Chapter 11. Roaring Twenties

Table of Contents

Beginning the Journey
Once again the bulk of material within the American Journey Online pertaining to this era may be found within the "World War I and the Jazz Age" module.

Users wishing to locate information on the 1920s within that module are advised to begin with the "Key Topics," which contain several entries on the post-World War I period. In addition to providing an introduction to some of the events and important sources of the era, the "Key Topics" also highlight some of the historiographical issues within the literature on the 1920s. The "Years" function can also be helpful, as it allows users to scan developments during the decade by clicking on entries for different years. "World War I and the Jazz Age" also contains a fine selection of multimedia sources that provide some excellent audio and video clips of important events. Users would do well to try to sample as many of those sources as they can. (Many, but not all, are incorporated into the activities that follow.)

Materials on the 1920s may also be found in several other modules: "Women in America," "The African-American Experience," "The Immigrant Experience," and "Civil Rights." Scanning the "Years" and "Key Topics" for these modules provides an introduction to what they have to offer of relevance to the 1920s. Users wishing to determine whether a module contains information on a particular subject should use the "Index."

Many of the sources in these modules, and the majority of the activities that follow, focus on the dualistic nature of the 1920s--partly looking forward to and anticipating the modern future, partly looking backward to and trying to hang onto the traditional past.

Activity 1
As Americans retreated into "Normalcy" during the 1920s, they adopted a widespread fear of political radicalism. This fear began during World War I after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and continued during the postwar period with fears that political radicalism might make inroads in the United States.

To protect the nation, the federal government and important segments of society advanced an anti-radical agenda. This first Red Scare revealed the depths of American anti-radical sentiment during the early postwar period. As the formation of the American Civil Liberties Union during this period makes clear, it also demonstrated that some members of society were willing to condemn government actions when they went too far.

To explore the Red Scare of 1919-20, locate the following sources within "World War I and the Jazz Age": "Blaming Reds for 1919 Strikes" and "Ohio Criminal Syndicalism Law." (The first source may be located by going to "Contents," then "Multimedia," then select the title. The second may be located by going to "Contents," then "Regions," then "Midwest," then scroll down to the title.) Within "The Immigrant Experience" go also to "The Case Against the 'Reds.'" (One way to locate this document is to search for "Case Against Reds." The document is the only item the search returns.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. How does the video clip contained in the first source illustrate the popular fear of radicalism during the immediate post-World War I period? Would such a fear justify the activities depicted in the video? Why or why not?
2. How does the second source define "criminal syndicalism"? What activities does this crime encompass? What responsibilities do citizens have to prevent such activities by others? Can you see any problems in the way this law was written, particularly in the kinds of things it prohibited?
3. Does Attorney General Palmer's recounting in the third source of the depths of the Communist menace seem credible? Does the threat seem real? Is the United States as imperiled as Palmer suggests?
4. What solutions does Palmer suggest for removing the Communist menace in the United States? Does anything about his proposed solutions trouble you? If so, what? Do any of these solutions impinge on traditional American rights? If so, which ones?
5. Using the sources collectively, assess the post-World War I Red Scare. Was the hysteria it generated justified, based on the sources you have examined (and their accompanying commentaries)? What does the Red Scare say about the relative importance of perceived national security and traditional rights and constitutional principles? About the overall state of American thinking at war's end?

Activity 2
Running in tandem with the postwar Red Scare was a general feeling of nativism and anti-foreign sentiment throughout the United States during the 1920s. In an apparent reaction to the carnage instigated by Europeans during the war and the resentment that many Americans felt at the way their nation was "dragged" into the European conflict, xenophobia thrived throughout the 1920s as Americans retreated behind their borders and sought to isolate themselves from foreign dangers.

One very famous example of American xenophobia during the early 1920s involved the case of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, avowed anarchists who were tried for robbery and murder in 1921. The case gained international attention because the trial focused more on the pair's political beliefs than on actual physical evidence linking them to the crime. Sacco and Vanzetti were executed in 1927, but historians remain fascinated by their story and what it reveals about the depths of nativism and anti-radicalism during the 1920s.

Within "World War I and the Jazz Age," go to:

• "Sacco-Vanzetti Case Stirs Protest Around the World" (you may locate this source by going to "Contents," then "Multimedia," then click on the title)
• "Excerpt from Facing the Chair" (this document may be located by choosing its title from the list of related items that appears at the top of the preceding source)
• "Vanzetti's Last Statement" (one way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Authors," then "V," then "Vanzetti, Bartolomeo," then click on the title)
• "The Immigration Act of 1924" (this document may be located by going to "Contents," then "Years," then "1925," then click on the title).

Use these sources to answer the following questions.

1. How does the video clip in the first source reveal the depth of international opposition to the apparent "railroading" of Sacco and Vanzetti? Why do you believe that the case would have generated such intense international feeling? What does the international reaction suggest about the way other nations viewed the United States during the immediate postwar period? Was this view consistent with the way the nation wanted to be seen? Explain.
2. How does the second document view the Sacco and Vanzetti case? What does the author suggest that people do in response to it? Why was this appeal for action not likely to be widely acted upon?
3. What does the third source suggest not only about the guilt or innocence of the accused but also of the ultimate cost of their ordeal? How wide ranging were the effects of the case? How did it cost Sacco and Vanzetti more than simply their lives?
4. What method is proposed in the last source to limit immigration to the United States? Which groups would have the advantage under this system? Which would fare the worst? How can this measure be seen as a reaction to the Sacco and Vanzetti case? Would it have its intended purpose?
5. The Sacco and Vanzetti incident and the attendant drive for immigration restriction illustrate what historians have called the darker side of the 1920s. Explain your understanding of this dark side through reference to the sources you have examined here. How did this side of the 1920s fit in with American ideals and traditions? From what did it spring? How could it be reigned in, if at all?

Activity 3
One of the key characteristics of the decade of the 1920s was the rise of advertising through all sorts of media, but mostly in mass-circulation magazines. The general prosperity of the decade, combined with an increase in business production, meant that producers scrambled wildly for every possible consumer.

Once the good times of the 1920s gave way to the Depression of the 1930s, critics looked back on the advertising boom with a very critical eye. At the time, though, observers saw it as a benign sign of the nation's economic strength.

To explore some of the issues involved with the advertising rush of the 1920s, locate and study the following sources within the "World War I and the Jazz Age" module:

• "Mass Advertising in the 1920s" (one way to locate this document is to go to "Contents," then "Documents," then "M," then scroll down to the title)
• "Things Are in the Saddle" (this document may be selected from the list of related item that appears at the top of the preceding document)
• "The Significance of Advertising" (you may locate this document by going to "Contents," then "Authors," then "L," then "Lears, Jackson," then click on the title).

Use these documents to answer the following questions.

1. How does the author of the first document view advertising? What need(s) does it help to fulfill? How has it contributed to better lives for Americans, and especially for women? What features of contemporary society can be attributed to it?
2. Compare the way the author of the second document views consumerism and advertising with the views of the first author. What similarities and differences do you note?
3. Assess the second document's references to the Founding Fathers. Do you think the author is correct in speculating about how they would view the consumerism and materialism of the 1920s? Why or why not?
4. How does the third document, written from hindsight, view the advertising and consumerism of the 1920s? What explanations does it add to the mix for the popularity of advertising at the time?
5. Taking these sources together, what picture do they paint of the role of advertising in American society during the 1920s? How is advertising part of the complex picture of the 1920s?

Activity 4
As a decade, the 1920s have been remembered as a time of sexual experimentation, social freedom, and a rejection of old patterns of conventional morality. Historians have been fascinated with this aspect of the decade, and particularly with the role of women within it.

Several sources, both written and visual, within the American Journey Online explore the social and cultural changes that served as hallmarks of the decade.

Within "World War I and the Jazz Age," go to "Revolution in Manners and Morals." (This source may be located by going to "Contents," then "Authors," then "A," then "Allen, Frederick Lewis," then the title.) Within "Women in America," go to "A Caricature of 1920s Flapper" and "Spirit of the Twenties." (These images may be located by going to "Contents," then "Authors," then "Held, John, Jr.," then click on the titles.)

Use these sources to answer the following questions.

1. What does Frederick Lewis Allen in the first document point to as evidence of the Revolution in Manners and Morals? Note physical features as well as feelings and ideas.
2. What sorts of opposition does Allen note to the features of modern culture during the 1920s? Why did these changes generate such a reaction? What are the costs of the Revolution in Manners and Morals and why does Allen seem to question its wisdom?
3. How do the two images support the document about the image of youth, and especially women, during the 1920s? Why would these images have become such powerful symbols of the decade?

Now go to "The Charleston" within the same module. (You may select this source from the list of related items that appears at the top of the source from that module above.)

Use this source, along with those above, to answer the following questions.

4. What does the video add to the written and visual sources above? How does it convey a sense of 1920s culture? 5) After evaluating these sources, assess the Revolution in Manners and Morals of the 1920s. How extensive do the sources suggest the changes of the decade were? How far reaching and long term?

Activity 5
The decade of the 1920s witnessed a revitalization of the Ku Klux Klan, which had originally appeared in the former Confederacy after the Civil War. The original Klan terrorized African Americans. The new Klan of the 1920s expanded to include other groups in society that did not represent what Klan members considered to be "100 percent Americanism."

Several modules within the American Journey Online contain sources on the 1920s Klan. Exploring them provides a window into one of the most interesting--and troubling--features of the decade.

Within "The African-American Experience," go to:

• "The Present South" (this document may be located by going to "Contents," then "Documents," then "P," then scroll down to the title). Within "Civil Rights," locate:
• "Ku Klux Klan Convention in Kokomo, Indiana" (you may locate this image by going to "Index," then "K," then "Kokomo, Indiana," then click on the title)
• "NAACP Protests Lynching" (one way to locate this source is to go to "Contents," then "Images," then "N," then click on the title; be sure to play the accompanying audio). Within "World War I and the Jazz Age," go to:
• "Klan Marchers in Washington, DC" (you may locate this image by going to "Contents," then "Images," then "K," then click on the title)
• "Klanswomen in the 1920s" (one way to locate this source is to go to "Contents," then "Regions," then "South and Southwest," then click on the title)
• "Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s" (this source may be located by going to "Contents," then "Multimedia," then scroll down to the title).

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. What picture does the first source paint of the situation for African Americans in the south? What role does the Klan play in that picture? Why do African Americans seem to have no recourse when they are abused? What strategies for self-protection does the author of the document see African Americans finally beginning to adopt?
2. What do the images, taken together, tell you about the appeal of the Klan? Why does it seem that the Klan was so popular? What needs do the pictures suggest that it met for its members?
3. Of what offense do those terrorized by the Klan in the multimedia clip stand accused? (The clip is attached to "NAACP Protests Lynching.") Does this seem like a truly "punishable" crime? Why or why not? After rejecting violence as a strategy, what does the narrator's father decide to do? How successful is he? How representative do you think this clip is in presenting the way African Americans dealt with the Klan during the 1920s?
4. The last image dispels the myth that the Klan was a male-only organization. What might have compelled women to join the organization? How would doing so have been consistent with women's self-conception at the time? What does their membership say about the position of women in 1920s society?
5. How does the final source add to your understanding of the activities and popularity of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s? Which type of source explored in this activity--written, photographic, audio, or video--did you find most enlightening? Why?

Activity 6
The decade of the 1920s saw a flowering of African-American cultural achievements. Poets, writers, playwrights, artists, sculptors, composers, and others celebrated black American culture as never before in a movement dubbed the Harlem Renaissance.

The American Journey Online contains many sources that deal with the Harlem Renaissance, including several excellent examples of Renaissance works.

Within "World War I and the Jazz Age" go to:

• "The New Negro" by Alain Locke
• "The Negro Digs Up His Past" by Arthur Schomburg
• "I Too" by Langston Hughes. These documents may be located by going to "Contents," then "Authors," then "L, S, or H," then the appropriate author's name, then the individual title. Within "The African-American Experience," locate:
• "Gift of the Black Tropics"
• "The Negro Mind Reaches Out" (be sure to play the audio).

Both of these documents may be located by going to "Index," then "H," then "Harlem Renaissance," then click on the titles.

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. How do Alain Locke and Arthur Schomburg describe the Harlem Renaissance? What are its guiding principles? What are its goals? Why is it important?
2. How does the poem by Langston Hughes reflect the Harlem Renaissance writ large? What message(s) does it convey? How does it reflect 1920s African-American thinking?
3. What do the documents by W. A. Domingo and W. E. B. Du Bois suggest about the way African Americans viewed people of color generally during the 1920s? With how they understood their own position within the global community?
4. What shaped African-Americans' thinking on associating and allying with other blacks in America? How did the strategy of Pan-Africanism develop during these years, according to these two documents? With what results?
5. Considering these sources collectively, assess the Harlem Renaissance. Do these sources suggest the historical controversy over its efficacy and effectiveness? Do they suggest any tensions over the Renaissance within the black community? If so, over what?

Activity 7
Although the United States during the 1920s enjoyed a generally high level of prosperity, farmers and the agricultural sector in general did not share in that prosperity. Many of the problems that had plagued earlier generations of farmers, especially overproduction and low prices, remained problems during the 1920s. (For the 1920s farm crisis, as well as other economic problems of the decade, see the Key Topic "The Underside of Prosperity" within the module "World War I and the Jazz Age."

To help ease farmers' economic problems, farm supporters during the 1920s called for direct government intervention on their behalf in the form of farm subsidy programs. The debate over this measure, which was eventually vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge, illustrates the continuing struggle over the appropriate responsibilities of the federal government. The farm crisis in general also makes clear that some segments of the economy were weak amid general prosperity.

Within the above module, locate "Recent Trends in Rural Life," "Excerpt from Born in the Country," "The McNary-Haugen Bill of 1927," and "Veto of the McNary-Haugen Bill." (All of the documents may be located by going to "Index," then "F," then "Farms," then click on the individual titles).

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. To what factors do the first two documents attribute the problems facing farmers during the 1920s? Which of these factors seem most important?
2. What solutions do the first two documents advance for improving the lot of American farmers? How realistic are these solutions? Are some more likely to succeed than others? If so, which ones?
3. Outline the basic provisions of the McNary-Haugen Bill. How precisely would it help farmers, and which farmers specifically? How would it amount to a change in governmental policy? What new powers or responsibilities would it give the federal government?
4. According to President Coolidge's veto message, what flaws or shortcomings does he see in the McNary-Haugen Bill? Which of the bill's provisions does he view as most problematic? Explain your answer with reference to the document.
5. How can historians place the specific case of McNary-Haugenism during the 1920s within the general struggle to define the legitimate responsibilities of government to its citizens? What are the essential issues on each side? Which side in the debate about farm policy do you think makes the better case--supporters of the McNary-Haugen Bill or President Coolidge? Why?

Activity 8
American writers during the 1920s struggled to define themselves and their country through their writings. World War I had a profound effect on writers, as it did on other artists as well, generating various critiques of the American literary tradition and American society in general.

Many famous fictional works written during the 1920s, such as Babbit, The Great Gatsby, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, expressed disillusionment and angst. But writers during the 1920s also expressed their feelings in essays about writing and American literature. Exploring these writings helps to reveal how writers themselves viewed not only their craft but also American society as a whole during the 1920s.

Within "World War I and the Jazz Age," go to "Excerpt from These Wild Young People," "The Literary Life," and "The American Fear of Literature." (All three of these documents may be located by going to "Index," then "L," then "Lost Generation," then click on each title.)

Use the documents to answer the following questions.

1. What differences does the author of the first document note between older American culture and society and the post-World War I conditions of his generation? What have older generations bequeathed to young Americans in the 1920s? What are the consequences of this inheritance?
2. What criticisms does Van Wyck Brooks offer of American culture (or the lack of it) in the second source? Why is he so worried about the state of American culture? What solutions does he see to the problems he notes?
3. What complaints does Sinclair Lewis make against American literature tastes during the 1920s? Why does he criticize the sorts of things American prefer to read? Why does he believe they are afraid of other kinds of writing?
4. What effects on American literature do these three documents attribute to World War I? How are American writers dealing with the effects of the war, according to these authors?
5. All of these documents address in some fashion or another the need to create and refine a distinct American literary tradition. What does each author have to say on this issue? Why is such a tradition important? How did the quest for it provide one defining feature of the 1920s?

Activity 9
The 1920s were a decade of great popular interest in sports and sports personalities. Americans followed games avidly, getting caught up as well in numerous sports-related scandals and controversies during the decade.

Historians have studied the 1920s fascination with sports heroes and other personalities, speculating about what that fascination said about society at the time. Exploring these questions within the American Journey Online can help to provide a fuller picture of the many sides of the decade.

Within "World War I and the Jazz Age," go to "Sports Heroes" and "Lindbergh's Welcome Home in New York City." (The first source may be located by going to "Contents," then "Documents," then "S," then scroll down to the title. The second may be located by going to "Contents," then "Multimedia," then scroll down to the title.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. What made Americans in the 1920s so susceptible to the cult of sports heroes or personalities? Why did they become so caught up in sports events and accomplishments?
2. What needs did sports heroes and other celebrities fill for the American public during the 1920s? Why had Americans of earlier generations not needed such kinds of outside affirmation or adulation?
3. How does morality enter into the reverence for sports heroes during the 1920s? What standards are athletes expected to live up to? What does the public think of sports figures who engage in morally questionable behavior or who fail to measure up in some other way?
4. How does the public reception of Charles Lindbergh in New York support the ideas expressed in the document? Why was Lindbergh so cheered by the American people? How did they view him, and his accomplishment?
5. What does the popularity of sports heroes and other celebrities say about the character of American society during the 1920s? About the state of individuals' lives? About what Americans considered important?

Activity 0
One of the most enduring symbols of the dualistic character of the 1920s was the Scopes Trial of 1925.

Ostensibly at issue were allegations that a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, had violated a prohibition against the teaching of evolution in public schools by reading from a Darwinian text. In truth, the real issues at stake involved the emergence of modernism, science, and atheism in American society.

The trial pitted two well-known icons against each other: William Jennings Bryan argued for the prosecution and championed the side of Fundamentalism; Clarence Darrow headed the defense and supported evolution and modern society.

Within "World War I and the Jazz Age," locate "Excerpt from Undelivered Address in the Scopes Trial" and "The Scopes Trial" (multimedia). (Both sources may be located by going to "Contents," then "Years," then "1925," then click on each title.)

Use the sources to answer the following questions.

1. How does Bryan's undelivered speech relate to the question of government responsibility? What specifically does he believe the states have a right--and a responsibility--to do?
2. How does Bryan defend Tennessee's statute regarding the teaching of evolution in public schools? Does his reasoning seem logical? Is it persuasive?
3. What problems does Bryan--and by extension those who share his feelings--have with the theory of evolution? Are these objections sustainable? What do they reveal about the issues at the heart of the Scopes Trial?
4. What impressions of the trial are provided in the newsreel footage? What does the atmosphere remind you of? How did the public seem to receive the trial? Why do you suppose people were so fascinated by it?
5. Historians have studied with Scopes Trial as a symbol of the dual nature of the 1920s--part traditional society, part modern society. How do you note both elements in the sources above? How do they illustrate the underlying tensions that existed in American society during the decade? How do the struggles in the trial continue in American society even today?