpstart Assignment

• Describe the political poster to the left. What is it’s message?

Harding’s Administration1) Harding campaigns on “bringing America back

to “normalcy.” What does this mean?a) Andrew Mellon – Secretary of Treasury –

supported policies that advanced business interests• Oversaw a massive reduction in taxes ($18

billion to $3 billion)

Harding Administrationc) Ohio Gangd) Teapot Dome Scandal – Secretary of Interior,

Albert Fall sells naval oil field for bribes

Coolidge Prosperity1) Calvin Coolidge

a) Placed his trust in business, and believed in the traditional virtues of America.

b) Troubles in America – farmers, discrimination, growing disparities• Coolidge did not believe in gov’t fixes to

social problems.

An End to War?1) Washington Naval Disarmament Conference –

aimed to prevent a naval arms race2) Kellogg-Briand Pact – a treaty to “outlaw” war3) Collecting War Debts

a) Dawes Plan - loan money to Germany to help them pay off France and Great Britain

Jumpstart Assignment

• No Jumpstart Today

Traditionalism vs. Modernism• Urban vs. Rural –Urban areas experienced the consumer

revolution• Modernism – emphasizing science and secular

values over traditional ideas about religion.

Changes in Society• Education – 1920 – 16.3% graduate high school

1930 – 28.8%• Fundamentalism – belief that every word in

the Bible is literal truth.–Many Christians grew concerned over the

growth of secular views.

Scopes Trial• 1925 Tennessee law outlaws the teaching of

evolution• The ACLU convinces John Scopes to violate the

law (to challenge it).• Clarence Darrow (an ACLU lawyer) defends

Scopes.• Scopes loses and is fined $100.• The trial emphasizes the growing conflict over

traditional values and modernism.

Restricting Immigration• Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and National

Origins Act of 1924 establish a quota system.– Limiting the # of immigrants from certain

countries–Who did they want to keep out?

• The Ku Klux Klan strengthens – group of white men who wanted to terrorize African-Americans who sought to vote.

Prohibition• Prohibition – the banning of alcohol, led by the

Temperance Movement• 18th Amendment – forbade manufacture,

distribution, and sale of alcohol.• Volstead Act – was passed to enforce the

amendment.

Prohibition and Crime• Bootleggers – make and sell illegal alcohol• Speakeasies – underground bars• Organized crime and gangsters such as Al

Capone grow by selling illegal alcohol.

Jumpstart Assignment• Does this cartoon favor or oppose prohibition?

Explain why.

1920’s Popular Culture• How did the 20’s allow for a popular

culture to emerge?–Shorter work days and shorter work

weeks–The growth of cities

Movies – Popular Culture• Movies at the beginning of the 20’s were

silent• Charlie Chaplin was one of the most

famous silent movie actors for his role as the Little Tramp

• In 1927, the first movie with sound came out The Jazz Singer

Phonograph and Radio• First public radio station started in Pittsburgh,

Pen. in 1920, by 1923 there were 600.–Radio allowed people across the country to

get the same news and listen to the same music.

• In 1920’s the grooved disc took the place of earlier machines with poor quality.

Popular Heroes• Babe Ruth – home run king• Charles Lindbergh – made the first flight

non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean

Culture - Women• Flappers – young women with

shorts skirts and hair cut short in a bob.

Literature and Art• WWI caused writers and artists of the

1920’s to be pessimistic about the future of America.

• Sigmund Freud – psychologist who argued that human behavior is driven by unconscious desires.

• F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby• Ernest Hemingway – A Farewell to Arms

Jumpstart AssignmentWhat led to the birth of Jazz as a musical art form?

The Harlem Renaissance• During the Great Migration of the 1910’s,

many African-Americans move north in seek of a better life.

• Many find a better life…. but…–many African Americans were forced to

settle in the worst housing and labor in the lowest paying jobs.

New “Black Consciousness”• A call for racial pride–Marcus Garvey – promotes black

nationalism and a “Back to Africa” movement–In 1926, Garvey’s movement dies when

he is thrown in jail for mail fraud.–His movement, the Universal Negro

Improvement Association dies, but his ideas do not.

The Jazz Age• Jazz – a musical form based on

improvisation• Early jazz artists get their start in

Storyville, a section of New Orleans known for it’s nightlife.–Louis Armstrong – the “ambassador of

jazz.”–Bessie Smith – adds lyrics to jazz (known

as the “Empress of Blues”

The Harlem Renaissance• Harlem Renaissance – authors, artists, poets

explore the dynamic of race relations in America, African-American culture begins to flower.• Langston Hughes – novelist, wrote books

celebrating the African-American culture• How does the Harlem Renaissance end?

Jumpstart Assignment• List two events, people or inventions that

you think most shaped the culture of the 1920’s.