Social And Cultural Developments (1920-1941) Flashcards
What areas did social change for women mainly occcur?
In urban and and educated areas
What individuals broke the traditional social restrictions in women roles?
• Frances Perkins: first female cabinet minister (1933)
• Mary bethane: campaign for African American women rights
• Eleanor Roosevelt: First Lady in white house
What was the image of the New women in America?
Young, socially liberated, not following traditions
Able to get jobs (shop assistant ) wear short skirts. Smoking in public
(Was reinforced by newspapers)
What was the flapper?
Adventurous young women in tune with trends and fashion
What opposition was there to the change in women’s roles in the US?
• flapper was Alian and distant role from traditional roles in women
• poor working class and women in rural areas maintained traditional values of loyal wife’s and mothers
why did prohibition fail?
-producing, importing , distributing alchohol taken over by US gangs
-increased production of homemade moonshine
-‘bootleggers’ & ‘speakeasies’ on the rise
-law enforcement workers on a small budget
-presidant Harding had own bar
-corrupt officials accept bribes
-Al Capone gained power (gang boss) who became glammorised
What success were there to enforcing prohibition?
(1924) burea of investigation set up
(1931) al Capone sentenced for tax evasion
(1932) corrupt New York mayor, jimmy walker, forced out of office
How did prohibition end?
(1933) beer-wine revenue act loosened restrictions on milder alcohol
(1933) 18th amendment voted down by congress meant it was repealed
What was the jazz age?
Mainly urban Revolution in US cultural through developments in:
-Music: jazz rose in popularity , originated from black slaves, popular with middle class youth, (IDV: duke Ellington)
-Cinema: silent cinema, talking pictures, music soundtracks. (1927) first sound film “the jazz singer”
-celebrity: promote by print & radio media, (IDV: Al Capone. Babe Ruth )
-leisure: ford & General Motors allows car ownership by ordinary people via mass production. Sports rise, babe Ruth baseballer & (1926) 145,000 attend to watch boxing match between jack dempley and gene turning. (1927) 33% all furniture spent on radio
-architecture: art deco design, Empire State Building New York
[intensified American dream]
Who opposed the new social values?
Rural and small towns, religion by churches, radio evangelists, political movement leaders like hue lang and KKK
What had ended the progressive movement?
, rise in consumerism and conformity
What was the social impact of the Great Depression?
Urban Americans experienced mass unemployment. Soup kitchens to avoid starvation, and jumped freight trains to find jobs
Rural Americans experienced negative affects of dust bowel= westward migration of “okies” (1 million) & banks seizing property for unpaid loans (1939 novel grapes of wrath popular book expressing issue of capitalism)
-state intervention created jobs and welfare and a rise in trade unions. Which restored state belief
How far did the Ku Klux Klan create social divisions in reaction to city vs countryside attitudes/beliefs (1920-1941)?
-(1920) had 4 million members
-were more modernized: Hiram Evan’s new imperial wizard
-public relations experts (Edgar yong Clark and elizebath Tyler) used aggressive marketing techniques = increasing membership
-klans newspaper “the fiery cross” spread their ideas against business , religions prejudicial nationwide (encourages racial superiority view of white native Protestants, which attracted poeple with economic tensions from competition)
-40,000 klansmen marched on Washington (1925)
-had monopoly of selling klan uniforms
-claimed to defend pioneer values of older America
Limits:
-David Stephenson was convicted of rape-damage their credibility of defenders of womanhood and moral purity and divided their leadership
-elizebath Tyler died (1924)= politicians disassociating with KKK
How does the ‘monkey’ trail demonstrate countryside vs city values/attitudes?
(1925) Tennessee passed the butler act which forbade teaching of theories challenging bibles versions of creation. John scopes taught evolution in class= trail
The scopes trail had Clarence Darrow [ liberal lawyer from Chicago ] defending scopes and William Jennings Bryan [ religious fundamentalist ] chief witness for prosecution
Scopes was convicted (not jailed) but Darrows sarcastic cross examination made Bryan seem old fashioned and muddled.
-national newspaper viewed Darrow as clear winner whilst Bryan fundamentalists supporters viewed it as Bryan being vindictived
How does the trail of Sacco and Vanzetti demonstrate countryside vs city values/attitudes?
Italian immigrant anarchists, Nicola Sacco and bartolomeo Vanzetti, were sentenced to death for murder following an armed robbery
-there was a lack of clear evidence causing intellectuals to denounce conviction as anti immigration prejudice (exp: by judges)= rise nationwide support for the Italians
-(1927) all appeals rejected & both were executed
