The Roaring 20’sAn era of prosperity,

Republican power,

and conflict

As the War Ended . . .

• Spanish Influenza Epidemic!

• Most deadly for 20-40 yr. olds• Eventually killed 20-50 million

worldwide (by contrast, WWI killed approx. 15 million people)

Philadelphia – October 1918

Emergency hospital at Camp Funston in Fort Riley, KS (1918)

Over 50 Thousand!

Mortality (Death) Rates from 1900 to 2000.

Presidents During 1920s

• Warren G. Harding • Calvin Coolidge• Herbert Hoover

African Americans• Great Migration = Blacks moved

north to take advantage of booming wartime industry

• Black ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem

Prohibition• 18th Amendment took effect on January

16, 1920, made the manufacture, sale, and transport of liquor, beer, and wine illegal.

• Many Americans turned to bootleggers - suppliers of illegal alcohol.

Speakeasies – illegal, underground bars

Bootleggers expanded their business into other illegal areas

Organized Crime

• The profit from selling illegal liquor helped lead to the rise of organized crime.

• As rival groups fought for control in cities, gang wars & murders became common.

HOMICIDE

1

11

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Homicide Rate dramatically rises, then peaks in 1933 – the year prohibition ends!

One of the most notorious criminals of this time was Al “Scarface” Capone, a gangster who

rose to the top of Chicago’s organized crime network.

Women in 1900

• Long hair • Long sleeves• Long dresses• Shapely corset

Women in 1920s

• Short hair • Short sleeves• Short dresses• No corsets!

Women’s Changing Roles

The Flapper ImageThe flapper, a type of bold, fun-loving young

woman, came to symbolize a revolution in manners and morals that took place in the

1920s.

Flappers

• Flappers challenged conventions of dress,

hairstyle, and behavior. • Many Americans

disapproved of flappers’ free manners as well as the departure from traditional

morals that they represented.

1920’s Fads

Radio – unified the nation, featured news, sports, ads, soaps, & other shows• Helped to unify the nation• First radio broadcast was KDKA in

Pittsburgh• National Broadcasting Co. 1st national

network

1920’s Fads

Mass Media – means of communication that reaches a large audience

Motion Pictures – promoted common values & created trends• 1st sound film – 1927