14-2+USH

Abby Regan 3/8/12 USHCP Mr. Masterson

Key Terms: Volstead Act: Federal law that enforced the 18th Amendment, which was prohibition of manufacturing, selling, and transporting alcohol. Untouchables: Nickname given to a group of detectives led by Eliot Ness who targeted gangsters during the prohibition period. 21st Amendment: Constitutional amendment that got rid of the 18th amendment, which was prohibition. Flappers: Young women in the 1920s who challenged social traditions with their dress and behavior. Fundamentalism: The belief that everything in the bible actually happened Scopes Trial: The trial of John Scopes, who was a high school science teacher that was prosecuted for teaching the theory of evolution rather than creation.

Key People: Al Capone: A gang leader in Chicago Eliot Ness: A special agent hired by the Prohibition Bureau to to after gangs. Cecil B. DeMille: A movie director who created a new style of filmmaking by using epic plots and complex characters. Babe Ruth: A legendary baseball player in the 1920s. Jim Thorpe: A talented athlete who trained for the olympics, and became the first person to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon. Charles Lindbergh: The first pilot to fly nonstop from New York to Paris, France. Amelia Earhart: The first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Aimee Semple McPherson: A popular revivalist preacher. Clarence Darrow: Defended John Scopes in the Scopes Trial.

Summary:

Prohibition:
 * Reformers believed that alcohol was the cause of crime, family violence, and poverty and that it should be banned-and for a while it was.
 * In some parts of the US prohibition was strictly enforced, but in most parts, the law was unpopular and ignored.
 * Gangs smuggled in alcohol from other countries (bootleg alcohol), and Al Capone tried to gain control of all liquor sales in Chicago with his gang.
 * Eliot Ness got Al Capone arrested for avoiding tax payments, and Capone lost control over Chicago's crime life.
 * Positive outcomes of prohibition included less alcohol related deaths, and decline of alcoholism.

Youth Culture
 * Many young Americans ignored the prohibition laws, and rejected the values of earlier gererations.

The "New Woman"
 * The media began to glamorize the life of the "new woman", who was stylish, adventurous, independent, and career-minded.
 * Some women decided to exercise this freedom in how they dressed, and the stopped wearing corsets and started wearing shorter skirts.
 * Flappers would defy the traditions by having shorter hair, driving sports cars, and playing sports.
 * Women worked in a wider variety of jobs, although the number of women in the work force remained consistant.

College Life
 * College enrollment tripled between 1900 and 1930.
 * The increasing number of college students greatly swayed popular culture.

Leisure Fun and Fads
 * Many young people participated in dance marathons that went on for days- the last couple to pass out won.
 * Beauty contests, such as the Miss America beauty pageant, were introduced in the 1920s, and these managers of the pageants stressed traditional morals.
 * Flagpole sitting, in which people climbed on tiny platforms on top of flagpoles with only stirrups for support, was very popular.

Mass Entertainment
 * Many Americans had more money and free time than they did in the past, and they turned to radios, movies, and sports.

Radio
 * Commercial radio stations grew in popularity in the 1920s when more people bought radios.
 * Radio broadcasted everything from the news and music to sports.
 * Radio stations made money by selling advertisements to companies.
 * Radio brought Americans together and connected the country.

Movies
 * Movies became very popular in the 1920s.
 * Hollywood was where most movies were made, and they had unique plots and characters.
 * Western films were popular silent films.
 * In 1927 the first "talkies" or movies with sound, were produced.
 * Movies changed standards of morality and sexuality, which troubled many Americans, and therefore was censored.

Sports
 * Americans turner to sports for entertainment, especially through radio broadcasting.
 * College and pro football game attendance doubled in the 1920s.
 * Baseball was still the most popular sport despite corruption,

Books and Magazines
 * Monthly and weekly publications gave Americans info and entertainment.
 * Weekly magazines such as Collier's and The Saturday Evening Post drew readers in with their cartons, stories and ads.

Celebrities and Heroes
 * In the 1920s, many Americans started to follow the lives of celebrities and athletes.
 * Because of the feats of many celebrities, the nation became obsessed with contests and adventure.

Religion in the 1920s
 * Some Americans were troubled by the changes of the 1920s.

Revivalism
 * Many Americans worried that traditional morals would be lost, and revivalism was against the 20s pop culture.

Fundamentalism
 * Many people believed that pop culture weakened Christianity and contradicted the bible.
 * Fundamentalism attacked all forms of fun and games.

The Scopes Trial
 * Fundamentalism was challenged when a high school science teacher, John Scopes, taught the theory of evolution in school and was brought to trial for it.
 * William Jennings Bryan, the persecuting attorney, said that the theory of evolution contradicted traditional religious beliefs.
 * Clarence Darrow, the defending attorney, said that not allowing the theory of evolution to be taught was basically denying many of freedom of speech.
 * Darrow called on Bryan to be a witness as an expert on the bible, and he was very inconsistant about his interpretation of the bible.
 * Darrow lost the case, but the case he made lowered some people's opinions of Fundamentalism.