Changing way of life
- 1. Changing Way of Life
- 2. Rural and Urban Differences • US changes from RURAL to Urban • By 1920 51% of Americans lived in Towns or Cities • New challenges between secular urban societies and traditional rural societies.
- 3. New Urban Scene • New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia all have populations greater than 1 million.
- 4. Prohibition • Clash between the secular and the moral traditional. • 18th Amendment – Manufacture, Sale, and Transportation of Alcohol was illegal. • Advocates believed drinking led to abuse, crime, accidents, and other social conditions. • Volstead Act (1919) established the Prohibition Bureau in the Treasury Department. • Only 1500 officers responsible for entire country.
- 5. Opposition to Prohibition • Alcohol ingrained in American culture • Immigrants don’t believe that it is a sin to drink. • Many hidden saloons – Speakeasies • Bootleggers bring in large quantities of alcohol.
- 6. Organized Crime • Every major city had organized crime to “regulate” the production and distribution of alcohol. • Gangs would often go to war over the territory that they could sell alcohol.
- 7. End of Prohibition • By the mid 1920s, prohibition had minimal support in the US. • Prohibition ends with the passage of the 21st Amendment in 1933.
- 8. Science and Religion Clash • The traditional and modern clashed over the validity of scientific discovery. • Fundamentalism – a protestant movement grounded in the literal interpretation of the bible.
- 9. Scopes Trial • Biology Teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching evolution. • ACLU hires Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes. • Nick named “The Monkey Trial” • Found guilty and fined $100 • Overturned
- 11. The 1920s…. • With clashes over evolution, the Prohibition experiment, and the emerging urban scene all were evidence of the changes and conflict occurring during the 1920s. • During that period, women also experienced conflict as they redefined their roles and persued new lifestyles.