The Roaring dance moves This day in age was the time with one of the biggest changes America has ever seen. We went through dramatic, political, and social changes. People lived in the Urban areas more than the country. New clothing and new dances brought about a racial and social controversy. The biggest new dance crave was the charleston. The new dance originally developed in african american communities in the United States. The dance is most associated with white flappers and speakeasies. Here these women would together or alone as a way of mocking the “drys”, or citizens who supported the prohibition amendment. The dance was considered quite immoral and provocative.
Flappers would wear dresses that were above the knee and cut their hair short with it curling at the end.
Prohibition When the 18th amendment was ratified in the 1920s it brought on a time in American history called Prohibition. Prohibition banned the production, transportation, and sales of intoxicating liquors. During prohibition the consumption of liquor wasn't illegal but americans couldn’t buy legal liquors so they had to buy “bootlegged” or illegally made liquor. On average, 1000 americans died from bootlegged liquor consumption. When America entered WWI a temporary ban on alcohol was put in place to save the wheat People protesting the prohibition for food during this time the 18th amendment was submitted. In just 11 months the amendment had the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states to be passed. Prohibition also made crime more rampant with mobsters such as Al Capone
Al Capone was the head mobster for prohibition in Chicago.He was supplying tons of speakeasies in chicago.A speakeasies is a secret bar where they sold alcohol and most of the time you had to have a password to get into any speakeasies anywhere in the United States of America.Most of the police would actually help out speakeasies by making a deal with the owner like “I will guard your shop but in return you must give me free alcohol.” As more and more people kept drinking alcohol, Al Capone would just keep making money as more People drinking at one of the many speakeasies. alcohol was being sold to this vendor. The reason why the american government ratified the 18th amendment is because they thought it would get rid of american problems in society but really all it did was make it worse.All these crimes came into the picture because they could make a ton of money by selling alcohol and it was no longer taxed by the american government.Eventually in 1933 the 21st amendment got rid of prohibition in the United States of America.The reason why the American government did was because they thought it would open up more jobs. Women get what they want The 1920s was a very significant time for women. In 1920, The19th amendment gave women the right to vote. Some women formed an organization known as the League of Women Voters. The members of the organization worked to educate themselves on public issues. In 1923, Alice Paul persuaded two congressmen to introduced the equal rights amendment (ERA). The ERA said “equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of sex.” Congressmen did not approve the ERA until 1972. In the 20s women not only got political freedom but they also got education and opportunities they’ve never had before. The number of women completing high school nearly doubled and women were able to enter professions that were Women voting for the first time once only available for men. The term flapper started being used in the 1920 so describe urban, single, young, middle-class women. By 1927, Women were wearing dresses above the knees for the first time. Flappers had an unmistakable look. Flappers had
Flapper
short bob cuts, They wore high heels and short dresses. They had carefree attitudes and were often seen with cigarettes and alcohol. Family patterns also changed in the 1920s. Between 1914 and 1929 the number of divorces per year more than doubled. There were also a decline in birth rates, this was from the help of Margaret Sanger. She was a nurse caring for the poor women in New York City when she saw a link between family size and human misery. She once said that she saw poverty everywhere and large families going hand in hand. She believed that women would never achieve equality against men unless they could choose when or if they wanted have any children. “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body,” “No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.” After discovering this she came to create the country’s first ever family planning clinic in 1916. But she was soon arrested and jail for teaching women how to limit family size. During this time is was illegal to distribute birth control information in every state. She dedicated her whole life altering these laws. While doing so she also founded the nations first leading family planning organization- The Planned parenthood Federation of America. And by the 1920s family planning clinics started to appear all across the country. Margaret Sanger in her first Clinic in Brooklyn, NY
Inventions of the 1920s The 1920s was one of the biggest times of inventions. This is the time that created consumer consumption which is a culture that views the consumption of large quantities of goods as beneficial to the economy and a source of personal happiness. Makers of the new products promised that their inventions would make life easier on everyone. Some of the biggest inventions came from William Potts who invented the traffic light, Alexander Godefroy, the first working refrigerator, and many more but these are just the few things that were a big success in the 1920s. Now these inventors couldn’t have sold their products without advertising them first. No longer was it enough to say what the product was and why it was good, now advertisers used psychologists to tailor their ads to people’s desires and behaviors.So businesses found that if they changed the syles frequently, they could possibly induce consumers to buy their goods more often.They only inroduced new models every year was extended to goods With the refrigerator, people could now cool things without it spoiling.
that were only suppose to last a long time which included cars, furniture, and many househod appliances. The advertisers worked with the businesses to get the people to buy the latest models and with them buying all the latest models became a sign of prestige. With everyone staying up to date on the new models and inventions, many couldn’t afford it all thus came the idea of buy now and pay later. This is known as credit or the arrangement for buying something now with borrowed money and then paying off the loan overtime. With the expansion of credit it made it possible for the consumers to buy what they wanted even if they lacked the cash for it. With the hairdryer, women Media becomes a thing
could now dry their hair faster and style it easier.
“I shake it off, I shake it off…” We all wouldn’t have this line from Taylor Swift stuck in our heads or “My name is Jeff” this quote from 22 Jump Street without the help of the 1920s. This is the time that the radio and movies made its burst in America. Radio was a mass medium that could reach very large audiences. Radio back then was called the “wireless” because it received signals through the air rather than over wires. It is said that the first radio station was KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when they broadcasted the 1920 presidential election where radio sales took off. David Sarnoff was a big radio pioneer who had a big impact on the development of broadcast radio. Sarnoff worked worked for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company and was the one who April 4, 1912 picked up a message relayed to New York City by ships at sea saying “Titanic ran into iceberg, sinking fast.” He stayed on this post for the next 72 hours relaying the names of survivors to anxious relatives as the disaster at sea unfolded. Sarnoff was also the one who proposed that RCA form a nationwide broadcasting network. His proposal soon led to the formation of the David Sarnoff doing what he does best National Broadcasting Company, or NBC, which was later the vision to another medium-television. Sarnoff was then made president of NBC. People started to expect radio stations to broadcast everything that related to national news. Pretty soon radio stations started to broadcast regular programs of music, comedy, and drama. People got so into some programs that they wouldn’t answer their phones during its weekly broadcast.
Families would gather around the radio, like we do the TV, and listen to whatever was on.
Movies too became popular in the 20s. Motion pictures started in 1890 but they were silent at the time. After World War I people started turning to movie theatres to escape their problems of postwar recession. They would drink in love scenes, were thrilled by the exciting fighting scenes, and laughed at the silly moments. Ticket sale really rose at that time. With the discovery of how to add sound to the movies revolutionized the motion picture industry. The movie “The Jazz Singer” was the first movie that had sound in it. Everyone loved it. Dialogue became important to movies, expanding the jobs of writers. With the silent-film actors adjusting to this new medium, a new group of stars were borned. Movies exposed Americans to new fashions, hairstyles, and the loosening of rules of social behavior. Movies changed popular culture forever. Al Jolsen, played Jackie Rabinowitz in “The Jazz Singer”
The Jazz Age The 1920s was also known as the jazz age. African rhythms, European harmonies, African American folk music, and 19th-century American band music and instruments all influenced jazz music. Louis Armstrong once said "If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know." Jazz music was hard to describe. Jazz started in New Orleans when people were coming in the ports from all around the world. As boats and trains brought people to new parts of the country, jazz music spread with them. Louis Armstrong is one of the most famous jazz musicians. Armstrong played the trumpet, cornet, and vocals. Many jazz musicians improvised, they were in some way their own composer. During the war, music was often about war and was very upsetting. Jazz music was a happy alternative to that. People no longer listened to depressing war music, they were listening to jazz. Jazz meshed African American traditions and ideals with white middle class society. Jazz music was so big in the 1920s that the city of Harlem was Louis Armstrong playing the cornet. magnet for it. There were over 500 to several thousands night clubs and jazz clubs in Harlem. Almost all of the greatest jazz players played here. The most popular nightclub in Harlem was the Cotton Club. The floor of cotton was covered with dancers in lavish costumes. They were african american dancers and musicians but most of the people there were white patrons.
Jazz was heard in all the nightclubs but jazz was first recorded in the 1910s. Jazz was so big that jazz musicians started recording their own records with just them on it. And of course jazz grew more with the help of the radio. A radio survey showed that radio stations dedicated two thirds of airtime for jazz. It was clear that jazz was becoming America’s music.
Inside the excitement of the Cotton Club
Motor City and the automobile The car has shaped how we travel, what our landscapes look like, our whole environment have been shaped around them. And no place shows this better than the Motor City itself, Detroit, MI. We all know who is responsible for the rise of automobiles in the Motor City, Henry Ford himself. He changed America forever by making his cars more affordable. Henry Ford was born on his family’s farm on July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, MI. Ever since Ford was a little boy he loved to tinker with machines. He later worked at Westinghouse Engine Company. In 1896 he constructed one of his first horseless carriage. Ford began his company, Ford Motor Company, in 1903 saying that “I will build a car for the great multitude.” He started out with what we know started the motor age, the Model T starting at $950. The Model T really altered American society.
Henry Ford was known to have said, “You can have any color as long as it’s black,” when referencing the color for a new Model T. With some of the Henry Ford standing next to his best roads not automobile the Model T. he inspired Americas love for the automobile having been paved yet and being only dirt, Ford used light and strong vanadium steel alloy for critical parts. The Model T was also very reliable and easy to maintain. I guess thats why it was such a big heat with families, you know how messy those kids are. While the Model T was such a big hit that dominated the automobile company, Ford made more. All of Ford’s automobile models were all a letter from the alphabet. In 1927 Ford closed all the plants over the world to take six months retooling the factories and coming up with a brand new model. That new model was the Model A. This car was the first to sport the new iconic Blue Oval Logo and included new safety glass windshield. By 1931 Ford sold over 15 million Model A’s even despite the Great Depression. Henry Ford soon made the next best automobile, the Model A. Here he is showing off the twenty millionth Model A.
8. Sports Many american families gathered around the TV in 1958 as they watched the 26th annual NHL championship or “the greatest game ever played”. These sports wouldn’t be as popular as they are today without the 1920s. Many sports gained popularity in the 1920s. Some of these include baseball, football, golf, and many more. Before the ‘20s the major sports today were nothing to the public until investors seen they had a chance to make money off advertising. As these sports gained popularity many stars rose. Some of these athletes include Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, and Knute Rockne. We all know him as Babe Ruth but he was born as George Herman Ruth, Jr. Ruth was born on February 6, 1895 in Baltimore and one of the eight children of a saloon keeper. He was adopted to the Baltimore Orioles by Jack Dunn in 1914 for his brilliant left-hand pitch. And that same year he was sent to the Boston Red Sox . Babe Ruth changed baseball forever with hitting all his home runs.
He pitched on these teams in 1915 and 1916 until his hitting soon marked him as an outfielder. In the 20s baseball was only marked as pitching the ball and then hitting it but Ruth gave baseball a new name. In 1919 he hit over 29 home runs. He led the New York Yankees to seven championships, including four World Series titles with his homeruns. He totaled around 714 home runs in his lifetime before putting up the bat in 1935. By 1946 he became manager of the Ford Motor Company’s junior baseball program. He was a legacy in baseball. There were also women athletes in the 1920s too. One of them was Gertrude Ederle the most famous woman athlete in the world. She was the first woman to ever swim across the English Channel from France to England. This “historical� event happened on August 6, 1926. She finished this in a time of 14 hours and 34 minutes, beating the previous mens time. Another woman athlete was Helen Willis. She was the American and International female tennis players. She won 31 international tennis championships and 180 straight matches against the best woman in tennis.
Gertrude Ederle swimming the English Channel
Citations -
Roaring Twenties citations http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Charleston_%28dance%29.html
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Prohibition Book
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Women http://www.ushistory.org/us/46d.asp http://www.americanhistoryusa.com/working-voting-women-1920s/
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Inventions Book
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Media Book
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Jazz http://www.scaruffi.com/history/jazz1.html https://www.boundless.com/u-shistory/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/from-the-new-era-to-the-great-depression1920-1933-24/the-culture-of-change-187/the-jazz-age-1031-1995/ picture: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/louis-armstrongmn0000234518/biography Book
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Automobile http://corporate.ford.com/company/history.html http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinventors/a/HenryFord.htm http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Race/R_Overview/R_Overview1.htm
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Sports http://sportsandsociety1920s.blogspot.com/2011/03/sports.html