Roaring ‘20s!!!!!The Age of Normalcy

The Age of the FlapperThe Jazz Age

Reasons it happens 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!

Prohibition 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!

Life in the ’20s 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" CultureEmphasized Production

Emphasized Consumption

Character Personality

Scarcity Abundance

Religion Science

Idealized the Past Looked to the Future

Local Culture Mass Culture

Substance Image

Flappers“Free women”

Heavily rouged cheeks

Bobbed hair Shorter hemlines Cigarette holders

Interest in women’s rights: Margaret Sanger

Attitudes of the 20s 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

First Red Scare 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

The Lost Generation 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.

Scopes Monkey TrialModernism vs Fundamentalism

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.

How does life in the 20s lead to the Great Depression?

False prosperity Buying on credit Speculative investments Laissez faire decisions by Republicans Farm prices drop Overproduction of goods

Masculine Women, Feminine Men, 1926

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 song to a tune of your choice that discusses one of

the aspects of the Roaring 20s.

Choose from the list below or make up your own:Modernism vs FundamentalismLiberated WomenNew technologyTransportation and Communication GrowthScopes Monkey TrialRed ScareSacco and VanzettiRebirth of the KlanCauses of the Depression