The Roaring 20s

When you hear the phrase Roaring 20s most minds jump to flappers, jazz music, lavish parties, and probably The Great Gatsby. While this image is partially true it does not accurately portray the other side of the American psyche. The period we are discussing, the era between 1919 and 1929, was one of the most polarizing decades in American History. America’s unprecedented economic growth coupled with her modern cultural experimentation was soon faced with a growing backlash of political conservatism and religious fundamentalism. Once again we have to ask ourselves why now. Four important elements contributed to polarization during this period.

The after-effects of WWI- This included both a sense of elation and a loosening of cultural restraints from helping defeat a world power ( read Germany) but also the disillusionment and death of idealism brought back by soldiers who experienced firsthand the horrors of modern conflict.
Political backlash- Winning WWI had been the apex of Wilson's progressive ideology but for many Americans, the cost (both monetarily and physically) was too high. With the Congressional defeat of the 14-point plan, America soon began to experience an anti-progressive movement.
Civil unrest- Post-war strikes, bombings, the Red Scare, and race riots all contributed to a growing sense of disillusionment. Fading away were the ideas that society could be fixed.

During this period modernists who embraced such things as science, free love, urbanization, and artistic expression among other things were at odds with rural traditionalists who did not embrace the new technologies and feared America's increasing diversity and expanding capitalist economy. Traditionalists feared that modernization was leading America astray. To that end, their political and social agenda focused on three initiatives.

Limiting Immigration
Expanding and/or restoring Christianity
Getting rid of alcohol in all forms

Many traditionalists feared America's expanding and diversifying population. Their fears centered upon the belief that new immigrants were spreading the seeds of descent by encouraging socialism, communism, and anarchism. The Red Scare went a long way in fueling this hysteria, which increased as more immigrants, particularly of Eastern European origin, fled to the new world. Traditionalists soon resorted to the following measures to stop the flow of immigration.

Emergency Immigration Act (1921)- This act restricted the flow of immigrants to 3% of the total of the 1910 census. But it wasn’t just 3% of the total. It was 3% of each nationality group. ( For example, if there were a total of 30 people entering the country from Germany then in 1921 only 1 immigrant could enter the US.) 1910 was not an arbitrary date. This census was specifically selected because in 1910, unlike the 1920 census, more Western Europeans were entering the country than Eastern Europeans. Therefore, this act favored Western Europeans and further limited those coming from Eastern Europe.
Immigration Act of 1924- This act was similar to the one above but instead it set nationality quotas at 2% of the 1890 census and set an overall cap of 150,000 immigrants a year. Once again 1890 was specifically selected because even fewer Eastern Europeans entered the country in 1890 than in 1910.

Nowhere did the divide between modernism and traditionalism reveal itself than in religion. On one side fundamentalists embraced traditional views of the Bible. On the other side, modernists worked towards embracing and reconciling religion with science. In 1925 issues came to a head when modernists and fundamentalists battled it out in a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere Tennessee. In 1925 the Tennessee State Legislature passed a bill prohibiting public school teachers from teaching the theory of evolution in their classrooms. Upon hearing this news the ACLU offered to pay the legal fees of any TN teacher willing to knowingly break the law. John Scopes, a high school teacher in Dayton TN took them up on their offer. Soon the whole country was closely following the courtroom trial of the century! For the prosecution was none other than William J. Bryan (remember Fields of Gold Speech- same man) and for the defense one of the leading litigators of the day, Clarence Darrow. The case itself did not focus on the legality of teaching Evolution but instead, on the state’s right to determine what was taught in her public schools. While Bryan called in expert witnesses on biblical interpretation, Darrow was not allowed to bring in a single scientist. In the end, Scopes was found guilty of disobeying the law. Bryan sadly died two days later.

As previously mentioned, the Temperance movement began in the Progressive Era but it gained momentum during WWI. As the new argument went those who drank were antipatriotic because all surplus grain supplies were needed for foodstuffs and supporting the war effort. The result of this progressive movement was the 18^th Amendment. The 18^th Amendment (1919) which banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol was and still is the most ambitious social reform ever enacted by the US government. It was a failure from the start. The Volstead Act, which was enacted to carry out the intent of the 18^th Amendment, was full of loopholes including:

Allowing people to keep and drink liquor owned before January 16^th, 1919 (the date that the 18^th Amendment went into effect.)
Allowing farmers to preserve and ferment fruit.
Allowing people to use Alcohol for medicinal purposes.

Soon Prohibition resulted in rampant bootlegging, increased home brewing including the production of moonshine and bathtub Gin, the emergence of speakeasies, the creation of moonshine running (ever wondered where NASCAR got its start), and America's fascination with gangsters such as Scarface Al Capone who soon built up an empire worth $60 Million!

Modernism did not simply emerge during the 1920s but has been growing over the last few decades. Much like the progressives, modernists came in all forms, and in some instances, people during this period, much like people today embraced modernist ideas that suited their lives and elsewhere upheld more traditional values. Over the next few paragraphs, we will hit some of the highlights of cultural modernism. These examples do not depict the sole reaches of modernism but they do provide us with some telling insight into the movement.

Probably the most well-known groups of modernists were the flappers. They soon came to symbolize the era. While significant, the flappers were only a very small group of forward-thinking women. Women by the 1920s had more opportunities than ever before. Part of this was due to the 19^th Amendment and the increasing options for careers but it was also due to changes in thought, culture, and ability to seek opportunities outside of the traditional family structure. For the first time, a growing number of women were going to college. This soon was depicted in popular culture such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work, This Side of Paradise (1920) which depicted young women going to Princeton and participating in what the author called "petting parties." Soon women having fun went far beyond printed fiction. By the middle of the 1920s, while not accepted, going to wild parties, making out in cars, wearing scandalous clothing (read: short skirts, no corsets or petticoats), short haircuts and even having sex outside of marriage was becoming more mainstream. It should be noted that these women were not reformers. They still wanted to get married and have a family. They just wanted to have fun before they did. Adding fuel to the fire, Sigmund Freud made popular new discussions about sexuality. And movie stars began embracing and making even more acceptable the behaviors listed above.

Much like women, African Americans were also embracing many mainstream ideas. This was in part due to advancements made during WWI but also due to the urban migration of 1915. African American modernism soon embraced:

New literary movements such as the Harlem Renaissance which was the first self-conscious black literary and artistic movement and included such great authors as Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston.
New musical movements such as jazz originated out of New Orleans and included such great musicians as Louis Armstrong.
New Political movements such as Garveyism which was started by Marcus Garvey encouraged racial pride and promoted racial separation.

Modernism also revealed itself in increased consumerism. This was due in part to the following:

Increased wealth- between 1920 and 1920 the average worker's salary increased by 26%.
Product diversification- during this period advances in communication, transportation, and production flooded the market with all sorts of new and exciting things to purchase.
Changing values- before the 1920s spending money on frivolous things was not considered to be a moral pursuit. That belief quickly changed during this period making it more acceptable to buy things.
Changes in the way you could spend money- during this period credit spending emerged. While not as simple as a credit card, installment buying, allowed consumers to purchase items they could not afford and then pay them off later.

Not only did America embrace consumerism but increased wealth also went hand in hand with other modernist advancements. For example, by 1920 68% of Americans had indoor plumbing and electricity. (This was up from 35% the decade before.) This meant that people could now purchase time-saving electrical appliances such as washing machines, toilets, vacuum cleaners, and linoleum floors. They could also purchase non-essential items such as handheld cameras, wristwatches, cigarette lighters, radios, and telephones.

During this period, people also embraced modern entertainment in the form of movies and radio. In 1920 80 Million people were going to a movie theater at least once a week. Also, the average family home was able to purchase a radio! Before the internet, the radio was how most people got their entertainment. However, radio broadcasting was slow to catch on. In 1920 the radio did not have continuous play like it does today. Instead, it was used for basic communication such as the news. KDKA (out of Pittsburgh) was the first station to have regularly scheduled shows. By the end of 1922, there were 508 stations. The National Broadcasting Company (sound familiar) was introduced in 1926, with the Columbia Broadcasting system emerging in 1927. Radio gained increased popularity with the creation of the Federal Radio Commission in 1927 which made sure that radio content was family-appropriate. Calvin Coolidge became the first president to ever use the radio.

Before the 1920s if you wanted to travel you could walk, ride a horse, or take a train or boat. However, that soon changed with two major advancements- the creation of the car and the airplane. In 1903 the Wright Brothers became the first humans to fly an airplane. Aviation was slow to take off but in 1925, the Kelly Act, allowed the US government to subsidize air flight through airmail contracts. In 1926, the Air Commerce Act, allowed additional federal funds to aid in the advancement of air transportation and navigation. Aviation was given a boost by popular figures such as Charles Lindbergh Jr., who in 1927 became the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, and Amelia Earhart who was the first female to fly solo. The first car to be mass-produced successfully was invented by Karl Benz in 1885. In 1903 Henry Ford created the Ford Motor Company which mass-produced the Model T. In doing so he was able to drop the price of a car from $850 (1908) to $290 (1924). By 1916 there were 1 Million cars sold, by 1920 it was up to 8 Million, and by 1929 there were 23 million cars on the road. Cars proved to be transformative. For individuals, a car meant being able to live further away from work and created a suburban revolution. For the nation, the car created an economic windfall as the demands for steel, rubber, leather, oil, gas, roads, traffic lights, billboards, and motor hotels increased.