Unit 1 Notes 4: Cultural Changes in the 1920’s

Flappers, Prohibition, The Mob and Science

U.S. History

February 8-10, 2011

Urban vs. Rural• The 1920’s saw the growth of the city

and the decline of the rural.

• The 1920 census showed that 51.2% of Americans were living in communities with populations over 2500 people.

• Between 1922 and 1929, almost 2 million people left farms and towns for cities each year.

Urban vs. Rural• The differences between

the city and the country were at the heart of most of the cultural conflict in the 1920’s.

• The cities were the areas of new ideas, inventions, and lifestyles. They were also where people went to break with tradition

Urban vs. Rural

• The rural areas were the places that maintained tradition, shunned many of the new changes and tried to preserve American life the way it was in the 1800’s.

Prohibition

• In January 1920, one of the biggest debates between urban and rural areas was won by the rural - the 18th Amendment went into effect and banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages

Prohibition

• The Prohibition movement was

backed by the church-affiliated

Anti-Saloon League and The

Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.• The 18th Amendment worked at first as saloons

closed their doors and arrests for drunkenness declined, but the idea of Prohibition did not work with the attitude of the 1920’s

Prohibition• People began to want to drink and go out

to clubs at night.

• Many immigrant groups (don’t forget that many immigrants were still based in cities at this time) also did not believe that drinking was a sin.

• To outwit the 18th amendment, people began to illegally sell alcohol.

Prohibition

• Soon speakeasies opened to satisfy the desires of the people. These were illegal, hidden nightclubs and saloons that could be found everywhere.

Prohibition

• Others began to smuggle liquor in from Canada, Cuba, and the West Indies. These people were called bootleggers

Prohibition

• Prohibition generated a large disrespect for the law in America. It also helped to begin the organized crime movement in American cities.

Prohibition

• For instance, Al Capone, a Chicago bootlegger and gangster, made over $60 million a year. Capone was able to take over the Chicago bootlegging business by killing his competition.

Prohibition

• The government did not really get involved in stopping this illegal activity because the Prohibition Bureau was only given 1500 agents to deal with the entire country.

• By the mid-1920’s, only 19% of Americans actually supported Prohibition. But this amendment would not be repealed until 1933 with the 21st Amendment.

Prohibition Clip

Women of the 1920’s

• Women won the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment. This began a new time for women in America.

• Women began to throw out traditional attitudes to many things including marriage, child-rearing, work, and public behavior.

Women in the 1920’s• One of the way

that women chose to demonstrate their new ideas was the flapper.

• The flapper was a woman who embraced the new fashions and urban attitudes of the day.

Women in the 1920’s

• Flappers often wore waistless dresses that fell at the knee, clipped their hair into “bobs”, and smoked, drank, or talked about sex in public!

Women in the 1920’s• Women also began entering the workforce in

new areas such as professional and clerical fields.

Women in the 1920’s

• The 1920’s also saw the first time that women were legally able to acquire birth control information from their doctors. This allowed married women to choose how many children to have.

• Many women also experienced greater equality in marriage as marriages were based more on romantic love and companionship.

Women in the 1920’s Video Clip

• Clip 1

• Clip 2 - Gatsby

Religion vs. Science

• Another example of a clash between tradition and the modern world during the 1920’s was the conflict between religion and science

• The 1920’s were a time of new scientific inventions and discoveries. Some of these contradicted the ideas of fundamental religion.

Religion vs. Science

• Fundamentalism was a movement in Protestant religion that was grounded in a literal, non-symbolic, interpretation of the Bible.

• In the 1920’s fundamentalism showed itself in a variety of ways:

Religion vs. Science• In the South and

West, preachers led revivals based on the authority of the Scriptures.

• These revivals were also broadcast on the new media of the time - radio.

Religion vs. Science

• The greatest clash between religion and science in the 1920’s was the conflict over Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which he had advanced in the 1800’s and was gaining supporters in the 1920’s.

• In the 1920’s may fundamentalists began to call for laws banning the teaching of evolution in schools

Religion vs. Science

Evolution

• Darwin’s theory of evolution states that plant and animal species had developed and changed (evolved) over millions of years

Religion vs. Science

The Bible

• Fundamentalists particularly argued with the idea in evolution that humans evolved from apes.

• They turned to the Bible which said that God made the world and all living things on it (including man) in 6 days

Religion vs. Science

• In March 1925, Tennessee passed the first law banning the teaching of evolution.

• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promised to defend any teacher who would challenge the law.

• John T. Scopes, a young biology teacher, accepted the challenge.

• The court case (known as the Scopes Trial) was extremely well publicized.

Religion vs. Science• The ACLU chose the

most famous trial lawyer of the day, Clarence Darrow, to defend Scopes.

• William Jennings Bryan, three time presidential candidate, former Populist party leader, and fundamentalist minister, led the prosecution.

Darrow and Bryan

Religion vs. Science Clip