The Roaring 20sThe Jazz Age

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The Roaring 20s/The Jazz Age

• I. Culture/Society
• A. Sports
• 1. Babe Ruth (baseball)-
• although Ruth was a hard
• drinker and a party animal,
• fans loved him because he
• visited hospitals and
• orphanages. In 1927, Ruth
• hit 60 home runs.

2

• Jack Dempsey
• (boxing)- Dempsey was
• the greatest boxer of his
• time. One fight was so
• popular that it brought in
• 2.7 million.

3

• Movies/Theater- By
• 1925 the film industry
• became the fourth largest
• industry in America. The
• biggest star during the
• 1920s was Charlie
• Chaplin.

4

• C. Ku Klux Klan- The
• KKK wanted to keep the African-
• Americans in their place. In
• addition, they wanted to drive
• Catholics, Jews, and foreigners
• out of America. At the zenith of its
• power (1924) there were over 4.5
• million people who belonged to
• the KKK.

5

• Harlem Renaissance- A
• revival of African-American
• arts, entertainment, and
• literature.
• Writers
• 1. Langston Hughes-
• Perhaps the best writer
• during the Harlem
• Renaissance. Hughes
• focused on poetry to address
• racial injustices in America.
• 2. Claude McKay- Known for his militant verses
  in poems written to inspire African-Americans to
  stand up against discrimination.

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• Musicians
• 3. Louis Armstrong-
• Armstrong helped to
• spread Jazz to all parts of
• the United States. Jazz
• originated amongst the
• African-American
• community in America.
• 4. Duke Ellington- Self taught musician and one
  of the most famous composer of his time. Played
  at the famous Cotton Club.

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• Political leaders
• 5. W.E.B. Du Bois
• Helped start the
• N.A.A.C.P. (National Association for the
• Advancement of Colored
• People). This organization
• protested the shameful
• treatment of the African-
• Americans.

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• 6. Marcus Garvey- Garvey
• began the Universal Negro
• Improvement Association.
• Garvey had two goals A.)
• Black people should go
• back to Africa B.) Black
• is beautiful.

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• E. Famous Writers
• 1. F. Scott Fitzgerald- Fitzgerald criticized
  materialism- the search for money and
  possessions in his book This Side of Paradise.
  In this book he described how materialism leads
  to confusion and tragedy.

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• 2. T.S. Eliot- Eliot is famous for criticizing
  technology in his book The Waste Land. This book
  describes how people are more like machines than
  human beings.

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• Transportation
• 1. Charles Lindbergh (May 20, 1927)- Lindbergh
  became a national hero when he became the first
  to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in his airplane
  The Spirit of St. Louis.

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• 2. Traffic Jams- The explosion of automobiles
  caused problems for ill-prepared cities without
  roads

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II. Politics during the 1920s

• Warren G. Harding
• becomes President (1920)-
• Harding is remembered for
• picking some very good
• cabinet members and some
• very bad ones.
• 1. Teapot Dome Scandal Secretary of Interior
  Albert Fall, leased government oil reserves to
  two oil companies in exchange for a bribe.

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• B. Immigration
• 1. Sacco and Vanzetti Case- On May 5, 1920 two
  Italian immigrants (Nicola Sacco and Bartolemeo
  Vanzetti) were arrested for the murder of two
  individuals. Since Sacco and Vanzetti were
  immigrants and anarchists they were sentenced to
  death with little evidence. Importance The
  trial showed Americas resented toward immigrants
  (Nativism) and anarchists/communists.

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• C. Conservative vs. Liberal
• ideas
• 1. Flappers- Women who felt liberated by the
  womens suffrage (voting) movement. These women
  began to wear dresses that came to their knees
  and participated in social and political events.

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• 2. Evolutionism vs.
• Creationism
• a. Scopes Trial (Monkey Trial)- IN 1925, John T.
  Scopes (a high school biology teacher) was put on
  trial for teaching evolution. Scopes hired
  Clarence Darrow (like Johnny Cochran) to defend
  him. The debate was supposed to be over a
  teachers right to choose what to teach, but
  turned into what scientific theory was right
  Evolutionism or Creationism.

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• D. Prohibition (January
• 16, 1920)- This amendment
• (the 18th) to the constitution
• prohibited the sale,
• manufacture and transpor-
• tation of liquor. In 1933,
• the 21st amendment
• repealed (canceled out) the
• Prohibition of alcohol.

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• Prohibition was a failure
• because people refused to
• comply with the new law.
• People would go to
• Speakeasies (places where
• liquor was illegally sold) to
• buy alcohol. In addition,
• Prohibition helped create
• the Mafia and made Al
• Capone a hero. Capone
• was finally convicted of tax
• evasion and sent to
• Alcatraz.

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• E. Womens Suffrage (right
• to vote) Movement (Aug.
• 26, 1920)- Congress and 37
• states gave women the right
• to vote. This campaign was
• led by Carrie Chapman Catt.

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• F. Calvin Coolidge becomes
• president (1924)- Cool
• Cal or Silent Cal rarely
• spoke and let the businesses
• in America do what they
• wanted. Coolidges motto
• was the business of
• America is business.
• During Coolidges
• presidency the nation
• Experienced prosperous
• times.

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Works Cited

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  lmkid.html
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