Life in the Roaring Twenties
11/1/2013
The Golden Era of Sports Carter Rohweder
The 1920’s will forever be remembered as the Golden Age in Sports. Prior to the 20’s, sports were not considered to be something productive and it certainly didn’t pay well. World War 1 squashed the interest of college football and The White Sox Scandal of 1918 angered many professional baseball fans. But the 1920’s brought hope and revival for the sports world. New innovations in America could be one of the biggest reasons for the return of sports popularity. Before, if a fan wanted a true experience, he or she would have to travel to the event. If you were unable to attend, the next best thing was a dry and uninteresting section in the newspaper. New technology like the radio and movies brought a whole new way to follow sports. Fans anywhere in the country could listen to live action on the radio as the event took place. Movie houses showed clips of different sporting events. Radio and movies also had the power of turning local heroes into national icons. Athletes also contributed to the return of the sports age. Icons like Babe Ruth who is credited for single-handedly bringing back baseball after the World Series was tainted by members of the White Sox accepting money from gamblers to throw the series. The man played and lived larger than life. He revolutionized the game by hitting long homeruns and breaking records along the way. Professional boxer and heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey caught the attention of many by winning the largest prizefight to date at $1 million. Women also took part of the glory. Champion swimmer Gertrude Ederle held 29 national and world records including the first women to swim the English Channel and beating the record held by another man by two hours! As you can see the 20’s were definitely the Golden Age of Sports. New technology, national icons, and large venues paved the way for sports as it is still played like that today.
America Votes Dry Carter Rohweder
Following WW1, alcohol consumption in America rose considerably. European immigrants brought long heritages of alcohol and returning soldiers found an escape from reality. But, the fun soon turned into a problem. Men would spend the days wage at the saloon, abuse their wives and children, and had poor health due to alcohol. Women especially couldn’t stand to watch the income be wasted and their children getting beaten, so they took action to end alcohol forever. On January 16th, 1920, the 18th amendment was put into effect. This law made the manufacturing, sale, transportation, importing or exporting of alcohol in America. The problem with prohibition was that the government did not provide adequate funding or man power to tame the enormous problem of alcohol. When the amendment was put into effect, alcohol became immensely more desirable. Millions of hidden bars called Speakeasies opened up in backrooms and basements all over America. Also adding to the fire was new organized crime in cities rose up to 1000% of what it had been. The Mafia, an organized mob of Italian/Irish Americans led by Al “Scarface� Capone, was responsible for thousands of deaths and bribes to public officials and police officers. Bootlegging became another popular illegal practice. A bootlegger is the person or group that transports alcohol from the manufacturer to the distributer. Bootleggers were a target of many because of the incredible amount of laws they were breaking. Though prohibition was meant to benefit America, making it healthier and happier; it just could not be controlled. On December 5th, 1933, the 21st amendment was ratified repealing the 18th amendment, making alcohol legal. As a result, alcohol flowed and the crime rates dropped.
Henry Ford and the Assembly Line Carter Rohweder
• URBAN VS RURAL • The daily life: • Pop culture did not affect rural as much as it did urban. Celebrities and sports was a pastime of urban life. There was a contrast in feeling from the rural mind, some envied the urban lifestyle for its comfort and carefree idea. Others thought it was weak and pampered. Urban people had electronical appliances. Making the gap between these to lifestyles very different. • The economic standpoint: • Between 1920 and 1929 nearly 19 million people moved from the farm to the cities. The average per capita has increased 37%. Also the economics were bad in the rural lifestyle. The demand for crops and crop prices drastically decreased.
• POST WAR ISOLATIONISM • What it is? • Isolationism is the withdrawal from affairs and events. In this case post war isolationism means after the war the United States will withdrawal from international problems. The problem was that the United States withdrew from the world. There would be a worse trade market, and it would be hurting American farmers and business people. • Avoiding Europe • Isolationists feeling were strongest towards Europe. Even though the United States kept out of international affairs in Europe, and Asia they expanded there economics and protected their investment in Europe. The leaders of the isolationist movement drew upon history to bolster their position. In his Farewell Address, President George Washington had advocated non-involvement in European wars and politics.
• ADVERTISING • Advertising was a new form of marketing in the 1920’s, it created consumer culture. The idea that buying products will make life easier and it would be beneficial for the economy. • There were many appliances created in the 1920’s. The electric toaster made cooking easier. The electric vacuum was created so that it would be easier to keep a household clean. Electric powered washing machines and irons made hard working laundry days a concept of the past. All of these products sent the same message. They will make your life happier and easier.
Newspapers, radio, and cinema. These are many ways of communication in the 1920s. the 1920s was the emergence of the radio. The radio began as a way to promote newspapers. Then it was used to advertise sports and they started playing music. According to Encyclopedia.com “… by 1921, 13 percent of Americans had telephones.” Next comes the Cinema. The cinema was just like a radio except it had used pictures to help people understand what was happening. The cinema was where many people went to relax and spend money.
President Wilson reduced his emphasis on arms reductions because of considerations of National Sovereignty at a peace conference in Paris. He threatened a new naval race by urging congress to fund the construction of naval battle ships. Dis armament was a major political issue in the early 1920s. The public was in favor of disarmament, politicians, and military chiefs maneuvered to position their armed forces to the best advantage. The war caused the state Department to tighten security measures the Dawes plan and the Young plan ameliorated crises for a while. Reparations and war debts of Allies were repaid in the end. In 1917 the US entered the war on the Allied side.
Some forms of transportation in the 1920s include driving, flying, and sailing. The automobile was introduced in 1921. The more automobiles were created, the more they cost. During 1923 an automobile cost about $290 per car. Flight used to be strictly confined to war but soon flight was available to everyone. A favorite way of flight was the zeppelin. The zeppelin was invented in 1928 by Graf Zeppelin. The zeppelin was the first round the world flight ship.
In the 1920s the war was over, and all the materials and supply’s that the war needed was now gone. This created a huge downfall in the economy. The economy was in a depression, and these were very bad times for everybody, but especially the returning veterans. During this Depression everybody suffered even the weather was in a depression sweeping out the business of farmers. Even though the depression took place in the late 1920s it still had a huge impact on the “Roaring 20s.” The Great Depression had a huge impact on the 1920s because even though it didn’t take place until the late 1920s, the events leading up to it happened in the previous 1920s’ years. The Great Depression was a very bad time for the People of the U.S and the government of the U.S. The Depression was basically the economy failed, and a lot of the jobs were stripped away from the people. This happened because the government was in debt, and lacking money because of “The Roaring 20s.”
The Klu Klux Klan or “KKK” made life in the 1920s very hard, stressful, and fearful for African Americans. There was lynching, or the hanging of blacks that led to death, there was the burning and bombing of the houses of African Americans, all sorts of hatred and discrimination. The African Americans had their own bathrooms, fountains, restaurants, and it even went so as to have different schools. Then…one day everything started to look up for African Americans. The KKK fell in power, due to the leader David Stephenson telling the police the people who were involved in the illegal activity towards African Americans. Also, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People helped with the advancement of the African Americans of the 1920s. But as you may have thought everything wasn’t all berries the Jim Crow laws still had a huge discrimination against the African Americans. The laws and the people who obeyed them really disliked blacks. But even though these laws were in “effect” the African Americans still pushed for equality. As the years passed, the African Americans started seeing more and more progress leading to the Civil Rights movement leading to Rosa Parks Getting arrested, and Martin Luther King Jr. giving his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, leading to the decline of racial tensions.
The 19th amendment was padded by congress on June 4th, 1919, and ratified by congress on August 18th, 1920. The 19th amendment gave the woman of the U.S the right to vote. This was a huge thing in the U.S because this changed the social position of the woman of the U.S. the woman of the U.S went from having no position in government to having almost the same position of men, they could now vote for who they wanted in office, they didn’t just have to like people and listen to what they said. The woman had to fight very hard for what they believed in, voting, they endured many hateful thing to get what they believed in. The woman had to protest many long hours, they had to go to jail, they were literally beaten by men. The woman went just about everything just to vote right? Yes, they went through all of this “Just to Vote”, because to the woman of the U.S it wasn’t just voting to them it was the future for their lives, and their little ones to come. Since it wasn’t just for them, it was for what they believed in, and their kids, they did everything they had too to get their rights, and they did.
The Scopes trial often referred to as the “monkey trial” Was John Scopes V. The State of Tennessee. This legal dispute was because of the idea whether evolution should be taught, in Dayton Tennessee. But it was really just a ploy to jumpstart the town of Dayton's economy. This long trial that came for little to no reason really played a large role in the roaring 20’s. John Scopes a teacher, and coach who was to be used in a trial to attract the attention of the nation to the town of Dayton within Tennessee. With the former president William Jennings Bryan representing both sides of the case you could assume what happened. But i big fault in this John Scopes did not even know if he violated this law because he only lightly brought it up in class. But for these a large problem was that in school no teachings can go against the thoughts and ideas of the genesis. In addition to this creation science was trying to be taught which is science, and the genesis put together the problem is these two were opposites so logically it could not be taught. in the end John Scopes was fined $100 dollars with technicalities so he did not pay. This idea would only be put on hold to, be argued once again whether to be put in textbooks or not.
Dating patterns in the 1920s was the first major change in dating, for American society it was much more informal. Also the date wasn’t watched over by adults anymore. In addition to this dating was rules were not set by churches anymore, but more by your peers. Besides these big changes now the male was not going to the woman's house since they were going out, now the male is paying in the situation so the power, to gender role was switched. Much of the change in the dating patterns was a conflict between the young and old, or the youthful generation vs. the one before. Some of these things were “chaperoned dances” which led to unsupervised parties, and the younger generation wanted dating to be more fun than a coordinated marriage. In addition to this magazine and movies would spread what was to be known as the “good life.” Last but not least how dating became getting to know “each other” a large amount of this was from dances which instead, of being a group activity became an activity for couples. In addition to this automobiles started allowed couples more intimacy which led to “petting,” and to add to this even “petting parties” started. These “petting parties” eventually reached high schools to. After all this dating was to search for the ideal partner for an exclusive relationship instead of just being sent off to be married.
Consumerism in the 1920’s was much more than what it once. One example that majorly impacted consumerism was catalogues. Because of the mail order catalogues could be used to deliver the item wanted to your door with just a couple simple steps. You would subscribe to the catalogue and have a new magazine sent to your house about once a month. Afterwards you would send in a mail order of the item you want and the cost of it, then it would be shipped to your door. Another thing that impacted consumerism greatly was the assembly line. The assembly line allowed products to be created in very large quantities. Also the assembly line is much more efficient than its previous buy cutting down the time of production, the cost of production, and increasing the amount of product reduced. With the assembly line an even affordable automobile could be made! The last but not the least was the radio that might have had the greatest impact on consumerism. To begin with the radio breach the selling point of seven million which most products haven't done before, and was a new milestone for consumerism. Radio also made way for other products such as movies and it started the network of large celebrities like actors.
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Rural v.s urban http://www.slideshare.net/ccsark/rural-and-urban-americans-the-division-powerpointpresentation
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Post war isolationism http://archive.mises.org/7292/isolationism-and-the-foreign-new-deal/
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Advertising http://gcaggiano.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/a-look-at-ridiculous-ads-through-the-years-the1920s/ Racial Tensions in the 1920s Http://tdl.org/txlor-dspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/287/06_rac_tens.htm, Http://tdl.org/txlordspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/287/06_rac_tens.htm Http://tdl.org/txlordspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/287/06_rac_tens.htm. "Racial Tensions." Racial Tensions. Http://tdl.org/txlor-dspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/287/06_rac_tens.htm, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. "Racial Tensions." Racial Tensions. 28 Oct. 2013 <http://tdl.org/txlordspace/bitstream/handle/2249.3/287/06_rac_tens.htm>. "NAACP: 100 Years of History." NAACP. 2009-2013. Naacp. 28 Oct. 2013 <http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history>. Post War Economy http://www.history.com/topics/great-depression http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/p/greatdepression.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/dustbowl-great-depression/ The 19th Amendment http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=63 http://www.history.com/topics/19th-amendment http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-passes-the-19th-amendment The Golden Era of Sports:
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