The 1920s Economy, Harlem Renaissance, and Culture Wars

The 1920s

After World War I the US experienced

significant economic and cultural changes

Economic Boom in the 1920s

Electricity was used to power

factories and homes

Assembly line (Henry Ford)

Assembly line (Henry Ford)

Products were made easier and faster

(efficiently) using assembly lines

Affording Cars

People who were able

to afford cars were

able to live further

away from work

Beginnings of

suburbs

Economic Boom in the 1920s (2)

Electricity was used to power

factories and homes

Assembly line (Henry Ford)

More consumer goods:

Radios, cars, refrigerators,

vacuums, irons, etc.

Consumer Goods/Home Appliances

Electricity was used to power

factories and homes

Assembly line (Henry Ford)

More consumer goods:

Radios, cars, refrigerators,

vacuums, irons, etc.

Installment Plans:

“Buy now, pay later”

“Buy now, pay later” is awesome, right?

Installment plans put people in debt

Haves and Have nots

The 1920s were

great for some

people but not all…

Especially

farmers and

factory workers

Farmers STILL struggled from

low crop prices in the 1920s

Factory workers STILL struggled because

of low wages and anti-union feelings

Flappers

“Flappers” became symbols of the

1920s and changes in cultural values

African Americans during the 1920s

The Great Migration (1916-1930)

Why would black Americans want to

leave the South?

1. To find jobs

2. To escape Jim Crow

The Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance = Black Art Movement

Langston Hughes:“Harlem”

1.What does the word “deferred” mean?

2.Who is Langston Hughes referring to?

3.What were some challenges Black

Americans faced in the 1920s?

4.Why should people still read poems such

as “Harlem” in 2022?

James Weldon Johnson: “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

Jazz flourished and the radio brought

black artists into white homes

But racism and negative racial

stereotypes still dominated the country

“The Birth of a Nation”

D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” (1915)

glorified the Ku Klux Klan and portrayed black

Americans using negative stereotypes

This was the US’s first “blockbuster”

Woodrow Wilson showed it at the White House

and positively reviewed it as “history written

with lightning”

Women’s Rights

19th Amendment: Women’s

Suffrage

Many women in the 1920s still

worked “traditional” jobs:

nurses, teachers, secretaries

Some women thought flappers

threatened moral values

Nativism

Xenophobia=fear of foreigners

Nativism grew because of

intense pro-American

propaganda during WWI and

fear from the Bolshevik

Revolution in 1917

Many Americans feared “new

immigrants” were communists,

socialists, or anarchists

First Red Scare

Nativism led to the First Red Scare:

fear of communist take over the in US

Palmer Raids

The Palmer Raids attempted to

capture, arrest, and deport

suspected “radicals”

These fears the led to quotas

(or limits) on immigration from

southern and eastern Europe

Sacco and Vanzetti

These fears came to

light during the trial of

Sacco and Vanzetti

They were two Italian

immigrants found guilty

of murder after an

unfair trial

Prohibition (1)

Origins were in the temperance movement

The

18th Amendment

banned the sale

and consumption of

“intoxicating liquors”

Prohibition:Enforcement was unsuccessful because of…

Bootleggers:

Illegal alcohol sellers

Speakeasies:

Private clubs where alcohol was consumed

Prohibition (3)

Prohibition was supposed to

decrease crime, but it did the

exact opposite

The time of prohibition saw an

INCREASE in organized crime

Prohibition

The 21st Amendment repealed (ended) prohibition

The Scopes “Monkey” Trial: How do we explain the origins of humanity?

The two sides:

Side 1: Religious Fundamentalism

(Conservative)

Belief: The Bible contains a

literal and true account of

creation by God

side 2: Modern Science

(Liberal)

Belief: Charles Darwin and

His theory of evolution

The Scopes “Monkey” Trial

Tennessee law made it illegal to teach

evolution in schools

John Scopes taught a lesson about

evolution on purpose so begin a trial

The (Second) Ku Klux Klan

Events that led to the

resurgence of the KKK:

Nativism and

“Birth of a Nation”

The (Second) Ku Klux Klan

KKK members

believed they were

guardians of American

society and described

themselves as “100%

American”

The (Second) Ku Klux Klan

“True American”

1. White

2. Native Born

3. Protestant

“Unamerican”

1. Black

2. Foreign Born

3. Catholic or Jewish

The (Second) Ku Klux Klan

The Second KKK declined

during the 1930s because of

scandals and violence

The (Second) Ku Klux Klan

The Second

Ku Klux Klan

membership was

the highest in

the Midwest,

NOT the South