Chapter 25 - The Modern Temper AKA the "Roaring Twenties"

disillusionment

war becomes less honorable and more horrifying, a more “modern” mindset

Sacco and Vanzetti

italian anarchists, tried for murder in Ma. and found guilty, most famous case of nativism and immigration restrictions

Emergency Immigration Act

1921 - limited various countries to 3% intake while leaving western countries and Mexico unrestricted

Klu Klux Klan

believed white anglo-saxon protestants should rule, wanted to defend “white women and Christian morals”, very against minorities

Fundamentalism

rise of conservatism in the US, worried about “modern biblical interpretations”, against evolution

Scopes “Monkey” Trial

American Civil Liberties Union protested, John T. Scopes arrested for teaching evolution in class (illegal). Prosecutor: William Jennings-Bryan. vs Clarence Darrow (atheist who defended Scopes). Scopes found guilty, $100 fine

Prohibition

18th amendment ratified 1919, banned nationwide manufacture, sale, or transport of liquor

speakeasies

illegal bars during prohibition

Gangsterism

organized crime, ex: Al Capone, automobiles and machine guns good for getaways and shootouts, many corrupt officials, gambling, alcohol, prostitution

Sinclair Lewis

wrote Main Street starring Babbit Lewis, depicting boring, thoughtless prairie towns. Everyone is the same (the Babbit character) suggesting many Americans were also this character, hypocrosy

The Jazz Age

Coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald, young people seeking new recreation and sexuality, jazz music (blend of African and European musical traditions)

Talkies

first movie with sound being Al Johnson’s “The Jazz Singer”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

wrote This Side of Paradise criticizing student life in Princeton and petting parties, also wrote the great gatsby

ballyhoo

a noisy, confused, or nonsensical situation or uproar, great description of this time period

New Woman

independent, smoked and drank, short hair, heavy makeup, defies victorian expectations AKA flappers

Alice Paul

quaker woman, led national women’s suffrage association, chained selves to buildings, protests, parades, hunger strikes in prisons

Carrie Chapman Catt

led the national suffrage association, campaigned for women to be able to vote

19th amendment

women gain the right to vote

Harlem Renaissace

new artistic movement celebrating black culture

Langston Hughes

a black poet, playright, and activist during the Harlem Renaissance, very influential works, Zora Neale Hurston another influential author

Marcus Garvey

Formed the UNIA (united negro improvement association) wanted to celebrate black culture by endorsing social and political separation from whites, guilty of mail fraud and imprisoned in 1928

NAACP

co founded by WEB Du Bois, national association for the Advancement of Colored people, had some successes, no more grandfather clause, tried to make lynching a federal offense

TS Elliot

wrote “The Wasteland”, horrified by war - wrote about a burnt out civilization after the war

Gertrude Stein

coined the term “the lost generation” referring to the young people who served in the war, themes of alienation