1920s societal changes

significant changes

* women (19th amendment)
* roaring 20s (entertainment and media)
* segregation (race issues)
* red scare (religious intolerance)

changes in attitude after WWI

* hedonism: “living life in the moment” - as the entertainment industry grew, the opening of dancehalls and clubs encouraged the partying lifestyle

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* pacifism: after being confronted with the horrors of the war, many americans were against war, felt violence wasn’t the answer

the film industry

* the average working week dropped from 47 hours to 44 hours so people had more leisure time
* large emerging industries generated a lot of profit and jobs
* Average wages rose, giving more disposable income
* the film industry provided cheap entertainment for millions and for many offered escapism from real life
* stars such as Clara Bow (it girl) broke taboo, inspiring sexual freedom through american society (although not everyone was a fan of this)

radio

* gave americans access to new kinds of music
* establishes national communication

women in work

* increasing numbers of women were entering work (mechanisation and manufacturing industries)


* the expansion in office work, meant that more women were being taken seriously
* women being in the workforce alongside men was a step towards changing the dynamic between the genders and social change

women social changes

* women had the freedom to dress


* their short hair was a sign of liberation
* makeup was popularized (huge makeup advertising market)
* driving cars, smoking, dating
* THESE BENEFITED WORKING CLASS WOMEN TO SOME EXTENT (only the more middle class wealthy women could reap the benefits)

flapper

* the name given to liberated young women
* the embodiment of women's social evolution in the 1920s
* short hair, short skirts, makeup and bright colours, they embraced the hedonistic lifestyle of the 1920s

19th amendment

1920, gave women the vote

rural women’s response to change

* in more rural area women feared and were resistant to the modern lifestyle, they frowned upon it
* they tended to be against alcohol and pro family ad religion

13th amendment

* 1865, abolished slavery
* tensions between the south who were pro slavery and the north who were against it

voting limitations

* even after the American Civil War brought an end to slavery and introduced equality for black Americans, many southern states found ways to limit legal rights of black citizens
* for example many southern states introduced complicated and ambiguous literacy tests in an effort to prevent blacks from voting
* Louisana Literacy Test was a difficult 30-question test black Americans had just 10 minutes to complete and get 100% to vote, test had no mark scheme

Jim Crow laws

* this segregated white and black americans, making them unable to have access to white facilties such as schools, parks, transports, restaurants etc
* all "black only" facilities were severely underfunded making the quality of education and life poor for african americans (racism was systemic)

Birth of a Nation

* an anti-black propaganda movie
* exposed the american population to racist stereotypes: laziness, dumb, sexual predators
* it showed white people (KKK) as the "saviors"this exacerbated racial tensions in america

KKK

* established after the civil war in America, then revived in the 1915 (with help of movie "birth of a nation")


* originated in the south but grew in the north during the 1920s due to the large internal immigration of the black population to the north
* there were 4.5 million members by 1925

role of the KKK

* consisted of WASPS


* they were fighting for white supremacy
* anti-black, anti-jew, anti-foreigner
* they believed they were on a "moral crusade" to protect americas "values"
* they attemped to terrorise black people into submission through: fear tactics, lynchings and inspired race riots throughout america
* also popularized by its important members (governor of alabama and the senator of texas)

Tulsa race riot

* 1921, took place in the green district of black prosperity
* after a 17 year old boy was falsely accused of inappropriate sexual misconduct, this outraged the white population causing them to raid and destroy the greenwood
* killed officially 39 black people

Rosewood massacre

* 1923
* a white woman lied about being acosted by a black man
* rosewood, florida was raided by outraged white americans
* killed officially 6 people, although victim count is expected to be much higher

the decline of the KKK

* by 1925 the KKK’s membership declined rapidly
* “grand dragon” D.C Stephenson was accused of the murder-rape of his assistant
* the case attracted a great deal of publicity
* after he was convicted, the Klan corrupted making many members leave

the black renaissance

* despite poverty and discrimination
* black pride and culture flourished in areas such as Harlem, a hub for african-american artistic expression
* black music such as jazz and blues is why the 1920s are often referred to as the jazz age
* the cotton club: a club for jazz musician which had become very popular

NAACP

* national association for the advancement of colored people
* strives toward "equal rights and opportunities for all"
* determined to challenge white supremacy and abolish segregation laws during the 1920s
* making black people aware of their civil right for e.g voting etc
* Major campaign: against lynching in the south, however they failed to pass the law against lynching , even after revealing its unjustified and sadistic nature

UNIA

* advocating for the progression of black organisation and black power, influencing pride in the culture and colour


* wanting to establish close contact with africa, with attempts to share knowledge and skill to enrich black culture and power.
* Repartition "back to africa" inspired black americans to go back to their country of origin and try to help development and escape racism

impact of black political movement

* many 1920s newspapers (The baltimore, Afro- American) help spread views and inspire the african american population
* UNIA inspired Black americans to start their own buisnesses in order to boycott large stores who discriminate black staff, this caused the development of the black middle class

Scopes-Monkey trial

* trialed July 1925
* predominantly in the southern / midwest area (the Bible Belt) , people were very religious, therefore implemented laws to keep "city vices" away from their fundamentalist christian ways of life
* One of these laws was banning the teaching of Darwin theory of evolution, which dissproves the creation of mankind decribed in the bible.
* teacher John Scopes taught the theory to his class in Tennessee

The trial of July 1925

* the first trial ever in history to be broadcasted
* Scopes from defended by a famous criminal lawyer Clarence Darrow
* against was fundamentalist William Jennings Brian
* Scopes was fined 100 for breaking the anti-evolution law however the trial focused mainly on the arguments for and against evolution, hence why it was regarded as a victory for Darrow and Modernists

the red scare

* America's hostility towards immigrants was a integral factor causing the red scare
* with a new influx of immigrants arriving in america, they felt as if their WASP population was being diluted with the arrival of new culture
* The worry was exacerbated by the 1917 Bolshevik revolution which created the first communist state
* Americans therefore worried that eastern and southern european immigrants brought communist and anarchist ideals to the US

the strikes

* Fears of the "reds" ( ppl w/ "un-american" ideals)
* A wave of strikes in 1919 w/ 400'000 workers, convinced americans that communists were trying to disrupt their way of life


* they felt as if it was some sort of uprising, that was a threat to the US government
* the strikes were due to terrible working conditions and low pay,
* these strike (WWI) inspired many other strikes in Boston
* for eg: coal-miners, steel-workers
* however the strikes were regarded as the start of a communist uprising

the bombings

* the fear of radicalism intensified by a series of bombing incidents in 1919


* one bombing destroyed part of the house of the attorney general, Mitchel Palmer
* this led to mobs and police attacking socialists during the parades on may day
* raids of socialist organizations , books and pamphlets seized

palmer raids

* In retaliation to the bombing of his home, Mitchell palmer rounded up anyone he believed to be a "red"
* during the palmer raids between 4000-6000 suspected communists were arrested , 556 deportations of immigrants black of jews
* throughout the 1920s the "red scare" was often used as an excuse to attack any group that was disliked, ie: jews, black people, catholics and new immigrants

Sacco and Vanzetti

* On may 5 1920 , two italian born men were arrested for murder and robbery of a shoe factory, they were sentenced to death
* these men were self proclaimed anarchists and opposers to capitalism
* the trial was reported in countries all across the world and the verdicts sparked outrage amongst the supporters (bombing of US embassy in paris)
* the evidence against them was insufficient compared to their defence and they had strong evidence proving their innocence
* proved prejudice against hyphenated americans

how America contained immigration

* 1921 immigration quota act
* 1924 Nations origins act
* 1929 150’000 cap

immigration quota act

* 1921- new immigrants restricted to 3% of the proportion of immigrants from that nationality existing in the US at the time

national origins act

* 1924, the quota is reduced to 2%
* many americans were of irish and british descent ,
* numbers from these countries remained however other were barred completely

150’000 cap

* 1929- only 150'000 immigrants were allowed in each year white europeans allocated 85% of this number


* Asians barred completely
* Eastern european virtually banned
* by 1930 immigration of non-whites virtually stopped

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