My candle burns at both ends;It will not last the night;But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends-It gives a lovely light.

Edna St. Vincent Millay

Social and Political Issues

• Entertainment:• the 1920’s marked the rise of a trend

toward a national identity with popular entertainment

• the development of a more urban society,

• More leisure time thanks to new innovations

• Movies, organized sporting events (baseball!), and music were popular

Scopes Trial – known as the “monkey trial”

• Science (Evolution) vs. Religion(Fundamentalism)– John Scopes teaching of the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

in Tennessee in stead of teaching only Bible’s Creationism.

– the modern media made this case a national event

• (Lawyers: Clarence Darrow, for the defendant; William Jennings Bryan for prosecution)

Prohibition

• A battle over moral values, the 18th Amendment banned the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages

• the law became unenforceable – organized crime, smuggling and bootlegging grew • (Olean’s “Little Chicago” reputation!)

• the 21st Amendment repealed the failed “noble experiment”( the 18th Amendment- Prohibition)

Red Scare• a reaction to the

Communist victory in the Russian Revolution of 1917

• labor strikes, urban riots, and unsolved bombings led to a national hysteria against foreign born persons…suspected of being communists, anarchists, etc.!!!

Palmer raidsPalmer raids – US Attorney General arrested & deported immigrants suspected of Communist ties…No trials, hearings!

The “Soviet Ark” used to transport suspected Communists out of US

Sacco and Vanzetti• tied to the Red Scare • convicted of a murder

and bank robbery• many believe they were

unfairly convicted because of their personal beliefs and Italian heritage

• the evidence against them was weak

• they were executed• “pardoned” in 1977!

KKK and Racial Unrest

• Era of segregation– Jim Crow rules the

South• Increased fears for jobs

due to “Great Migration” (see pg. 8)

• 1919“Red Summer” – riots in many major cities– Rosewood, Florida

destroyed by angry whites after false accusation of a black man attacking a white women

• Resurgence of Ku Klux Klan

• originally against African-Americans, became anti-Catholic, Jew and Immigrants

• supported only white, Protestant, and American-born

1920’s Changing moral values• Urban vs. Rural

• Religion vs. Science

• New wealth • “conspicuous consumption”…spend!!!• Materialism – “keep up with the Jones”

• New morality • “Lost Generation” searches for meaning in life• “Anything goes!” approach to life

• Yet intolerance toward immigrants and African-Americans?!

Literature• New cultural values became expressed in

the popular literature of the age– F. Scott Fitzgerald – “The Great Gatsby”

(Lost Generation searching for meaning)

• Authors protested the growth of business, the conformity of the times, American’s preoccupation with material possessions, and the devastation of war.– Ernest Hemingway “A Farwell To Arms”

The Great Migration

• During and after WW I, African Americans moved from the south to the northeast and midwest in search of industrial jobs – which paid more than sharecropping

• Resulted in increased racial tensions and anti-immigrant (nativist) feelings due to fears of job loss and wage decreases.

Harlem Renaissance

• A growth in popularity of African American writers, musicians, and artists

• centered in the Harlem district of New York City

• W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, were just some of the influential writers

Jazz music

• A blend of African, European, and American sounds

• began in New Orleans – then up to Chicago – the over to New York

• born in the African-American experience, it soon became popular with white audiences

• the 1920’s became know as the “Jazz Age”

I, Too, Sing America   by Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.

Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed

-- I, too, am America.

“Roaring” 20’s?

Intolerant 20’s?

BOTH!!!