Chapter 2: Social and cultural developments in 1920s America

Question 1

What was the Roaring Twenties?

Answer 1

• A time of great social and cultural change

- It was a decade of having fun and enjoying loud music, wild parties and new forms entertainment

Question 2

What was jazz music during the 1920’s?

Answer 2

• Originated in Southern states of America among African-Americans and spread North as they sought jobs in the northern states
• Known for improvisation and lively rhythms
• Appealed to the young, both black and white, and soon became the most popular musical style in dancehalls and clubs
• Some people, especially the older generation. They thought it was too sexual

Question 3

What was the cinema in the 1920’s?

Answer 3

• Major movie companies built studios in Hollywood
• Weekly audience grew from 35 million in 1919 to 100 million in 1930
• Charlie Chaplin, Clara Bow became household names at this time
• By 1929, Hollywood film studios were 500 films a year giving employment to thousands and entertainment to millions
• Older Americans worried about the sexual contact of some films and the impacts it had on the younger generation

Question 4

How did Women carry themselves before the First World War?

Answer 4

• Led restricted lives and could not vote
• Middle class women were expected to behave politely at all times and wear sensible clothing. (Little makeup)
• Relationships with men were strictly controlled
• Poorer women had to settle for low paying jobs, low skilled factory work, without the possibility of a promotion

Question 5

How did women carry themselves during the First World War?

Answer 5

• Took over the jobs of the men that went off to war
• They worked as hard as the men and the the money they earned gave them a sense of independence
• They were given the right to vote in 1920 partly due to their war work

Question 6

How did the lives of women, with their newly attained independence, change after the war?

Answer 6

• More women lived on their own
• Some women behaved and dressed differently (smoking,wearing revealing clothes etc)
• Having sex before marriage
• Less likely to stay in an unhappy relationship

Question 7

What was a flapper?

Answer 7

-Middle class women from the Northern states
-Went to nightclubs with men until early hours of the morning (smoke drank etc)
-Their liberal actions shocked traditional members of society who saw flappers as the evils of modern life.
The Anti-flirt league was set up in protest against the flapper’s behaviour

Question 8

Did life change for all American women?

Answer 8

• No. For most life went on as before./
• Women worked and raised their family and did not have enough income to buy luxuries.
• Despite getting the vote, women were still not equal to men and were paid less for the same job