Jazz Age

S2A: Prosperity and Popular Entertainment

• Movies were a new industry that flourished after the war as the United States's gains and prosperity during this time made American lives somewhat easier and many would go theaters to escape societal pressures and the technology advanced during this era.

• Radios were crucial in WW1 as they spread information after the war the radio became a tool to inform the country of the situation and advertise things. Technology was becoming advanced and the entertainment industry saw a wave of money coming in due to the power and popularity of the radio. The classic beauty pageants and things like this flourished. Flagpole sitting, baseball too.

• Radios were also used in broadcasting information and spreading achievements over the country, and this was seen in the sports aspects as well people like Jim Thorpe who was one of the best athletes in the world. Another example is Gertrude Ederle who became the first woman to swim in the English Channel which radios spread this information across the globe.

S2B: Automobiles and Airplanes:

• The automobile benefitted from the Jazz Age as they were able to make mass production of cars and the company who was able to benefit from this was Henry Ford’s Model T Ford, which helped average Americans get to places faster for a cheaper price which was more affordable than other car companies as his price was 300$ only. Due to this price by 1929 there were over 23 million automobiles on American roads.

• Although he was a great person who paid his workers doubled the average cost which landed them 5 dollars and made working hours 8 hours and treated his workers equally even the pay despite their background, he wouldn’t allow his workers to unionize against him otherwise there would be a high turnover rate. Also, he had another company in the Amazonian Jungle to build a factory and the workers there hated him for his midwestern puritanism, factory discipline which resulted in a failure. Despite this he shaped the nation of industrialism where the workers weren’t stripped of time and received decent wages where they could afford things.

• With the expansionship of automobiles made industries like glass,steel, and rubber to grow and increase production which helped the country grow, and with a need of roadways that industry increased and shops and commercial places were built and cars replaced previous public transportation.

• Airplanes also reduced time to travel and the newer planes were becoming more stable and better as Lindbergh made him a hero as he went to Paris from New York under 33 hours which was remarkable and more and more people started to fly thanks to this.

• As technology advanced households’ lifestyles became more easier with things like radios, phonographs,vacuum cleaners, washing machines, refrigerators and more which helped women primarily as supposedly freeing up time which did the opposite really.

S2C: Nativism:

Emergency Immigration Act of 1921: numerical limits of European immigration for the first time in US history. Only 3 percent of the residents from the same country were counted in the 1910 census.

National Origins Act of 1924: lowered it down to 2 percent of the 1890 census which reduced the European ability to come to the US.

• Newer Immigrants were treated with hostility because their local customs were “weird” and the old immigrants didn’t want them there which is hypocritical of themselves. Nativists also were fearful of foreign threats pointing towards anarchist assassinations which built up worry and anxiety which resulted in harsh results in innocent people in court cases.

• The trial of Nicole Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti highlighted nativism at its peak as they were executed even though they were innocent and this led to the Industrial Workers of the World for a 3 day walkout leading to the Great Colorado Coal Strike of 1927. Immigration was halted to preserve the ideal of American homogeneity leading to the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921.

• “America must be kept American”

S2D: The KKK

• The Ku Klux Klan was portrayed as heroes who saved whites in america and civilized african americans after they were freed, and how NAACP in the movie “The Birth of a Nation” which increased membership in the KKK making them more powerful as “eschewed violence and received mainstream support. Its embrace of Protestantism, anti-Catholicism, and anti-Semitism, and its appeals for stricter immigration policies, gained the group a level of acceptance by nativists with similar prejudices”, this included women.

• By 1924 the KKK had 6 million members in the South who essentially controlled the United States for a while due to their popularity and hatred of other types of people, only praising white supremacy, by ways such as burning crosses, and speaking against Catholics and Jews.

S2E: Faith, Fundamentalism, and Science:

Tennessee Butler Act: prohibited the act of teaching the evolution and only prohibited the bible’s version of it

ACLU:  American Civil Liberties Union

Secularism: a worldview or political principle that separates religion from other realms of human existence

• Rural People supported the Butler Act whereas Urban People didn’t, was the cause of the butler act

• Bryan= Rural Side

• Scopes= Went against it

• ACLU= Urban Side

• The Butler Act aimed to address the conflict between the urban and rural dispute as they disagreed on how mankind came to be. Despite their attempts to solve these issues it only sparked hatred in the country as it supposedly violated the first amendment and the American Civil Liberties Union went to trial with Scopes (One of Tennese’s Legislature). In the end Bryan (Wilson’s Secretary of State) spread the belief of secularism and where he made a comment  “Scopes isn’t on trial, civilization is on trial. No man’s belief will be safe if they win,” struck a chord in society which in the end made Bryan win.

• The result was that those who approved of the teaching of evolution saw Bryan as foolish, whereas many rural Americans considered the cross-examination an attack on the Bible and their faith.

- Tennessee passes a law bans the teaching of evolution 

- People challenged this law as they didn't agree with it

- Scopes taught this anyway to go to trial and make a point in the country.

- Drew attention from almost everyone and how there was more depth in the trial.

*Most people were christians and it went against the Bible's teachings which enraged these people as this questions the bible entirely leading to revolt.

S2F: A New Generation

Promotion of the Welfare and Hygiene of Maternity and the Infancy Act/Sheppard- Towner Act: better treatment in baby clinics and educational programs and received 1.25 million dollars, reducing infant death

The 1923 Equal Rights Amendment Goal: Alice Paul promoted this amendment as the goal was to end all sex discrimination by ensuring “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.”

• After the war, the country had a fresh new start and as the men and women pushed for social and cultural boundaries, society’s expectations changed drastically, especially in stereotypes.

• The name “jazz age” came from a series of new changes and new fresh country’s life. 

• The 19th amendment played a huge part in women’s change in the new era as expansion of women’s participation in politics and their influence as hug. The social and sexual norms of women changed drastically as they aren't subjected to act like dolls anymore and they were now able to express themselves in different ways especially in professions.

• The Promotion of the Welfare and Hygiene of Maternity Act and the Infancy Act/Sheppard- Towner Act received 1.5 million dollars  and this significantly stopped infant mortality.

• Although the The 1923 Equal Rights Amendment Goal was promoted and emphasized it slowly lost support because many women were satisfied with their rights at the time because of the 19th amendment. Due to this it was passed in 1972, 50 years later but it failed to receive the required ratification.

S2G: The Harlem Renaissance: 

• Like women african americans had a new change as they were able to expand their horizons, but they never escaped the discrimination and segregation, but many freed themselves of  jim crow laws to go up north to only face de facto segregation which was worse, but the north contained two things the education and voting key things they desired.

• The Harlem Renaissance was filled with expression of change and political expression was key yet some fought for inclusion and integration which had lots of cultural expression.

•  It was the era of the new identity of african americans and black culture and racial pride, rejection of assimilation of white american culture and white supremacy where true expression was created at last.

• African culture was finally expressed at last where they could work together to improve their lives and not be suppressed by white americans.

• Some people were against this way of the “new negro” and decided to find an easier way and that was to send them back and create an identity there and the “Back to Africa” movement was created and the Black Star Stramship Line. Gravey also started the United Negro Improvement Assocation which attracted many low income black families. Later on he was caught with mail fraud but he set the stage for the black power movement and Malcom X.

S2H: Prohibition and a Lost Generation

• There were deep political divisions in the democratic party on the urban, rural disagreement. The Republican party supported the rural side of abstinence which was supporting the amendment which brought public opinion and favoritism of the Republicans as many were in the Anti-Saloon League.  

• The 18th amendment caused a rise in organized crime; scarface where they ran an extensive bootlegging and criminal operation to gain money through ways of prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, and even murder.

• The Lost Generation was the people who went to war and came back and were shocked by the country's change and fast paced new way of life making them feel alienated and escape and criticize the change and difference of the two generations, highlighting how the new generation doesn’t want to work for change and get things the easy way. 

S2I: Republican Ascendancy: Politics in the 1920s:

Emergency Tariff of 1921: This defensive tariff had the effect of increasing American purchasing power, although it also inflated the prices of many goods.

• With the end of the progressive era the country was ready for a new normal and improvement in the government. The election of the 1920’s saw the weakening of the Democratic Party and a rise of the Republican government due to the hatred of reform after several years. The Republican government showed a pro business government and benefits for the overall country.

• Harding won the election and showed the country that the present needs restoration then a revolution and a need for normalcy and he connected the United States with other countries and business making him fill in the inefficiency of the government.

• Harding’s Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mello emphasized how the government is a business and should run on business principles and by this he removed a lot of debt and made America more powerful. Also maintained peace towards other countries before they broke because of WW2.

• Had many successes but was filled with corruption and scandals with the death of  Harding.

• Coolidge the vice president stopped the scandals and was the complete opposite of Harding, not respectable and not honest at all and he didn’t do much during his presidency.

• Hoover came and became the new president in the election of 1928 and the republican streak continued and many thought the country would get better until less than a year later the harsh reality took by storm.

Class Notes:

Effects After The War On The Workers:

1. Due to the unemployed people who were either forced out of their jobs or were limited to certain jobs where they faced huge amounts of discrimination and the transition was huge as the jobs created for the war were filled but the people who served came back to become useless. 

2. The end of war affected women because during the drafting women were encouraged to work to fill the places of men who had left so when they came back the women were kicked out of their jobs.

3. African Americans were just feeling like being a man where they could support a family somewhat like a white man and once the white male soldiers came back they were replaced and faced a lot of discrimination, very disappointing as they used to get a lot of money for once.

Red Scare:

Communism is essentially where the gov has power over production and how its spread through the people and everyone is equal, and this went against how the United States is operating so americans feared that immigrants would do communist practices in America (prejudice) so many innocent people were in jail, which went against the civil liberties where you need to have formal charges on the person for them to stay longer which made it illegal.

ACLU's Effect During 1920's:

1. The goal of the ACLU was to stand up for the rights of minorities and immigrants which were being violated. Hired lawyers to stand for people who were caught in the Palmer Raids.

2. Not successful because they were supposedly anti-American and not many people supported it because of their mindset and they only cared about their own rights.

*Huge believer of the bill of rights and it should apply to all despite their background

Influenza Epidemic:

1. Came from Kansas but called Spanish Flu because Spain was the only one to report on it, because it was neutral. The press was very important in the war.

2. Many people who died were in their prime age and since people were stuck together all the time flu spread often.

3. It's connected as the number of soldiers who had died from the disease could have served and won the war faster but since the war had started the disease was transmitted that way and so many people died and the economy was already in a bad state with immigrants coming with diseases that wiped out so many people.

Feelings of Soldiers Returning Back:

•  expectations of the war were drastically different than reality

• coming back to the United States was hard as they find it hard to be incorporated in the workforce

• the soldiers didn't have anything to help when they got back

• felt forgotten, endured mental and physical injuries

• during the war the amount of injuries and deaths that were expected were way above what was thought especially medical staff

• The soldiers who went to serve came back to a society where they were now supposedly like the rest but in reality the damages done to them before, during and after the war had changed their life.

Potential Causes for Riots and Protests:

Beliefs 

Rights (Lack of civil rights being actually used)

Not having the place for everyone in the country

Poor Wages

Bad working conditions

Discrimination

Immigration

Economic Situation

Poor living conditions

Oppression

Suppression

*Needs continuous amount of this to have an effect through the riot

KKK:

• Represent traditional values and moral values

• Targeted african americans, jewish people, catholic people.

• Very Anti-Immigrant

• Birth of Nation brought public support as they made the KKK a hero from evil, bad african americans

• The New version had women participation and less public violence

Elaine Massacre:

• preached for democracy and equality but couldn't receive it in their own country

• race riots were occurring a lot more in the summer of 1919

• African Americans came together to stand for their rights by hiring lawyers to sue their plantain owners.

• due to the fact that white supremacy was so high and with one white man died caused a domino effect of riots and lynching,

• the fear of black revolution was so high that violence was unimaginable

•  it was just one shot of white men who caused the government and the white men surrounding them to kill so many african americans

• The so-called justice for these african americans was rigged and their rights were being violated.

•  NAACP won the court case where 12 african americans were finally free.

• Giving any chance for african americans to treated better were quickly shot down as they believed african americans would push more causing a black revolution

A Want For Normalcy and Return to Business:

President Calvin Coolidge is emphasizing how after the war their economy and resources are at an all time low and they should focus on improving the situation through deals instead of having another reform and change in the country again returning to normalcy.

• President Coolidge wanted to promote laissez faire and keep taxes low.

• Cars played a part of the American revival after WW1:

  • Easy to travel

  • Young people having independence

  • People being able to live far away from jobs like in the suburbs

  • Helped people being able to get to places without spending so much money and time because it is relatively cheap and affordable

-  The standard of living had changed drastically at the end of the 1920's as things like 

- Irons

- Washing Machines

- Laundry Machines

- Installment Plans helped people achieve the things they wanted and enabled them to buy goods, this is how debt and loans became.

*The radio and advertisements combined with societal pressure convinced many people to buy cars and many other things

*The power of propaganda, radio, celeb endorsements, trends changed on how advertisements were played into customers' mouths

*People were able to get these things through credit, loans, income

*Key things we took for granted

*WW1 was about worrying about tomorrow and after the war ended the youth started living in the present going against the traditional ways questioning why to follow traditional methods because the war was pointless anyway.

Key Important Things:

Prosperity changed so much because of banks' power

Wealth Gap Grew a lot

Lower minorities and classes faced big challenges like farmers

It was now somewhat accepted to not agree with the government 

Divides in Current Society:

AI

Republicans vs Democrats

Abortion

Social Media

Black Lives Matter

Education

COVID

Climate Change

Student Debt

Access to healthcare

Immigration and control

Taxes

Tariffs

Wars

Fundamentalism Ideas:

• Religious movement in the 1920

• Believed the literal truth of the bible

• Against modern way of life

• Believed strongly in prohibition

Divides in Society:

Prohibition

People enforcing prohibition

Guns

Crimes

Alcohol

Dry

Wets

Flappers

19th Amendment

Vamps pushed further than Flappers for sexual expectations and norms to change

Social Expectations

Rural vs Urban

Tradition vs Modern

Youth vs Adults

Women 1920s:

Women became more rebellious and wanted to enjoy what they got and overall emphasized their rights, and going against traditional norms. Although there was a variety of diverse women with different types and opinions, some might be flappers and gibsons but they can be something else too.