Social and Political Issues
Post on 22-Jan-2016
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My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-It gives a lovely light.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Social and Political Issues
• Entertainment:• the 1920’s marked the rise of a trend
toward a national identity with popular entertainment
• the development of a more urban society,
• More leisure time thanks to new innovations
• Movies, organized sporting events (baseball!), and music were popular
Scopes Trial – known as the “monkey trial”
• Science (Evolution) vs. Religion(Fundamentalism)– John Scopes teaching of the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
in Tennessee in stead of teaching only Bible’s Creationism.
– the modern media made this case a national event
• (Lawyers: Clarence Darrow, for the defendant; William Jennings Bryan for prosecution)
Prohibition
• A battle over moral values, the 18th Amendment banned the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages
• the law became unenforceable – organized crime, smuggling and bootlegging grew • (Olean’s “Little Chicago” reputation!)
• the 21st Amendment repealed the failed “noble experiment”( the 18th Amendment- Prohibition)
Red Scare• a reaction to the
Communist victory in the Russian Revolution of 1917
• labor strikes, urban riots, and unsolved bombings led to a national hysteria against foreign born persons…suspected of being communists, anarchists, etc.!!!
Palmer raidsPalmer raids – US Attorney General arrested & deported immigrants suspected of Communist ties…No trials, hearings!
The “Soviet Ark” used to transport suspected Communists out of US
Sacco and Vanzetti• tied to the Red Scare • convicted of a murder
and bank robbery• many believe they were
unfairly convicted because of their personal beliefs and Italian heritage
• the evidence against them was weak
• they were executed• “pardoned” in 1977!
KKK and Racial Unrest
• Era of segregation– Jim Crow rules the
South• Increased fears for jobs
due to “Great Migration” (see pg. 8)
• 1919“Red Summer” – riots in many major cities– Rosewood, Florida
destroyed by angry whites after false accusation of a black man attacking a white women
• Resurgence of Ku Klux Klan
• originally against African-Americans, became anti-Catholic, Jew and Immigrants
• supported only white, Protestant, and American-born
1920’s Changing moral values• Urban vs. Rural
• Religion vs. Science
• New wealth • “conspicuous consumption”…spend!!!• Materialism – “keep up with the Jones”
• New morality • “Lost Generation” searches for meaning in life• “Anything goes!” approach to life
• Yet intolerance toward immigrants and African-Americans?!
Literature• New cultural values became expressed in
the popular literature of the age– F. Scott Fitzgerald – “The Great Gatsby”
(Lost Generation searching for meaning)
• Authors protested the growth of business, the conformity of the times, American’s preoccupation with material possessions, and the devastation of war.– Ernest Hemingway “A Farwell To Arms”
The Great Migration
• During and after WW I, African Americans moved from the south to the northeast and midwest in search of industrial jobs – which paid more than sharecropping
• Resulted in increased racial tensions and anti-immigrant (nativist) feelings due to fears of job loss and wage decreases.
Harlem Renaissance
• A growth in popularity of African American writers, musicians, and artists
• centered in the Harlem district of New York City
• W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, were just some of the influential writers
Jazz music
• A blend of African, European, and American sounds
• began in New Orleans – then up to Chicago – the over to New York
• born in the African-American experience, it soon became popular with white audiences
• the 1920’s became know as the “Jazz Age”
I, Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.
Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed
-- I, too, am America.
“Roaring” 20’s?
Intolerant 20’s?
BOTH!!!
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