5.2 USA: How far did the society change in the 1920s? Flashcards
What did the people from the countryside think of the cities?
People in the countryside thought that their traditional values (religion+family life) were under threat from the growing cities, which they thought where full of atheists, drunks and criminals.
Why did the entertainment industry blossom during the 1920s?
Average working week dropped from 47h to 44h = people had more leisure time.
Average salaries rose by 11% in real terms = more disposable income.
How did the radio industry change society during the 1920s?
Almost everyone listened to it - it was a communal activity. In poorer places (like poorer districts of Chigaco) they shared a radio.
By 1922 there were 508 licensed radio stations.
By 1929 the NBC network was making $150 million/year.
How did jazz change society during the 1920s?
African Americans who moved from the country to the cities brought jazz and blues music. 1920s=Jazz age. New dances like the Charleston. New styles of behaviour: Flappers = Young, high-class women that wore short dresses, make-up, kissed and smoked in public. Newspapers printed articles describing the negative influences of Jazz: 'employs primitive rhythms which excite the baser human instincts'.
How did sport change society during the 1920s?
Sports were listened on the radio.
Baseball: Teams like New York Yankees + Boston Red Sox + stars like Babe Ruth.
Boxing: heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey.
How did cinema change society during the 1920s?
Suburb outside Los Angeles: Hollywood. cinema industry was developing. New stars: Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks.
1927: first ‘talkie’ was made (film with sound).
1929: 100 million tickets sold/week.
Cost 10-20 cents so poorer people could go.
How did the cinema introduce more sexual content to society during the 1920s?
The cinema discovered the selling power of sex.
Theda Bara: first star to be sold on sex appeal in movies like Forbidden Path.
Clara Bow: the ‘It’ girl (it meant sex).
Rudolph Valentino: Appeared as a half-naked Arab prince in The Seik, 1921.
36 states threatened to introduce censorship.
Contraceptive advice was openly available for the first time and sex before marriage was more common.
How did the car change society during the 1920s?
Cars helped cities to grow suburbs; carried owners to entertainment; carried boyfriends+girlfriends away from the supervision of their parents; took Americans to sporting events, holidays, visits to family, shopping trips.
What impact did WWI have on women?
When the USA joined the war in 1917, women were dragged into war industries + industries where men were absent.
They gained experience in skilled factory work for the first time.
How did the vote, 1920, make an impact on women’s lives?
50% of the population is able to vote.
Politicians start to make politics favouring women in order to get that 50% of the population to vote. An example could be Eleanor Roosevelt (Roosevelt’s wife), who was involved in the League of Women voters + worked for better conditions for women voters.
How did housework change for women during the 1920s?
Domestic work consumed less time:
Fridge: only had to shop once a week, not every day.
Vacuum cleaners
Washing machine: could do other things while clothes were washing.
How did the car make an impact on women’s lives during the 1920s?
They could go anywhere; to work, with their boyfriends…
It is suspected that Henry Ford introduced a coloured variety in 1925 in order to attract the feminine market.
How did behaviour of women change during the 1920s?
Wore more daring clothes. Smoked, drank + kissed in public. Went out with men in cars, without a chaperone.
How did employment change women’s life during the 1920s?
Particularly middle-class women were employed, typically, on new industries. 10 million women had jobs by 1929. Due to increased acquisitive power, they were the particular target of advertising + seen as the ones who took decisions about what products to buy for the home. Jobs made them less economically dependent on their husbands: in 1929 there were 200,000 divorces.
How did the media change women lives?
New role models: Powerful, sexy women such as Theda Bara in The Forbidden Path or Clara Bow: the ‘it’ girl.
How far did women respond to the media during the 1920s?
Traditional, rural women opposed to these new values.
Although women saw this roles, we don’t know to what extent they followed this behaviour.
What were the limitations with women and employment in the 1920s?
Women were paid less than men: e.g. North Carolina coal mine, men were paid $18 while women $9.
Women were employed partly because they were cheaper.
What were the limitations with women and politics during the 1920s?
Although parties wanted women’s votes, they saw women candidates as ‘unelectable’. Although some women achieved great political power, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, few were dedicated to politics.
Number of immigrants in the USA from 1900 to 1910?
8.5 million.
What was the hierarchy of immigrants during the 1920s?
Irish, British, German Americans + French Canadians: had better jobs and housing.
Italian + Eastern European
African Americans + Mexicans.
What ‘caused’ Americans to intensify the ‘Red Scare’
1917: Communist Revolution in Russia
1919: 400,000 Americans went on strike (seen as communist interference)
Anarchist published posters calling for the overthrow of the govt.
April 1919: Milwaukee church bomb. 10 people killed.
May 1919: Try to kill US Attorney General, Mitchel Palmer.
What did Palmer do after the attempt of killing him in May 1919?
appointed J. Edgar Hoover to build up files on suspects. In 1919, 10,000 immigrants were deported.
This was unpopular so Palmer intensified the Red Scare, claiming that there would be a Red Revolution by 1920, in order to gain support.
no revolution happened and Secretary of Labour Louis post found that only 500 of Palmer’s files had evidence,
What happened with Sacco and Vanzetti?
Anarchists Italian Americans
1920: arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and murder.
The judge said: ‘although he may not actually commit the crime attributed to him, he is morally culpable because he is the enemy of our institutions’.
1917: Both were executed. Protests followed.
