2 - Ford Revolutionizes Industry 2 – The 18th Amendment 3 – Monkey Scopes Trial Shocks the World 4 – Racial Tensions 5 – The 19th Amendment 5 – The Impact of New Communications 6 – Dating Patterns – Young vs. Old 6 – Consumerism 7 – Post-War Dawes Plan 7 – Immigration Tensions 8 – Impact of New Celebrities 8 – Impact of Film 9 – Impact of Music 10 – Impact of Sports 10 – Post-War Disarmament 11 – Post-War Isolationism 11 – Post-War Economics 12 – Transportation 12 – Union/Strikes 13 – Credit 13 –Advertising 14 – Citations
The 18th Amendment Henry Ford thought that the rich shouldn’t be the only people who could afford a car. He believed that everyone should have a car. He was determined to create a car that any American worker could afford. So he made the assembly line. The assembly line was designed so the car would go down a conveyor belt. As the car traveled through the factory, parts of the car would be put together, speeding up the process from 12 hours to 6 hours. In 1908, Henry Ford’s assembly line was now in business. The first type of car that left the factory was the model T. It was small, simple, and cheap. It was designed just for the assembly line. Today the assembly line is still used and not only do cars come off assembly lines, but just about anything in the average store comes from an assembly line. Henry Ford had changed the world by making automobiles for everyone.
The 18th amendment was to get rid of alcohol workers were showing up at work drunk or didn’t even show up at work at all. The 18th amendment was saying not to transport or sell any alcohol that law was passed January 17th 1920. The law was working at first by having alcohol to be sold but it was sold for more money than anyone could make so people started showing up at work again hoping to get paid enough to get more alcohol. But then it all stopped people were making their own alcohol and blaming other people about it. The law was said that as long as you were a 3 mile limit away from the city or town you could drink and everything all you want. So everyone did that and they would go out on boats and drink all the alcohol that they wanted.
In 1925 John Scopes was put on trial for teaching the theory of evolution in a public school in tennessee, which surprisingly was illegal. He had been persuaded to do so by Goerge Rappelyea. Rappelyea was a modernist who believed that since science accepted the theory of evolution as true, it should be taught in public schools. these beliefs clashed with those of traditionalists who believed that the teachings of The Bible were the absolute truth. The court case was designed by Rappelyea to draw attention to the law and show how insane it was. He succeeded beyond measure. The case was on the front page of all the newspapers, reporters and spectators came by the thousands. The defense began by bringing in experts to reinforce evolution. The judge responded by refusing to hear them, saying that it was not relevant. The defense was in a rough position after that. finally, the defense attorney surprised the court, and the world, by calling the prosecution attorney to the stand. When the prosecution attorney would not affirm that every world of the bible was true, the judge and jury had no choice. they fined him 100 dollars but otherwise let him go. later the Supreme Court overturned the fine because it was enforced by the judge not the jury.
As you all know, the 1920’s were a good time in history, people were happy, new inventions were on the rise that would revolutionize America and our daily lives as we knew it. But even in such a great time, there was a large amount of racism and racial tensions were on the rise. There would be many new groups that were against immigration and new laws to control the people. We live in a world were racial tensions are lower and we have gone farther away from the line that separated us back during the civil war with slavery. Though there is still a lot of work that need to be done on it, we have gone a very large distance sense the 1920’s. Back then, black children weren’t allowed to go to the same school as whites; the schools that did have blacks were run down, had second hand materials like damaged books, these kids received a terrible education if any. But this wasn’t the only thing that was bad for immigrants, the group known as the Klu Klux Klan (KKK) was a group of whites that believed in white supremacy and would go to extreme measures to get what they wanted. In New Orleans, new laws passed in 1919 made it almost impossible for both men and women to be able to make a living or even sustain their lives if they had any amount of African American blood running through them. Blacks were tortured, lynched and killed by whites like the KKK. In other news, Garrey made Negro Factories Corporation
19th Amendment Before the 19th amendment living was hard for women. Woman were treated unequal and had little rights unlike males that had more freedom. Some woman started to stand up and fight for rights the first convention was at Seneca Falls, New York. Over 300 people attended mostly women but even men came to support. This was a 70 year battle for women to gain rights. In 1913 there was a parade in the national capital hundreds of women were hurt. National woman suffrage association was a group of woman that really wanted changed and fought even harder. On August 18, 1920 victory at last the 19th amendment was passed giving woman the more freedom and the right to vote. New Jersey was the first state to let woman vote but taking away, and then became Wyoming the first state to let woman vote.
Impact of New Communications You were born into pop culture. Since birth, you knew what was popular, you listened to national trends, and you probably communicated effortlessly with people all across the world. But in the 1920’s, national media was a new and sensational phenomenon. Print media had existed for a since the 1700s but each source mainly concerned only the region it was printed in. each would be a short simple newsletter advertising town meetings and local businesses. But in the 1920s print media exploded. With new forms of communication, news could be traded across the country. Before this, something might have taken weeks to reach the farthest reaches of the country, becoming completely irrelevant before it even reached the ears of the people there. Now you could communicate information across the world in only minutes. Print media had something to print every day. As a result, newspapers and magazines began posting national news. This helped to interconnect American’s. People across the country would have something in common: what they read in the news. When radio first appeared in the late 1910’s, the world barely noticed it. no one thought it would ever be something important outside of the military. But in 1920 when they used radio to announce the winner of the presidential election, The world took notice. Radio could be effectively used to convey information to everyone, as soon as it happened. but even then the world still was unaware of the massive potential of radio. That all changed when David Sarnoff revolutionized the radio world by broadcasting the Depsey-Carpentier boxing match. Millions of people listened, some of them buying radios just to do so. He continued to pioneer commercializing radio until he became the president of the National Broadcast Company or NBC. Radio had changed the way people lived.
Dating patterns young vs. old
Consumerism
Dating in the 1920s was very different from what we do today. Millions of teens in the 1920s would be leaving their families, home to go and live in town homes to go and date in the city and meet guys that they learn to like a lot about. One thing that the teens would do for dating in the 1920s is that they would go and hang out and drink and just have fun at clubs. But there were certain things in the 1920s that teens were not really happy about, like not being able to kiss 0r be kissed and some teens were forced to marry and rich 52 year old man older or younger than that and live with them. But most of the time they had lots of problems with their new husband that would never treat them right so then they would try and get a divorce. Young vs old. Mostly young people would date in the 1920s girls would go and drink and party and go on lots of fun dates with their boyfriend. But older people didn’t date really because they were normally already were already married and had children to watch their own children already.
In the 1920’s, there was a huge rise in consumerism in the United States. Consumerism is when a society, like the U.S. purchases goods based on advertisement. Middleincome Americans at the time had increased pay, prosperity, and confidence, allowing for consumerism to explode at the time. People at the time started buying less on what was a necessity and more on what they want or what is more convenient. The reason America had such a boom in consumerism is all because World War 1. After such a war, there were new technological advances that increased production. Americans also received a lot of money from the war that Britain, France and other countries owed them. The war made America mass produce a lot of products, which now allowed for economic prosperity.
http://www.vintageperiods.com/
Post-War Dawes Plan Charles G. Dawes was a banker and the 30th Vice President of the United States. Dawes was Vice President from 1925-1929, under Calvin Coolidge. After WWI, Germany had to pay 269 billion German marks in war reparations. Germany was already struggling financially because of losing the war, so it was very difficult for Germany to pay this amount. Dawes created a financial plan to help Germany. Dawes plan was to stagger the payments and end the allied occupation. The allied occupation happened because Germany could no longer pay money to the allies. France and Belgium occupied Germany in response. Dawes received the Nobel Peace Prize for his plan. His plan ended up not working, though. In 1929 it was replaced by the Young Plan.
Immigration Tensions Immigration in the 1920s was a huge problem. Between 1920-1920, 1.5 million polish, 2 million Italian, and 2 million Jews came to the U.S. Immigration had been a problem for a long time now, even between 1820 to 1920 it was reported that 5.5 million Germans, 4.4 million Irish, and 3.25 million Russians came to America. White Anglo Saxon Protestants didn’t like the Jews and Catholics along with the African Americans because they were “different” and since most of the early settlers were Protestants they felt uncomfortable having other religions around them. The Americans also thought that the immigrants would still believe in their old countries political ideas and would be a threat to the constitution of the United States government. Because of the immigrants, racial and social tensions were very high and many Americans hated the new immigrants and wanted things to be “100% American.” Learning English was very hard for the new people so getting well-paying jobs was also difficult. That’s another reason Americans hated them because they were competing for the low-paying jobs. Because the racial and social tensions were so high, groups were made to keep things “100% American.” One of the main groups was the Klu Klux Klan or otherwise known as the KKK. They were Americans who hated the Catholics, Jews, and African Americans and other immigrants so they killed them in an attempt to scare the others and make sure no more came to America.
Impact of New Celebrities Celebrities became the new role models many people wanted to be and act like them. Clara Bow was a famous star on a sliver screen and she had many girls looking up to her. These people brought style and modern fashion to the world. Famous woman made it look like they can take care of themself asserting her sexuality, and making a living at that time. “IT” girls were the most famous people in the 1920s. Many men were becoming famous from their exploits around the globe sports and music. From baseball to working in a science lab these men were becoming famous from their accomplishments. The 19 twenties was an important time because they really focused the concept and possibility of becoming a self-made woman or men.
Impact of Film Before the 1920’s, people didn’t have much time to have fun. Men were off fighting in the war. Women were working in the factories. When WWI ended, all the soldiers returned home. The men returned to work in the factories which meant the need for labor was reduced. This change in workforce gave everyone more free time. When people had more free time, there was a demand for entertainment. So people would go see movies. Movies didn’t have sound before the 1920’s, but people were still amazed by movies. Feature films were a big attraction. In the late 1920’s, sound was added which revolutionized the film industry. Movie theater profits doubled. This shows how movies are part of our history and will forever be a part of our culture.
The Impact of Music The 1920’s was commonly referred to as the jazz age for at that time period, jazz was most popular to a lot of people. Jazz started in the poor black neighborhoods of New Orleans and started growing at the end of the Civil War at about 1865. Jazz also grew through the Harlem Renaissance .Jazz was the combination of European harmonies and melody, African beats and rhythms, ragtime, blues, and some marching band music, thanks to the French. Jazz was given its “swing” from the accenting of the second and fourth beats of the measure. This music was quite different from the classical music that people were used to listening to. Jazz was very influential in the young people of this time period. This generation, also known as post-World War 1 generation, were interested in being as radical as possible. They were more interested in having fun than staying with the old popular culture. This is why they flocked to jazz music. Jazz clubs started appearing all over countries like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. This made talented jazz musicians very famous at the time, like the cornet players Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, and Bunk Johnson. The older generations at the time hated jazz, for they believed that it was too different from classical. The Ladies Home Journal even asked “Does Jazz put the Sin in Syncopation?” Though it is not certain where the word jazz came from, one thing is certain. Jazz was very influential in the 1920’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1920s_jazz_standards
Impact of Sports The 1920s were a huge year for sports. Sports before were something that only a small amount of people really followed and it didn’t get much publicity but in the 1920s sports had become a huge deal for many Americans and even people in other countries. Many sports that were not very popular were now becoming very popular and new sports were being invented such as waterskiing. Also the professional football league, golf tours, and the tennis circuit were organized. Sports were now becoming something that many people enjoyed and newspaper, magazines, radio, and movies all played a role in boosting the profile of sports and the sport giants. Schools were also starting to organize sport teams for the students. The Olympic movement was controlled by allied forces and the defeated central powers of WWI were not invited to take part. During the 1920 summer Olympics, Americans were dominating, men and women winning 247 of the total 986 metals in all three games (Belgium 1920, Paris 1924, Amsterdam 1928). Throughout the 1920s the Olympics remained chiefly a competition for North America, Europe, and the dominions of the British Empire. The games were increasingly getting bigger and more competitive. The Paris games in 1924 attracted just under 3,000 competitors from 44 countries easily surpassing the 1920 entry of 29 people. New sports were also being invented like Waterskiing. Also sports that were normally for high class people like golf were now being opened to middle class. Sports gave Americans a boost after the war and it was a main source of entertainment and money was being made off of it as well.
http://www.historyonthenet.co m/WW1/versailles.htm
Post-War Disarmament In 1919, the Allied Powers in Europe signed the Treaty of Versailles. Included in this was the statement that countries would be forced to lower their amount of military personnel. This was designed mainly to keep Germany from becoming too powerful, which helped ensure lasting peace. France was especially concerned over this topic, considering they were invaded by Germany in that war. To enforce this new set of rules, the Allied Powers formed the IAMCC, or the Interallied Military Control Commission. This group was supposed to maintain the disarmament of countries by sending out officers to inspect how much military each nation has gathered. Officers would be sent out to inspect factories, fortresses, military depots and more. This group was supposed to be maintained by several nations, but it slowly shrank to being run mostly by Britain and France. By 1923, The group had ensured that Germany had been effectively disarmed.
Post-War Isolationism The US now accepts immigration and trade with other countries with few people still thinking we are better off alone, cut off from the rest of the world as if we were never here. In the 1920’s, isolation from the rest of the world stirred up a lot of commotion, and was even starting to go into effect. During this time there was a group called the League of Nations. We were planning on joining it, but the vote from congress outweighed the president and we never joined. An anti-European feeling was starting to brew in America. Organized labor believed that cheap immigrant labor cut wages, and immigrants often were unskilled in work and sometimes even English. America developed acts to stop immigration like the Quota Act of 1921. The 1921 Quota Act reduced the number of immigrants to 3% of the population. Later it was reduced to 2%. There were war debts still unpaid by European Countries because of all the money that we lent them for the war. It totaled to 10 million dollars by 1918. US tariffs which were very high at the time, prevented Europe from paying its debts.
Post-War Economics After the war, the United States was the strongest it had ever been. Our foreign trade brought a lot of money into the united states. To translate that wealth into the general populous, the United States lowered taxes. this allowed Americans to have more money to spend. when they had more money to spend the economy is stronger.
Transportation We right now live in a world were transportation isn’t a problem, we have care that can go 500 miles nonstop and planes that can go around the world in 20 hours. We have no need to worry, but in the 1920’s, there was no such thing as a plane that could go around the world. To change this in 1927, Charles Lindbergh flew a nonstop from Paris to New York, and this really amazed people and it revolutionized the way of transportation forever. After WW1 people were very happy to get back to regular life. This sparked creativity and a need to build better transportation. During the 1920’s trains were very popular, more then 15 hundred city’s had a railroad station. Cars were very new in America and were generally for the rich, until a man named Henry Ford came along. He was the inventor of the assembly line and could make care fast in cheap. This allowed the general public to be able to afford one and soon horses were soon replaced with noisy metal contraptions. Henry ford once said “You can have any color you want… as long as it’s black.” To help with this, a man named Harriet Morehead Berry was determined to improve the conditions of American highways.
Union/Strikes There was a strike in 1920 in Italy. Workers were going on strike because they wanted to control the machines on how they want or need them to work. This strike started in April of 1290 and ended in September of 1920. They also wanted socialization in factories or their work areas. But instead before it all ended the bosses of all the employees locked the employees out of there w0rk area not knowing that all the workers would get back at them by going on strike.
Credit In the 1920s credit was the next big thing credit allowed people to buy things with no money. People brought cars, washer machine, pianos, and furniture with credit because these were only affordable by wealthy people. Installment selling boosted American businesses so they introduced “buying on tick� to Great Britain. Household finance was transformed by a revolution in consumer credit. The inventor of the first bank issued credit card was John Biggins at the Flatbush bank in New York. Credit soon became the get rich quick plan businesses allow people to make large profit and get discounts. People started taking loans out the bank to invest, and if they couldn’t pay the bank back that was bad news for their family. Bulks that were purchased and sold reduced the cost and increased marketing opportunities. Credit made households the largest personal finance company in the nation. Credit really made a big difference in Americans lives.
Advertising Advertising has changed a lot over time but during the 1920s it hit a critical mass, warehouses full of supplies, increasingly rapid production and delivery methods, growing brand awareness, and a society desperate to shake of WWI. Ads became a popular thing many businesses used to get more costumers and profits. Advertising now had become something that was more creative and emphasized wants more than needs also now ad agencies brought advertising to a national level. Ads came with both positives and negatives, ads gave political agencies the ability to put their campaign on a national level, it also gave women the ability to express themselves a lot more. Celebrities would also end up in magazines and other articles with their testimonials and other information about them. Although ads had a lot of good information, ads also had many scientific facts that were usually unreliable and would exaggerate a lot of the time. The types of advertising differed from radios, newspaper, magazines, television, and cinema depending of the size of the audience and the age they were looking for. Wealthy and prosperous people were normally romanticized in ads. Many businesses that are successful today are because of the fact that they spent time and money on getting good ads.
Picture:http://www.feministmovement.net/wpcontent/uploads/2010/05/WomensRights-e1277283778689.jpg Picture:http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1279217/thumbs/o-JEAN-HARLOW570.jpg?3 Picture:http://afflictor.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/CIMG1873-2.jpg Picture:http://www.ourbaytown.com/images1/Klan-in-gainesville.jpg Picture:http://www.upa.pdx.edu/IMS/currentprojects/TAHv3/Images/immi gration_act.jpg Picture:http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/images/a_000222_large.jpg Picture:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1920s_jazz_standards Picture:http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW1/versailles.htm Picture:http://www.vintageperiods.com/ Carruth, Gorton. The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates. New York: Crowell, 1970. Print. Hart,Dian. History Alive!:Pursuing American Ideals. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers' Curriculum Institute, 2013. Print. Josh: Credit: WWW.1920-30.com/business Josh: 19th amendment: www.encyclopedia.com Josh: Impact of celebrities: www.1920s-fashion-and-music.com Josh: All Articles: http://www.history.com/ Robert: Consumerism and Impact of Music: U.S.A. Twenties. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2005. Print. Robert: Post-war disarmament: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/jmh/summary/v071/71.2corum.html Michael: Article 1: Wukovits, John F. The 1920s. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2000. Print Michael: Article 2: `U-S-history, Andycrown.net Michael: Article 3: NCpedia.org