Roaring Twenties and Prohibition Notes
Health and Life Expectancy
During the Roaring Twenties, increased awareness of nutrition and vitamins led to food companies marketing products based on vitamin content, sometimes misleadingly. Overall health improved, increasing life expectancy from 54 to 60 percent, though infant mortality remained high for nonwhites. Accident fatalities rose due to increased automobile use.
Automobile Industry
The automobile industry experienced significant growth due to assembly line manufacturing, reducing costs and making cars accessible to average Americans. By 1929, one in five Americans owned a car, altering lifestyles and leading to road construction and related industry growth (petroleum, steel, glass). Installment plans were introduced, impacting business financing.
Social Values
New social values emerged, with cloth becoming a means of expression. Birth control became more accepted, and media became more expressive regarding sexuality. Dating became common, and youth became more liberal.
Radio
Radio became a popular form of entertainment and communication, featuring comedy, news, music, and live events. The first broadcasting station was KDKA in Pittsburgh (1920), followed by the National Broadcasting Company in 1924. Commercials began airing in 1922. The Federal Radio Commission was set up in 1926; the Radio Act of 1927 organized the Federal Radio Commission.
Movies
The U.S. movie industry centered in Hollywood, with movie attendance rising significantly. Technological advancements like technicolor and sound increased appeal. Studios like Warner Bros., RKO, Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Fox Film Corporation dominated the industry.
Prohibition
Prohibition, based on religious ideology, aimed to ban alcohol manufacture and sale. The Eighteenth Amendment was passed, but many disregarded it, leading to bootlegging and speakeasies. The Volstead Act banned drinks with alcohol content above . Gangs prospered from illegal alcohol. The Twenty-first Amendment repealed Prohibition in 1933.
Gangs and Violence
The 18th Amendment led to gangs dominating cities by providing illegal alcohol. Al Capone in Chicago earned millions from alcohol sales and violence was common. Capone was eventually charged with tax evasion and jailed.
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde were famous murderers and thieves pursued by the FBI, known for a spectacular manhunt that ended in their death in 1934.
Politics and Government
Warren G. Harding's administration streamlined federal spending (Budgeting and Accounting Act of 1921) but was marked by scandals. The Teapot Dome Scandal involved Secretary of Interior Albert Fall accepting bribes for oil leases. The Supreme Court ruled the leases corrupt, and Fall was convicted of bribery. Calvin Coolidge systematically handled the issue after Harding's death avoiding damage to their reputation.
Scopes Trial
John Thomas Scopes was tried in 1925 for teaching evolution, creating a major dispute focusing on the conflict between modernism and fundamentalism.
Religious Revivalism
Economic insecurity led religion to become more popular through out the United States. New revivalism condemned the new socially acceptable movies, dress styles, and dancing. Many religious organizations supported the prohibition movement, thinking drinking was a sinful unclean act.
Jazz
Jazz originated in African American communities in the Southern United States. The hometown of jazz is considered to be in New Orleans. Jazz started the whole jazz revolution from poetry, fashion, and industry.
Fashion
"Flappers" emerged as rebellious women with shorter clothing and hairstyles. Cosmetics became popular. Advertising played a major role in the rapid social growth during the twenties. During this time is when people began to consider that people's tastes and interests could be manipulated, people that believed this are known as Advertising Theorists.
Business Overseas
Pro-business policies allowed companies to flourish, expanding operations overseas to secure resources (meat, fruit, sugar, rubber, copper, oil).
Organized Labor
Organized labor suffered due to fear of communism. The government intervened in strikes, and businesses sued unions for damages.
Major Cases and Laws
Significant laws included Prohibition and the 19th Amendment (women's suffrage). Notable court cases included the Sacco-Vanzetti Trial, Leopold and Loeb, Scopes "Monkey" Trial, and Black Sox Trail.
Women and Equal Rights
Women gained the right to vote with the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) but faced challenges in achieving full equality. Many women were becoming a part of the work force, jobs were still sex segregated. The popularity of the new styles the "Flapper" which symbolized new women independence and sexual freedoms.
Minority Women
Minority women were overrepresented in the workforce, often in low-paying jobs. African American Women mostly held domestic jobs. Mexican women, mainly in the Southwest worked as domestic servants, operatives in garment factories, and as agricultural laborers and Japanese women faced strong racial biases and discrimination on a regular basis as well.
African-Americans and the Ku Klux Klan
Blacks faced segregation and discrimination, leading to the Great Migration to northern and western cities. The KKK expanded its influence, targeting African-Americans, Catholics, and Jews. Marcus Garvey's UNIA promoted racial unity but faced opposition. Race riots occurred due to increased black presence in cities.
Elderly Americans and Retirement
Interest in pensions grew with the increase in the elderly population, but old-age assistance was slow to gain support.
Stock Market Crash of 1929
The stock market crash on Black Thursday (October 24, 1929) marked the end of the Roaring Twenties, leading to economic devastation.