Cultural Conflict in Post War America

Role of WomenProhibitionOrganized CrimeReligion

How would you describe the 1920s?

Themes of the 1920s

Flappers Prohibition Roaring Peacetime Age of Jazz Optimism Women Voting Harlem Renaissance

Gangsters/organized crime

Stock market crash Ku Klux Klan Violence/Rioting Religious Debate Mass Media

Rural – Urban Split

Urban areas became less traditional, more modernized– Economy was booming, cities were growing,

traditional values were questioned

Rural area held on to traditional values, manners, morals– Farmers experiencing downturn, wanted to preserve

traditional values, did not approve of urban lifestyle

The Changing Role of Women

Revolution of traditional values – Flappers– Women in the workforce– Voting Rights

A suffrage cartoon originally published before 1910 -- Original copyright: E.W. Gustin (Courtesy Library of Congress)

Prohibition

What were the goals of prohibitionists?

Prohibition

– Eliminate drunkenness and resulting abuse of family members

– Get rid of saloons where prostitution, gambling, and other vice thrived

– Prevent absenteeism and on-the-job accidents stemming from drunkenness

Goals of Prohibitionists:

18th Amendment ratified in 1919

Prohibition

What if selling, importing, and exporting of soft drinks became illegal?– Would you stop drinking soft drinks? – What would happen?– Who would benefit?– Who would suffer?– What effects would it have on society?

Organized Crime

Al Capone – ran organized crime in Chicago in the 1920s

Bootlegging, gambling, racketeering

Paid off politicians, police, and judges

Convicted of tax-evasion in 1931

Organized Crime

Minnesota Connection

Organized Crime

Roma Grocery – St Paul, MN (1920s)

Was Prohibition Successful?

Goals were: Eliminate drunkenness, saloons, prostitution, gambling, and other vice, absenteeism, on-the job accidents, etc.

– Washington D.C. Before Prohibition – 300 licensed saloons During Prohibition – 700 speakeasies and 4,000 bootleggers

– Massachusetts Before Prohibition – 1,000 licensed saloons During Prohibition in Boston – 4,000 speakeasies and 15,000

bootleggers

Urban vs Rural Values– Kansas – 95% obeyed they law– New York – 5% obeyed the law

1932 Campaign Ad

Prohibition was repealed under 21st Amendment in 1933

According to Mark Twain, “Prohibition drove “drunkenness behind doors and into dark places and [did] not cure or even diminish it.”

- Kenneth C. Davis

Religion

Fundamentalism gained popularity by 1920 just as traditional values were being challenged in urban America.

Fundamentalists believe that the Bible is literally true.

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution conflicted with the Bible’s account of the history of creation.

Scopes Trial

– Prosecuted by Clarence Darrow – Defended by William Jennings

Bryan

John T. Scopes ignored the ban on teaching evolution in schools, was arrested and tried.

He argued that the decision to ban the teaching of evolution denied him personal and religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution.

Connections to Today

The cultural conflict continues:– Women in society

glass ceiling, stay at home moms, role in politics and business

– Legislation of private morality and personal habits drugs, prostitution

– Organized crime Drug wars, gang violence

– Religion – Church vs State Place of “God” in government, prayer in schools, Pledge

of Allegience, Celebration of Holidays