The 1920 census showed that for the first time in American
history more people lived in urban than in rural areas and urban
centers began to dominate the American culture.
Slide 4
The end of WWI brought disillusionment as Americans wondered if
the sacrifice was worth the outcome. As a result, Americans started
a movement toward materialism and hedonism.
Slide 5
Slide 6
The automobile changed life more than any other invention as
Henry Ford perfected the assembly line.
Slide 7
A new Model T could be assembled in 93 min. The cost fell to
$295 meaning more people could afford to own an auto, which
increased demand for related industries.
Slide 8
WHAT RELATED INDUSTRIES?
Slide 9
Roads & highways, auto parts stores, service stations,
hotels, restaurants, vacation sites and the development of
suburbia!
Slide 10
As people moved out of the inner city business moved in and
built up with tall skyscrapers.
Slide 11
New technology also helped to develop a mass culture The radio
started to homogenize the American culture by the mid 1920s.
Slide 12
The first commercial radio station opened in 1920. KDKA in
Pittsburgh. By the end of the decade nearly every home had a
radio.
Slide 13
The growth of the movie industry also impacted the American
culture with stars like Charlie Chaplin. W.D. Griffith made one of
the first feature length movies (1 1/2 hours long) titled The Birth
of a Nation.
Slide 14
The next innovation came in 1927 with the film The Jazz Singer
which was the first film with a sound track and starred Al Jolson.
The phonograph also improved and was widely used as home
entertainment.
Slide 15
Movie stars and sports stars became idols in the 1920s.
Newspapers hyped the drama of sports and spectator sports gained
popularity.
Slide 16
SPORTS STARS OF THE 1920s William Tilden - tennis William
Tilden - tennis Bobby Jones - golf Bobby Jones - golf Jack Dempsey
- boxing Jack Dempsey - boxing Red Grange - football Red Grange -
football The biggest sports name was...
Slide 17
George Herman Babe Ruth
Slide 18
The other big hero of the decade Charles Lindbergh Lucky
Lindy
Slide 19
Labor saving devices that had only been available to the rich
were now mass marketed such as vacuum cleaners, refrigerators,
washing machines, electric irons, and toasters.
Slide 20
These devices changed the life of American women giving them
more free time. Another change for women Reliable contraceptives
became available.
Slide 21
In 1921, Margaret Sanger formed the American birth control
league to dispense information about birth control methods.
Slide 22
Other advancements included canned and frozen food, cigarette
lighters, telephones (still only for the very rich) and air
conditioning.
Slide 23
The automobile also caused a boom in construction and the first
coast to coast highway was completed. Highway 66Route 66
Slide 24
Electricity use also spread and by 1929 1/2 of private homes
had electricity. Big business also expanded with companies like
Radio Corporation of America.
Slide 25
The growth of business changed marketing and buying on credit
expanded purchasing power. This led to the birth of the modern
advertising industry.
Slide 26
Listerine came up with new way to expand sales: They created a
new disease HALLITOSIS! Louis Chevrolet offered autos in a variety
of colors to compete with Ford.
Slide 27
The 1920s also saw changes in working conditions as the 8 hour
day became common. Welfare Capitalism became the new plan of
American business.
Slide 28
Workers were given vacation time and nurses were hired to take
care of ill workers. Union membership declined as working
conditions improved.
Slide 29
Problem Without unions wages did not rise, so while workers had
more time off they had no money to spend and as prices increased
they could not buy the products they made.
Slide 30
Results of changes: New freedoms for women led to flaming youth
and flappers. The first Miss America Pageant was held in 1921.
Slide 31
THE NEW WOMAN The flapper The flapper Wanted to shock elders
Wanted to shock elders Short hair, rolled down stockings, short
skirts, cigarettes Short hair, rolled down stockings, short skirts,
cigarettes
Slide 32
Employment opportunities were still limited to clerical jobs
for women. Black women were still only doing domestic service
jobs.
Slide 33
The return to normalcy meant a return to isolationism in the
1920s. The only reminder of the war was the huge war debt owed by
Germany.
Slide 34
England still owed the U.S. $4 billion, France $3 billion, and
Italy $1.6 billion. Germany owed over $30 billion to the allies and
was in default.
Slide 35
The German Mark had become worthless so the U.S. began loaning
money to Germany so that it could repay its debt. Charles Dawes
came up with the Dawes plan.
Slide 36
A schedule of payments was graduated so that Germany could
begin repaying the debt with U.S. Loans. The issue was resolved for
the moment and Dawes received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Slide 37
Changes created friction in American society, as a rift
developed between the cities and the rural areas. Cities were seen
as lawless, decadent places.
Slide 38
Part of the view of the cities was due to prohibition. WWI
aided the passage of prohibition, since most beer makers were
German.
Slide 39
Prohibition failed and turned many Americans into lawbreakers
and even corrupted law enforcement as police often looked the other
way.
Slide 40
IT ALSO HELPED THE GROWTH OF ORGANIZED CRIME AND GANGSTERS LIKE
AL CAPONE
Slide 41
Two trials also caught the attention of America in the 1920s.
The first was the trial of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti who
were accused of robbery and murder.
Slide 42
Both were anarchists and the unbiased Judge Thayer referred to
them as dagos and sons of bitches. They were convicted and
electrocuted on circumstantial evidence.
Slide 43
The other trial was the Scopes or monkey trial. The law in
Tennessee made it illegal to teach evolution in school and the ACLU
wanted to find a test case.
Slide 44
John Scopes agreed to be that case and Clarence Darrow was
hired to be his lawyer. The prosecution lawyer was William Jennings
Bryan. Scopes was fined $100.
Slide 45
Life for African-Americans did not improve in the 20s and a new
black leader emerged. Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro
Improvement Association (UNIA).
Slide 46
He brought the message of black nationalism and emphasized
separatism. The Black Star Shipping Line was established to return
blacks to Africa.
Slide 47
The Black Star Line fell into financial trouble and Garvey was
investigated by the Justice Dept. He was convicted of mail fraud
and deported.
Slide 48
The 1920s also saw the revival of the KKK by history teacher
William Simmons in Georgia. Hiram Evans promoted it into a national
organization with 6 million members at its peak.
Slide 49
Slide 50
The new Klan was anti-Black, anti-Jew, anti-Catholic, anti-
Urban and anti-immigrant of any kind. It supported prohibition and
was against immorality.
Slide 51
One of the Klan leaders was convicted of kidnapping and raping
a white woman which caused the membership to decline to 9000 by
1930.
