CHAPTER 23

The Age of Jazz and Mass Culture

1921 – 1927

“No Congress of the United States, ever assembled, on surveying the state of the Union has met with a more pleasing prospect than that which appears at the present time. . . . The great wealth created by our enterprise and industry and saved

by our economy has had the widest distribution among our own people and has gone out in a steady stream to serve the

charity and the business of the world. The requirements of existence have gone beyond the standard of necessity into the region of luxury. . . . The country can regard the present with

satisfaction and anticipate the future with optimism.President Calvin Coolidge, his last state of the union address in

December of 1928

Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of

the communication.” Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore, The Medium Is the

Massage, 1967

“Never argue with someone who purchases ink by the barrel.”

Mark Twain

“Silence is sometimes a disgrace.” Yevgeny Yevtushenko, August 22, 1968

Bibliography

Joan Hoff Wilson, American Business and Foreign Policy [1971] and Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive [1975]

Robert Lynd and Helen Lynd, Middletown [1929] Roderick Nash, The Nervous Generation: American Thought, 1917 –

1930 [1970] George Mowry (editor), The Twenties: Fords, Flappers & Fanatics

[1963] Paula Fass, The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the

1920s [1977] Charles A. Fecher (editor), The Diary of H.L. Mencken [1989] Clinton Rossiter & James Lare, The Essential Lippmann [1982]

Chapter Review

Describe in general terms the social attitudes of post-World War I America. [11 points]

Name some of the technological developments that shaped society and the economy in the postwar period.

Describe the presidential styles and administrations of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

Explain the contributions of the artists in music, literature, art, and film who contributed to the cultural explosion of the 1920s.

Describe the effect of prohibition on the social and cultural makeup of the United States.

Describe the expanding roles of women in the 1920s.

Concepts

Roderick Nash, The Nervous Generation: American Thought, 1917 – 1930Harlem Renaissance, Great MigrationJazz Age: Louis Armstrong League of Women VotersCharles LindberghMultinational corporationsNational Origins Act of 1924Open shop, closed shop, agency shop, yellow-dog contractsSacco and VanzettiScopes “Monkey” TrialSheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy ActWelfare Capitalism 1927 -- Charles Lindbergh to Paris, Babe hits 60 home runsCharlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, "Dream factory“Walter Lippmann’s “manufacturing consent” Upton Sinclair, The Jungle [1906] Democrat [Socialist] Candidate for CA

Governor in 1934Henry Ford – symbol of the 1920s

Klanswomen

Indiana Klanswomen pose in their regalia in 1924. The Klan combined appeals to traditional family and religious values with violent attacks upon these who were not white native-born Protestants. Getty Image Inc./Image Bank

Scopes Trial

The packed courtroom for the Scopes Trial in 1925 illustrates the intense interest that Americans have persistently taken in conflicts stemming from differing cultural values and ethical visions. Getty Images Inc.

Scopes Monkey Trial

Clarence Darrow stands behind a cluttered table in a crowded courtroom during the trial of John Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925. Library of Congress

Advertising

Advertisements for brand-name products, like this 1929 ad for Campbell’s tomato soup, often tried to link simple consumption with larger issues of personal success and achievement. By permission of Campbell Soup Company

Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge

Presidential candidate Harding and vice-presidential candidate Coolidge portrayed with American flags in a 1920 campaign poster. Library of Congress

Amos ‘n’ Andy

Ford Model T

A Ford automobile assembly line with several unfinished automobile frames. Library of Congress

I. The Aftermath of War

As urbanization increases, immigration continues to cause fears

Ku Klux Klan targets blacks and new immigrants Blacks become more assertive and militant Marcus Garvey tries to unify blacks Prohibition fails to cure society’s ills but does give rise to

gangsters and lawlessness

II. Harding as President

Senate ratifies Treaty of Versailles without joining League of Nations

Washington Naval Conference shows America’s new status as a world power

III. The New Economy

Automobiles, electricity and the radio bring tremendous changes to lives of ordinary Americans

Advertising becomes big business as consumerism grows As some members of society prosper, farmers are left

behind Harding’s administration soon becomes linked to

numerous scandals, and Harding dies unexpectedly Calvin Coolidge becomes president and proves himself

better at the job than Harding

Election of 1924

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IV. A Blossoming in Art and Literature

Harlem Renaissance brings flowering of black culture to both blacks and whites

Jazz becomes an original American art form, and writers develop new American style

Other forms of artistic expression change the look of America

V. Fundamentalism and Traditional Values

The Klan declines in influence, but the Sacco and Vanzetti case shows discrimination still abundant

Religious fundamentalism emerges and contributes to Scopes trial over teaching of evolution

Some begin to call for repeal of Prohibition Lives of young people change, as they become more

independent and better educated Sports figures become icons, as baseball and boxing

grow in popularity “Babe” Ruth helps make baseball America’s national sport

VI. New Roles for Women

With right to vote, women get involved in politics and call for an Equal Rights Amendment

Younger women enjoy fruits of their elders’ labor, unconcerned about its costs

Women continue to enter work force in larger numbers but are welcomed to only a few occupations, and usually only until they marry

VII. Coolidge in the White House

Coolidge grows business, cuts taxes, and increases America’s foreign involvement

Mexico and Nicaragua cause tensions Americans become involved in international affairs through

loans and investments

VIII. 1927: The Year of the Decade

Charles Lindbergh makes transatlantic flight from New York to Paris

Sports and movies captivate America Sacco and Vanzetti are executed after years of trials Coolidge chooses not to run for re-election