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The Flapper and Women's Changing Roles
After many years of fighting for the women's right to vote, the 19th amendment was finally passed in 1920, the year where women's roles in society and the workplace started changing. The amount of clerking jobs began to increase bringing many more women into the workforce into such fields as phone operators and department store clerks. Additionally the amount of women attending college raised by 10% and African American women experienced less oppression and better lives than before due to the harlem renaissance. Outside of work, in their social lives, women really strayed from their traditional roles and women nicknamed “flappers” began to take the social scene by storm. With the passing of the 19th amendment, women sought to eliminate a lot of the social double standards that they faced. Because of this women became more adventurous and rebellious by wearing shorter, less formal clothes, having shorter hair and explored their new personal freedoms. This new kind of woman engaged in the active city life, attending jazz clubs and speakeasies where women began to engage in the illegal drinking of alcohol with the same careless attitude as men. Women also began to smoke, which was an activity previously only reserved for men. The 1920’s were an exciting and empowering time for women, bringing them closer to being equal to men, but they still faced some hurdles to overcome to be truly equal in all ways to men.
Here, viewers see a typical flapper, likely in the midst of a social atmosphere holding attention through an extravagant performance.
Henry Ford
In the early 20th century, Henry Ford revolutionized the car manufacturing process along with the car ownership process. With the debut of the Model T the world was introduced to the first car that could be purchased by the everyday man. Ford's new car cost $300 dollars at the time, dramatically lower than any other car of the time. This brought personal transportation to the masses giving people the freedom to go wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Henry ford also brought huge changes to manufacturing and labor forces. The most significant being the invention of the assembly line to keep up with production. This practice made manufacturing extremely allowing for minimal time with maximum result and profit and many other manufacturer adopted this practice. Additionally henry ford paid his workers a record high 5 dollars an hour and gave them a Five-day, 40-hour work week, bringing up the standard of living for his workers and allowed for them to buy a car. These innovations in eventually spread throughout most of the manufacturing community and improved conditions for the workers in the plants. Henry ford changed the average american the personal freedom to go where ever they want as well as directly and indirectly improving the life of the third class.
The Ford Model A, produced from the 1920's to the 1930's and successor to the Ford Model T.
Prohibition and Organized Crime
The 18th Amendment, added to the U.S. Constitution in 1918, prohibited the production, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages for consumption. During the time at which this amendment was added, WWI was occurring. This ban on alcohol was an effort made to “divert the ingredients used in the production of alcohol to more important purposes in support of the war effort, although it was also touted as promoting the morals of U.S. soldiers” (The Eighteenth). Because of this amendment, hundreds of businesses went out of business, resulting with thousands of workers losing their job. Though there were negative outcomes of this amendment, temperance advocates were satisfied because their hopes had come true. Due to the lack of availability alcohol had, drinking rates dropped by 30 percent (The Eighteenth). Soon, organized crime came into play, making the national drinking rate bounce back to pre-Prohibition levels. Organized crime, according to yourdictionary.com, is illegal behavior that is planned and carried out by groups of people in a very systematic fashion. Bootlegging that occurred, which is the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor, resulted in the import of millions of gallons of alcohol across the Canadian and Mexican borders. “Criminal gangs then took over the distribution process, moving illegal liquor across the country to the uncounted thousands of speakeasies, or secret drinking establishments that existed in practically every American town and city” (The Eighteenth). Eventually, the 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933.
Many were upset about the bans on alcohol, leading to protests by many. The issue was solved for some when they attended clubs that illegally served alcohol called speakeasies.
Fundamentalism and the Scopes Trial
Fundamentalism, defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary, is as follows: “A movement in 20th century Protestantism emphasizing the literally interpreted Bible as fundamental to Christian life and teaching.” John Scopes was a substitute teacher at Rhea County High School in Tennessee. In 1925, Scopes was assigned to teach a class, and it ended up becoming a huge and revolutionary legal case challenging the Butler Act. The Butler Act was a law put in place in Tennessee that made it illegal for the theory of evolution to be taught in publicly funded schools, and that only the Biblical creation of man can be exposed to students. This trial represented social conflicts occurring during the 1920’s and the battle between those who wanted a more modern society, and those who opposed change. While this court case did not throw itself in favor of Scopes, it opened the eyes of many to the laws of public education and the restriction of his free speech. This is particularly important in an era nicknamed “The Roaring Twenties” because of its modernness and new outlooks on society.
T. T. Martin, an anti-evolution activist, rents a book store outside of the scopes trial to promote is many books fighting against evolution.
Radio and Jazz Music
In the South, specifically New Orleans, Louisiana, there was a plethora of jazz musicians. After World War I, many of these musicians migrated to the North, spreading jazz as they went. The Jazz Age is referred to as a time between the end of World War I and before the stock market crashed in 1929. Within this time, new styles of music and danced emerged. Jazz music was a hit throughout the Roaring Twenties, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Chick Webb being some of the main stars during this time. Prohibition relates to jazz music because at illegal nightclubs where alcohol was sold, being illegal due to prohibition, jazz music was played, making it even more popular. Also, jazz music relates to the “flappers” of this time because jazz music led people to rebel against traditional cultures and previous generations, which went hand-in-hand with the flamboyant fashion statements flappers made at this time. Also, women had gained many more opportunities, specifically with their social lives and jobs. Many female artists emerged during this time as well. Additionally, “African-American Jazz was played more frequently on urban radio stations than on its suburban counterparts” (Boundless). Along with the music, African-Americans developed dances such as the Charleston that became very popular during this time. Overall, jazz music impacted American culture and is still a popular music genre to this day.
The King & Carter Jazzing Orchestra- popular jazz band during the Jazz Age. Picture from 1921.
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance refers to the state in which the United States had experienced a larger prominence of African American culture and philosophies. The culture primarily originates from the significant development and popularity of jazz and blues music beginning to take place. The philosophies mainly derive from the more and more published works beginning to radiate the American atmosphere about African American racism and the struggles that accompany it. The title comes from the fact that during The Great Migration (Which occurred from the 1910s to the 1920s), over one million African Americans migrated from the South to the North in search of a better life now that new labor opportunities had emerged. A significant portion of those migrants ended up settling in Harlem, New York, as well as living amongst migrants from the Caribbean Islands too. The diversity that had began to take place amongst this African American population suddenly evolved into an advancement of culture, with up and coming African American poets, singers, actors, and musicians displaying the struggles of earning their names in a racial community. Many citizens in the United States had found themselves altering their ideologies about racism after witnessing this renaissance, earning it the title of a social and political movement as well. Overall, The Harlem Renaissance was an American movement working to embrace the experiences, both good and bad, of African American lives while also pushing towards a narrowed gap between races through the use of culture and ethics.
Louis Armstrong, Harlem Renaissance icon (Perhaps recognized by his famous song, What a Wonderful World), displayed playing his trumpet which was his primary instrument.
The Lost Generation
The Lost Generation refers to a group of notorious writers in the era particularly after World War I, where at least one of each of their works was inspired by the dislike of the cultural reactions of the American people in response to the war. According to the U.S History in Context, “The influence of T. S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein, as well as encouragement of editors and publishers of magazines such as Dial, Little Review, transition, and Broom, were significant in the development of their writings.” The above statement conveys how a few other of their influences also descended from works already published at the time, helping to shape the image each one of these writers of The Lost Generation wanted to portray. Although the name of The Lost Generation may be misleading, the group of authors were some of the most innovative and brightest of their time. Their name was not drawn from the quality of the work, but in fact from Gertrude Stein’s comments about how their generation was injured due to their coming of age taking place during the war. They believed that the war had caused them to adapt different views than the older generations, helping shape The Roaring Twenties and the more modern society. Many common themes are carried out through the writings of the Authors in The Lost Generation, especially F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. These themes include, but are not limited to the collapse of the American Dream, extreme wealth and gender roles.
Ernest Hemingway with his wife and others, prominent members and factors in The Lost Generation.