Life in the 1920s

By: Ira and Erin

 The Changing Role of Women and Flappers
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s women were expected to revolve their lives
around the home/family. The women of the 1920’s however were more liberated, in how
they went along with their lives. Women during this time period started to dress in
dressed with shorter hems, dance to the latest thing and wear more makeup; women
also thought that they had the same political and social rights as men have. The symbol
of this were the flappers. Flappers are the women who wore short skirts and wore
rouged cheeks with their hair cut as a bob.

After the passage of the 19th Amendment, the National American Woman Suffrage
Association, and groups like them, called for women to run for office, work in reform
movements and to fight for laws that protects both women and children in the workplace.
 <- Flapper

Miriam Ferguson->
Nellie Tayloe Ross- She was the first woman elected to be Texas’s
state governor.
She was the first woman elected to be
Wyoming’s state governor.
 Technological Advancements
The automobile by Henry Ford allowed people to live further from the city and yet be
there in a reasonable time. The assembly line by Henry Ford allowed products to get
produced faster, lowering the cost of both making and buying the product. The radio
before 1920 was mainly used in the military, and then in the 1920’s the first radio station
was built. Due to this advancement Americans could now listen to educational lectures,
religious sermons and ads for products/services from anywhere in America right in their
home. The radio also brought events such as boxing into the house. Phonographs went
from wax cylinder to grooved disc recordings that had a much better sound, allowing all
Americans to listen to the same music. Aviation in the 1920’s was in its infancy stage;
although some airlines were flying passengers. For most Americans flying was still a
novelty. Charles Lindbergh flew from New York to Paris France in 33 hours, solo and
non stop. By doing this he brought great attention to the aviation industry.
 Popular Culture
American popular culture was reshaped by the automobile because the automobile
allowed for more types of recreational activities. Pop culture also changed due to the
radio, movies and the exploits of sports heroes. The 1920’s is often considered to be the
first decade of the modern era. This is in part to technological improvements, shorter
work days and a higher wage. People danced the same latest dance like the Foxtrot and
the Charleston because of the improved phonograph. Due to Charles Lindbergh pilots
became known as a new breed of hero, who was a romantic daredevil that risked
everything every flight.
Red Scare
The Red Scare was spurred on by the wave of fear of radicals and communists;
this fear was fed by the creation of the Soviet Union which was a communist
country. The first American Red Scare was prompted by the activity of abroad
revolutionary activists and strikes across the U.S., however real revolutionary
action in the U.S. gave substance to this fear. Suspected anarchists, radical party
members set off bombs across America. Americans even discovered bombs being
mailed to important industrialists and government officials. One of them being
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.

The communism ideology called for the worker’s revolution as the predecessor to
the fall of capitalism.
Palmer Raids
Palmer as the leading law-enforcement official set forth a broad offensive against
radicals in the U.S during the 1919 and 1920 years. A series of raids in early 1920
became known as the Palmer Raids. During this set of raids thousands of people
were arrested, in reality some were indeed radicals, but most were simply
immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Most of the people arrested were
never charged. The American Civil Liberties Union or ACLU believed Palmers’
actions attacked liberties the American people held dear. So the ACLU tired to
protect this rights, because of this the ACLU became involved in the trial of Nicola
Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.
The person who drew this cartoon viewed the
Palmer Raids as horrible.
In the cartoon you see cops, government
officials and other people rounding up perceived
threats. You also see the government official
stopping a boat full of people from coming
ashore.
This pictures conveys the fear of the time period
of the Red Scare, immigrants who are coming
for a better life could be mistaken for a threat
and imprisoned. Immigrants found it even harder
to both make it in and come to America.
Immigration Reform
This came around because American nativism.
People complained that immigrants were taking away
jobs. Chinese immigration was restricted in 1882.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921 established quotas of
immigrants per country. The National Origins Act of
1924 did the same thing. Before WWI immigrants
also had to take a literacy test.
This political cartoon represents the immigration quotas set for European
immigrants in the 1920’s in America.

In the political cartoon you see a funnel from Europe to America, with Uncle
Sam holding a gate with 3% on it. Going into the funnel you see many more
immigrants than you see going out of the funnel.

Based off of the picture I would say that the cartoonist did not support the
immigration quotas because while they did help people there are many more
waiting to be let in and helped. The cartoonist probably brought attention to
this because as it was before it was hard to immigrate into the U.S., after the
quotas were in place it helped some but hurt others. Why? The reason is if the
quota is met before the immigrant gets there, well now the immigrant has to
wait for however long the quota states per time amount.
KKK
Founded on December 24, 1865. This group
promoted hatred of African Americans. The
highest member count was 5 million members.
Members denounced blacks, Jews, and
Catholics. After the war the also opposed labor
unions. They also claimed to be against
lawbreaking and immorality.
Changing of the lives of African Americans
Hoping to escape racism and oppression many African Americans moved north.
Instead of escaping that and living better they were forced to live in the worst
houses and work the low paying jobs. After the war 200,000 blacks moved to
Harlem among immigrants arriving from the Caribbean islands. Marcus Garvey
was a big influence in changing African American lives. Louis Armstrong and
Bessie Smith were popular in the music scene.
Traditionalism v. Modernism
In the simplest terms it is rural v. urban and Bible v. Theory of Evolution.

The clash of traditionalism and modernism developed because of the growing

urban population, regions and leisure forms in urban areas. People in the city were
generally more open to changes socially and changes/discoveries in science. City
dwellers began to put new ideas and social structures ahead of religion, earning
the name modernism. The rural areas of the country however, missed out on
these new leisures. So the rural areas embraced traditional ideas of religion,
science and culture. These differences came to highlight in education.
Fundamentalists believed the teachings of the Bible, and dismissed or outlawed
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. This set the scene for the Scopes trial.
 Scopes Monkey Trial
The highlight of Modernism v. Traditionalism. Came about because Tennessee
created a law outlawing the ban of teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), persuaded a high school teacher named
John Scopes to challenge this law. John Scopes taught Darwin’s theory and was
promptly arrested. Scopes lost the trial, and was fined $ 100. The ruling in this
case did not change anything because both sides still thought they were right. This
is the case still to this day.
Temperance
By 1917 75% of Americans lived in dry communities. In 1919 the 18th amendment
was passed banning the making, selling and drinking of alcohol. The amendment
was passed because pro-temperance advocates stated that prohibition of alcohol
would lead to individuals improving themselves, the strengthening of familial
bonds, and the betterment of all society. Overall temperance was marketed as a
noble experiment for the American people. However on the flip side of the scale
the anti-temperance movement stated that prohibition would lead
to a rise in organized crime.
Rise of Crime
Unfortunately those against the temperance
movement were correct. The Volstead Act while
stopping the legal purchase of alcohol was
successful, people started to buy illegal alcohol. The
people bought from bootleggers and speakeasies
started to pop up all over the place. While
government officials were trying to stop illegal
operations, local police would often not do anything
about the operations. The police thought that people
will drink if they want so what’s the point. However
this overlook allowed organized crime to spread into
other parts of society. For example Al Capone dealt
with liquor, drugs, prostitution, robbery and murder.
All prohibition did was open up the door for those like
Al Capone.
The artist that drew this political cartoon is
anti-prohibition.
The reason one can tell this is one because of
the words at the bottom and top of the cartoon,
but also you can tell from what’s going on in the
cartoon itself.
On the far right of the picture you see clouds,
made out of people fighting, over what looks to
be a city. On the left hand side you see a
woman holding her hand out as if to say stop it
while holding on to a child, with a house in the
background.
The clouds over the city are important because they
symbolize the crime and corruption going on in the city. As
if although no one can see it, it’s there and real. That if
someone does not end prohibition soon it will get worse.
The woman seems as if she is trying to keep all the muck
from the city out of her home, to keep the child safe.
However judging by the grim look on the woman's face
she know that without legal action she will fail. So she just
wants prohibition to end before it's too late.
 Citation
Borden. (2008, December 5). Fun Feature: Pictures from Alcohol Prohibition. Retrieved April 20, 2018, from
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2008/dec/05/fun_feature_pictures_alcohol_prm

"The Palmer Raids" by Lisa Haney. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.imagekind.com/The-Palmer-Raids_art?IMID=9fe8a428-7fcb-4c32-987d-a674027a3fe7

P. (2014, December 16). Emergence of Modern America. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/394768723561453065/

Corre, A. (2013, October 06). 10 Of The Most Famous Trumpet Players Of All Time. Retrieved from
http://www.lifedaily.com/10-of-the-most-famous-trumpet-players-of-all-time/

Governors of Wyoming. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2018, from https://wyomingstatearchives.wikispaces.com/Governors of Wyoming

The Texas Politics Project. (n.d.). Retrieved April 23, 2018, from https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/exec/governors/15.html

Team, G. (n.d.). The Temperance Movement. Retrieved from

https://edu.glogster.com/glog/the-temperance-movement/24gn4kib9us?=glogpedia-source

1925 Scopes monkey trial... (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/573103

Citations continued
Famous Flappers of the Roaring Twenties. (2015, December 14). Retrieved from
https://fromthebygone.wordpress.com/2015/12/12/famous-flappers-of-the-roaring-twenties/

Hoa, N. (2015, October 16). 1920. Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/517702919644008745/?lp=true