Chapter 25 The Modern Temper

Prohibition

18th Amendment ..., the period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment.

Modernism

1914-1945 - WWI destruction caused spirituality of man to go down. A cultural movement embracing human empowerment and rejecting traditionalism as outdated. An art movement characterized by the deliberate departure from tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression that distinguish many styles in the arts and literature. This genre of art and literature made a self-conscious break with the past.

Nativism

A movement against immigration by white American-born Protestants After the war, immigration was revived. Over a million foreigners came into the country between 1919 and 1921. Workers again feared for their jobs. Isolationists wanted only minimal contact with Europe and many believed the immigration ranks were filled with undesirable radicals. The belief was that anyone who was not white, of English ancestry, and Protestant was not to be trusted. Ethnic discrimination and religious discrimination all were used to justify behaviors that would not be tolerated today.

Clarence Darrow

A noted defense lawyer for radical and lost causes, was John Scopes' defense attorney in the "monkey trial" in 1924. His defense rested on exposing the childlike faith and naïve ignorance of religious fundamentalists like William Jennings Bryan.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti

A shoemaker and a fish peddler who were part of the most celebrated criminal case in the 1920s. They stole from a shoe factory and killed the paymaster and guard.

Immigration Act of 1924

Act passed by Congress that restricted European arrivals each year to 2% of the total number of each nationality represented in the 1890 census, which included fewer of the "new" immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. These new quotas tilted the balance in favor of immigrants from northern and western Europe, who were assigned about 85% of the total. It excluded people from East Asia. The end result of this legislation was a great influx of immigrants from the Western Hemisphere which substantially increased the number of Hispanic and Catholic immigrants. Soon the people of Latin America became the fastest growing ethnic minority in the U.S.

John T. Scopes/Scopes Trial or the Trial of the Century/Outcome of Scopes Trial

An educator in Tennessee who was persuaded by the ACLU to defend a test case against the State of Tennessee for teaching evolution in the public schools. He was arrested for teaching evolution. This trial represented the Fundamentalist vs the Modernist. The trial placed a negative image on fundamentalists, and it showed a changing America. / the name given to the monkey trial between Scopes and the state of Tennessee, science and theology 1925/Scope was found guilty of teaching evolution and Bryan died a few days later (became a martyr) Darrow claimed victory b/c he proved that Bryan was an ignoramus. But the judge found Scopes guilty of teaching evolution. Both sides were justified in claiming victory.

New negro movement

An effort to promote racial equality by celebrating the cultural contribution of African Americans

Fundamentalism

Anti-modernist Protest movement started in the early twentieth century by religious leaders that proclaimed the literal truth of the Bible, the name came from the Fundamentals, published by conservative leaders.

What is Nativism?

At the end of WWI, race riots & the fear of communism ushered in a wave of dangerous nativism. Many white Anglo-Saxon Americans feared that many immigrants were socialists, Communists, or anarchists. Congress passed laws to restrict immigration. The revived Ku Klux Klan was devoted to "100% Americanism" & regarded Catholics, Jews, immigrants & African Americans as threats to America.

The Volstead Act

Enabled the United States government to enforce the 18th Amendment to the Constitution and is formally known as the National Prohibition Act. In combination with the 18th Amendment and other supporting legislature, it is included under the blanket term "Prohibition." In 1933, the Volstead Act and other Prohibition related laws were repealed in response to popular outcry.

Great Depression and the New Deal, 1929-1941

FDR New Deal attempted to end Great Depression by using gov. power to provide relief to poor, stimulate recovery, and reform American economy. Radical, union, and populist movements pushed Roosevelt toward more extensive efforts to change American economic system, while conservatives in Congress and Supreme Court sought to limit New Deal's scope -Didnt end Depression, left legacy of reforms and regulatory agencies and fostered long-term political realignment in which many ethnic groups, African Americans, and working-class communities identified w the Democratic Party

KDKA

First radio station (Pittsburgh)

Ernest Hemingway

Fitzgerald's fellow novelist who explored similar themes as him but in a new idiom. Hemingway felt betrayed, not only by the American dream, but also by literary language itself. Significant because he created a totally new writing style. He stripped off adjectives and adverbs, and he wrote in unadorned sentences. This inspired other writers to write like him, too.

Lost Generation

Group of writers in 1920s who shared the belief that they were lost in a greedy, materialistic world that lacked moral values and often choose to flee to Europe

Jazz age

Label for the 1920s for the broad spirit of rebellion and spontaneity

What was modernism and how did it influence/impact American culture?

Modernism was a mood & movement that recognized that Western Civilization had entered an era of change. Traditional ways of thinking & creating art were being rejected and replaced with new understanding and forms of expression. Modernists = rejection of old order of established beliefs. They rebelled, wanted sexual liberation & artistic expression. Emotion over reason; change over stability; urban culture

Fundamentalism

Newly distinguished less by faith but more by shared hostility towards any other belief

Roaring twenties

One of the labels given to the 1920s. Also the Jazz age

What was fundamentalism?

Protestant religious leaders saw secular threats emerging in many churches: new "liberal" ideas held that the Bible should be studied in the light of modern scholarship or that it could be reconciled with biological theories of evolution. Resisting the inroads of secularism. These Christians embraced a militant new fundamentalism which was distinguished less by a faith than be a posture of hostility toward any other Liberal beliefs.

Model T Ford

Reliable and affordable automobile

Revived Ku Klux Klan

Revived group of hooded racist southerners, Midwesterners (Long Island, NY & Oregon) who used scare tactics and intimidation to terrorize minorities & immigrants. They were devoted to "100% Americanism" and restricted membership to militant native-born white Protestants, wanted protection from blacks, Roman Catholics, Jews, immigrants. They were a vicious reaction to shifting moral standards & social status, the declining influence of churches & the broad-mindedness of city dwellers & college students.

Harlem Renaissance

The nations first self conscious black literary and artistic movement

Dr. Sigmund Freud

The Viennese father of psychoanalysis. Helped cause sex to be talked about frankly

What is Modernism?

The destruction of WWI shattered Americans' belief in the progress of Western civilization. In this movement, young artists & intellectuals reflected this disillusionment. For modernists, the world could no longer be easily observed thru reason, common sense, & logic; instead, reality was something to be created & expressed thru sexual liberation, new artistic & literary forms, like abstract painting, atonal music, free verse in poetry & stream of conscious narrative and interior monologues in stories & novels. They wanted to overthrow the old order of things. Cynicism had displace idealism for those alienated by the horrible war & the failed peace.

Marcus Garvey

The leading spokesman for the advancement of the "new negro"

"Scarface" Al Capone

The most celebrated prohibition era gangster

Great migration

The movement of blacks to the north from the south

How did the new social trends of the 1920's challenge traditional attitudes?

The new social trends, carefree fads and attitudes of the 1920's made the Traditionalists feel threatened. The hemlines of women's dresses rose, and sex was openly discussed. The Harlem Renaissance gave voice to black literature & music, and Blacks in northern cities felt freer to speak out against racial injustice and express pride in their race. Many white Americans felt that their religion and way of life were under attack by modern trends. They feared that women's newly earned right to vote might destabilize the family and that scientific scholarship would undermine biblical truth. These modern and traditional forces openly clashed at the Scopes Trial in 1925, where the right to teach evolution in public schools was tested in court.

William Jennings Bryant

United States lawyer and politician who prosecuted John Scopes (1925) for teaching evolution in a Tennessee high school (1860-1925) He was the Democratic candidate for President and rand against William McKinley. He advocated free silver - silver coinage.

Ku klux klan

Vigilante group 100% dedicated to Americanism. Against African Americans, Raman Catholics, Jews , and immigrants.

flapper

a woman who wore shorter dresses, had shorter hair, and danced without a care in the world during the 1920s

speakeasies

an illegal liquor store or nightclub