HISTORY CA - Roaring Twenties

Roaring Twenties

Associated with entertainment and

changing morality.

Average working week

from 47.4 down to 44.2 hours per week

Positive features of Roaring Twenties

Rise of different sports, Rise of film industries and cinemas, Rise of use of radio, Role of women in society, New genre of music: jazz

Rise of use of Radio

Communal activity: families listen to it together If they cannot buy, they buy in installments. 1930 (Chicago): 1 radio to 2-3 household.

New genre of music: Jazz

African Americans: brought jazz and it became an obsession It gave rise to new style of dances like Charleston. Older generation: saw it as a corrupting influence.

Rise of different sports

Baseball became a big money sport (New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox). Boxing also became popular. Sporting events were heard on the radio.

Rise of film industries and cinemas

1927: first ”talkie” movie was made. Before it, all movies were silent. Even poor people can afford it. Movie: 10 or 20 cents only.

Flappers

short skirts, bob hair, bright clothes and tons of makeup.

Role of women in society

Effect of World war: They were given jobs as skilled workers (factory workers). 1920s: They can vote. Housework: became easier because of new appliances like vacuum cleaners and washing

machines.

Limitations on the role of women

Women were paid less. They were given the right to vote, but not to be elected.

Negative features of Roaring Twenties

Intolerance, Red Scare Ku Klux Klan

Intolerance

young Americans = facing liberation BUT immigrants = experiencing discrimination and racism europeans wanted to make money and go back to their home country. Eastern Europeans, Italians, African Americans, and Mexicans were looked

down.

Red Scare

It was the fear that Eastern Europeans and Russians were bringing radical ideas (Bolshevism or Communism) in USA. Around 10,000 were deported from USA. (1924) quota system: largest proportion of immigrants were from north-west Europe (British, Irish, German)

Ku Klux Klan

It is a white supremacy movement who used violence to intimidate African Americans. They saw themselves as “defenders” of decent American values against African Americans and white businessmen. effect: Many African Americans left the rural South and moved to the cities of Northern USA (Chicago and New

York).