Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Dynamic Decade

By 1920, for the first time most Americans didn't live in the country but in urban areas


Women
- Found work in the cities, but tended to cluster in low paying jobs such as clerk and typist
- Margret Sanger led an organized birth control movement
- Alice Paul's National Women's party began in 1923 to compaign for an Equal Rights Amendment


Modernists thought that God was a "good guy" and that the universe was a pretty nice place

Some churches tried to fight the devil with advertising and movies

The chimes had "struck sex o'clock in America"
- Sexual allure used to advertise everything
- "Flappers" were girls that were no longer nearly as modest, asserting their independence
- New one-piece bathing suit


Freud claimed that sexual repression was often responsible for ill health
- Teenagers jazz danced together
- A kiss no longer equaled a marriage proposal

Jazz Music
- Blacks like W. C. Handy, "Jelly Roll" Morton, and Joseph "Joe" King Oliver gave birth to jazz
- The entertainment industry gave birth to all white bands like Paul Whiteman's


Harlem, one of the largest black communities in America, brought forth poet Langston Hughes and political leader Marcus Garvey


Marcus Garvey
- founded the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) to promote the resettlement of blacks in Africa
- Sponsored stores and other businesses to keep black dollars in black pockets
- Convicted in 1927 for mail fraud
- Set an example for the later Nation of Islam (Black Muslim) movement

13 comments:

  1. Excellent post about an.... interesting era in history! Now we know what to blame for everything that's wrong with our culture today!

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  2. OMG! Ca c'est le premier blog que j'ai lu! Bravo! J'aimerais bien ci tu nous joues de jazz le prochaine class! Merci pour les informationes!

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  3. I have a feeling that this topic could have gotten out of hand in the hands of certain other bloggers...but I think that you handled it quite well, Maria. Anyway, I found your post both interesting and informative, and I will certainly remember these aspects of the Roarin' 20s.

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  4. Thank you! I honestly had no idea what a flapper was and now I know, and it makes total sense to me now coming from that era. Also, I find it interesting that Freud tried to defend this new kind of behavior. He must have been a staunch believer in what he preached.

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  5. Oh Maria, I wish I had this section. I suppose I am one of those bloggers who would have taken this section out of hand. I really thought this was interesting, these changes and all. I thought it was funny how the book kept on making innuendos. They are always so much fun! I like how it said that people were afraid of teenagers being alone in the new cars. So true.... Thanks!

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  6. I never knew about Alice Paul's movement, or even Marcus Garvey before. And I always thought the bathing suits existed way before the Roaring Twenties. Interesting!

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  7. Reine- Marie, Aqui en EEUU, hablamos ingles. No hablamos frances. En France, hablan Frances. Por favor, hable en ingles. Gracias.

    maria, i enjoyed your blog post. The information was arranged so that I did not feel that I was having to kreep my eyes on the screen. Good Job.

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  8. This is America where we speak American. Roll Tide.

    Maria, very interesting and informative. you had a ton of information on your post, and that is awesome! thanks

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  9. So we can thank this era not only for our consumerist mindset, but also the wild behavior at school dances! Thank you, 20's!

    I thought the religious movies was pretty funny. VeggieTales!

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  10. Nice post Maria. this was the most interesting section in the book to say the least. This led to innovations in pop culture, modeling, greater rights for women, and jazz. Though politically corrupt, the pop culture that emerged was revolutionary. Nice post.

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  11. My comment diappeared. Anyway I enjoy the fact that girls don't always wear baggy dresses, although it can get kind of bad in modern times.

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  12. Jorgito. Tu necesitas pagar atencion a que tu estas deciendo. Y gracias Jorgito, nosotris hablamos ingles aqui en los Estados Unidos. No hablamos frances. And Joe, here in America we do speak english and we win. Kind of like National Championships. WAREAGLE.

    Maria, great post. It was an interesting section to say the least and you had lots of info. Like Brent said, I though it was interesting that Freud was defending, justifying, and condoning that kind of behavior. Great post.

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  13. J'adore tous les orignals en toute la monde!

    Anywho, good post! Like Matthew said, you handled it better than most would. By the way- "[teenagers] jazz danced together"... is that what you crazy kids are calling it these days?

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