THE ROARING LIFE OF THE 1920SChanging Ways of Life
RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCESThe 1920 census showed that for the first time, more people lived in cities than in rural areas
RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCESCities were places of change and excitementRural areas remained conservative and
traditionalUrban culture was based on popular tastes,
morals and habits of mass consumption that were increasingly at odds with the strict religious and moral codes of rural America
RURAL AND URBAN DIFFERENCESCity dwellers drank, read about new scientific discoveries and debated social ideas
Small town dwellers were shocked by the behavior in the cities and frightened of so many people who were strangers
PROHIBITIONThe prohibitionists had been fighting to end liquor since the early 1800s
In Jan 1920, the 18th Amendment outlawed the buying, selling, making and using alcohol
PROHIBITION This did not mean that Americans stopped
drinking Speakeasies, bars who served patrons who
knew the secret code, opened Other made homemade liquor, bathtub gin. Some were deadly concoctions
BOOTLEGGERSOthers found that they could make a lot of money by providing illegal liquor to speakeasies
Al Capone was one of many gangsters who smuggled liquor from Canada to Chicago
He was arrested only for tax evasion
PROHIBITIONA secret knock or word allowed entrance into liquor clubs
If police arrived, they would leave through a secret exit
Twenty-three skidoo
PROHIBITIONDifferent mobs fought over territory
Gun battles ensued
Ironically, 81% of America opposed Prohibition
SCIENCE AND RELIGION
Dominant social and political issues of the 1920s expressed sharp divisions in US society between young and old; urban modernists and rural fundamentalists; prohibitionists and anti-prohibitionists; nativists and foreign born
SCIENCE AND RELIGIONThe Protestant movement in rural areas was fundamentalism
Fundamentalists believe in the literal meaning of every word in the Bible
Numerous preachers took to the road and radio to preach the “good book”
RELIGIONWhile there were always rifts between the individual religions, the 1920s saw rifts between ProtestantsModernismFundamentalismRevivalists on the radio
RELIGION - MODERNISMLarge numbers of Protestants changed
their views of religion because of the changing roles of women, the Social Gospel, and scientific knowledge
They took an historical and critical view of the Bible
They believed evolution did not conflict with creationism
RELIGION – FUNDAMENTALISM
Preachers in rural areas taught every word of the Bible as literal fact
Fundamentalists believed that God created the universe in 7 days and Genesis explained the origin of life
They believed that liberals caused the moral decay of society
RELIGION – REVIVALISTS Revivalists in the past traveled the region to spread their word
Now they used the radioBilly Sunday – attacked
drinking, gambling and dancing
Aimee Semple McPherson – condemned communism and jazz
RELIGION – REVIVALISTS Sunday was a professional baseball player until he found religion
He gave up the sport and spend the rest of his life opposing alcohol
RELIGION – REVIVALISTS McPherson – using the automobile and radio, her flock totaled 2 million
She is remembered more for the scandal, than her religious convictions
She disappeared in 1926 and then claimed she was kidnapped
RELIGION – REVIVALISTS Her radio producer disappeared at the same time and she was sighted at a resort in Mexico
When she returned, she was more popular than ever
She was widowed once and divorced twice
SCIENCE - EVOLUTION Charles Darwin’s book, Origin of the Species” taught people about evolution among plants and animals
That idea carried over to human evolution
SCIENCE - EVOLUTION Some states, like TN, made it illegal
to teach evolution because it was anti-religious teachings
High school biology teacher, John Scopes, was arrested before he could teach his planned lesson on evolution
SCOPES TRIAL Scopes was defended by Clarence Darrow, a famous trial lawyer from Chicago
The prosecutor was William Jennings Bryan, a devout fundamentalist
John Scopes
SCOPES TRIAL Darrow put the Bible on trial and called Bryan as an expert on the Bible
Bryan looked old- fashioned, feeble and naïve
Darrow was sophisticated and smooth Darrow Bryan
SCOPES TRIAL Darrow asked about the age of earth
Bryan replied that he was more interested in the rock of ages than the age of rocks
He believed that creation occurred in 4004 BC
SCOPES TRIAL When asked if the world was created in 7 24-hour days, Bryan admitted that there may be some flexibility in the actual 24 hour time period
Scopes was found guilty and fined $100