Name: Date: Period: VUS10a: The Roaring 20s Filled In Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 1
Objectives about The Roaring 20s VUS10 The student will demonstrate knowledge of key domestic events of the 1920s and 1930s by a) analyzing how radio, movies, newspapers, and magazines created popular culture and challenged traditional values; Americans Struggle with Postwar Issues Main Idea: A desire for normality after the war and fear of communism and foreigners led to postwar isolationism Why it Matters Now: Americans today continue to debate political isolationism and immigration policy I Postwar Trends A Unemployment 1 Causes a Returning soldiers lost their jobs to women and minorities b Factory production suffered as Wartime orders diminished 2 Effects a Nativism prejudice against foreign-born people b Isolationism policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs II Fear of Communism A The Red Scare 1 Causes a The Russian revolution in 1919 led to the rise of the Communist party b Called for an end to capitalism (a threat to the US way of life) c A communist party formed in the US (still exists today) d Labor unions encouraged communism Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 2
e violence erupted over a massive 1919 steel strike, with workers demanding the right to unionize Steel makers labeled the workers as Communists and the strike was broken in 1920 2 Effects a Mitchell Palmer (US Attorney General) formed a new agency in the Justice Department to find and punish radicals His agents arrested Communists, Socialists, and Anarchists (people who oppose any government at all) b Agents often disregarded the rights of the people they arrested Hundreds of radicals were sent out of the country without a trial But Palmer never found evidence of a conspiracy to overthrow the government and the fear passed B Sacco and Vanzetti 1 Two Italian immigrants (both were radicals) who were arrested for a double murder during a robbery in Massachusetts Although the case was not strong, they were convicted and executed Protests poured in from around the world C Limiting Immigration 1 The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system, which establish the maximum number of people that could enter the US from each country The Business of America Main Idea: Consumer goods fueled the business boom of the 1920s as America s standard of living soared Why it Matters Now: Business, technological, and social developments of the 1920s launched the era of modern consumerism I American Industries Flourish A The Impact of the Automobile 1 By the late 1920s, about 80 percent of all motor vehicles in the world were in US States and cities built an elaborate network of new roads and highways As cars made it possible for workers to live farther from their homes, cities grew larger 2 Cities in Ohio and especially Michigan grew as major centers of automobile manufacturing 3 Airplane industry grew as well Planes carried the nation s mail, and passenger service was introduced Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 3
II America s Standard of Living Soars A Modern Advertising 1 Ad agencies made luxury items seem like necessities B New Prosperity Leads to Problems 1 Businesses began producing more goods than they could sell 2 Income gap was growing 3 Mining companies, railroads, and farms were suffering 4 Consumer debt rose to alarming new levels (buying on credit and installment plans) C During the 1920s, Americans felt like prosperity would go on forever Changing Ways of Life Main Idea: America experienced cultural conflicts as customs and values changed in the 1920s Why it Matters Now: The way in which different groups react to change continues to cause conflict today I Prohibition A The 18 th Amendment launched an era known as prohibition, in which manufacturing, sale, and transportation of alcohol was illegal B Causes of Prohibition 1 Various religious groups thought drinking alcohol was sinful 2 Reformers believed that the government should protect the public s health 3 Reformers believed that alcohol led to crime, wife and child abuse, and addiction 4 During WWI, native-born Americans developed a hostility to German-American brewers and toward other immigrant groups that used alcohol C Effects of Prohibition 1 Consumption of alcohol declined 2 Disrespect for the law developed 3 An increase in lawlessness, such as smuggling and bootlegging, was evident 4 Criminals found a new source of income 5 Organized crime grew Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 4
D Speakeasies and Bootleggers 1 Drinkers went to underground clubs known as Speakeasies called so because people were expected to talk quietly to avoid detection 2 Bootleggers were alcohol smugglers who got their name from the method in which they smuggle the illegal beverage II Science and Religions Clash A Causes 1 American Fundamentalism protestant movement in which science was denounced and the bible was interpreted literally B Effects 1 Scopes Trial fought over evolution and the role of science and religion in public schools 2 Charles Darwin s theory of evolution was banned from being taught in Tennessee schools Women of the 20s Main Idea: American women pursued new lifestyles and assumed new jobs and different roles in society during the 1920s Why it Matters Now: Workplace opportunities and trends in family life are still major issues for women today A In the rebellious, pleasure-loving atmosphere of the 20s, many women began asserting their independence and demanded the same freedom as men B Flapper an emancipated young woman who embraced new fashions and urban attitudes 1 Close-fitting hats, waist-less dresses an inch above the knee, skin toned stockings, boyish bob hairstyles 2 Began smoking cigarettes, drinking in public, talking openly about sex 3 Danced the foxtrot, tango, Charleston Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 5
Education and Pop Culture Main Idea: The Mass Media, movies, and spectator sports played important roles in creating the popular culture of the 1920s a culture that many artist and writers criticized Why it Matters Now: Much of today s popular culture can trace its roots to the popular culture of the 1920s I Pop Culture A More people went to high school taxes to finance schools increased led to an increase in literacy B Radio became the most powerful communication medium 1 Heard news as it happened, sports, radio shows C Spent time working crossword puzzles, playing mahjong, dance marathons, sports 1 Negro National Baseball League 2 Babe Ruth - Yankees II Entertainment and Art A Movies first movies didn t have sound, then with sound called talkies B Jazz music C Literary boom F Scott Fitzgerald, Earnest Hemingway Harlem Renaissance Main Idea: African-American ideas, politics, art, literature, and music flourished in Harlem and elsewhere in the Untied States Why it Matters Now: The Harlem Renaissance provided a foundation of African-American intellectualism to which African-American writers, artists, and musicians contribute today I African-American Voices A Background 1 Literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American culture 2 The Great Migration brought African-Americans to the north 3 Many moved to Harlem, a neighborhood on the Upper West Side of NYC a Became the world s largest black urban community b Suffered overcrowding, unemployment, and poverty Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 6
B Authors 1 Harlem renaissance encouraged a new pride in African-American experiences a Wrote about the trials of being black in a white world 2 Claude McKay novelist, poet, urged African-Americans to resist prejudice and discrimination Wrote of the pain of life in the black ghettos 3 Langston Hughes poet, described difficult lives of working-class African-Americans 4 Zora Neale Hurston portrayed the lives of poor Southern blacks C Jazz 1 Born in the early 20 th century in New Orleans 2 Blended instrumental ragtime and vocal blues 3 Joe King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band brought it north 4 Famous jazz musicians: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith Glossary VUS 10 Directions: Fill in the definition for the term listed Then, in the box on the right, you have to draw a picture OR write the definition in your own words OR write a sentence using the word that demonstrates its meeting Nativism Isolationism Sacco and Vanzetti Prohibition Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 7
Glossary VUS 10 Directions: Fill in the definition for the term listed Then, in the box on the right, you have to draw a picture OR write the definition in your own words OR write a sentence using the word that demonstrates its meeting Speakeasy Bootlegger Scopes Trial Flapper Harlem Renaissance Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 8
Summary DIRECTIONS: Choose only one of the following: a) write a summary (25-75 words) of what you believe was the most important aspect of the notes/lecture b) write what you believe to be the most interesting or memorable part of the notes/lecture (25-75 words) c) draw something that symbolizes the notes/lecture to you (has to be different than your title page) Notes VUS10: The 20s and the 30s 9