CHAPTER 21The Roaring 20’s

SHIFT FROM RURAL TO URBAN LIVING

1920- 51.2% of people lived in cities with populations of 2500-1 million +

1922-1929- migration to cities accelerated, with 2 million leaving farms and small towns each year.

Cities were the place to be. But they could be frightening as well.

PROHIBITION

18th Amendment (1920): Prohibits the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages.

Speakeasies: Underground/hidden nightclubs where on spoke quietly or “easily”.

Bootleggers: People who smuggled liquor from Canada, Cuba, and the West Indies.

PROHIBITION-CONTINUED Organized Crime: encouraged by Prohibition. Organized

crime grew in about every major city.(Lots of money to be made)

CLASH BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

Fundamentalism: Argued that all important knowledge could be found in the Bible. Skeptical of some scientific discoveries and theories.

Scopes Trial: A fight over evolution and the role of science and religion in public schools and in American society.

THE TWENTIES WOMAN The Flapper:

-An emancipated young woman

-Embraced new fashions and urban attitudes

-Image of rebellious youth.

-Became more assertive.

(i.e. Smoking, drinking, casual dating, short

dresses, make-up, etc.)

New Work Opportunities:

-Turned to “women’s professions”-teachers, nurses,

librarians, clerks, receptionists, etc.

-Job discrimination and inequality in business

Right to Vote: 19th Amendment to the Constitution ratified Aug. 18, 1920.

The Changing Family Birthrate declined (First birth-control clinic) Technological innovations simplified household

labor and family life Greater equality in marriage Difficulty of working and raising a family Relied more heavily on the advice of “experts” for child care

EDUCATION AND POPULAR CULTURE School enrollment: Increased. (1914- 1million,

1926- 4 million.) Schools offered a broad range of courses. Taxes to finance schools increased.

Expanding News Coverage: education increased literacy. National newspapers brought expanded coverage. Mass circulation magazines. (Time, Reader’s Digest)

Radio Comes of Age: the most powerful communications medium of the 1920’s. You could hear the news as it happened.

AMERICA CHASES NEW HEROES AND OLD DREAMS

Lindbergh’s Flight: Minnesotan flys from New York to Paris in 33 hours and 29 minutes in May of 1927.

Entertainment and the Arts: 1st talking movie: “The Jazz Singer”. Plays and painters show the realities and dreams of American life. American Jazz.

Writers: fresh and insightful writing. One of the richest eras in American literary history. Took on issues

Authors: Sinclair Lewis, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Edna St. Vincent Millay.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE A literary and artistic movement celebrating African

American culture. Led by well educated middle-class African Americans who

expressed new pride in the African experience.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE: ACHIEVEMENTS

Writers: -Claude McKay-Langston Hughes

Performers: Actors--Paul Robeson-Ethel WatersSingers--Florence Mills-Mabel Mercer-Josephine Baker

Jazz:-Bessie Smith –Blues singer-Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington-jazz pianist and composer-Louis Armstrong-trumpet player