{"id":1702,"date":"2021-07-17T17:54:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-17T17:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/?post_type=chapter&p=1702"},"modified":"2022-09-16T22:05:59","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T22:05:59","slug":"putting-it-together-the-jazz-age","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/chapter\/putting-it-together-the-jazz-age\/","title":{"raw":"Putting It Together: The Jazz Age","rendered":"Putting It Together: The Jazz Age"},"content":{"raw":"The mass production and consumption of automobiles, household appliances, movies, and radio shows fueled a new economy and new standards of living. A novel culture industry introduced talking films and jazz while sexual and social constraints relaxed. But at the same time, many Americans turned their back on political and economic reform, denounced America\u2019s shifting demographics, called for limits on immigration, retreated into \u201cold-time religion,\u201d and revived the Ku Klux Klan with millions of new members.\r\n\r\nElsewhere, and particularly in the bustling cities, Americans fought for equal rights and cultural commentators noted the appearance of \u201cthe New Woman\u201d and \u201cthe New Negro.\u201d Meanwhile, older immigrant communities whose arrival preceded the new immigration quotas aimed at southern and eastern Europe, clung to their cultures and their native faiths. The 1920s were a decade of conflict and tension.\u00a0For farmers, racial minorities, unionized workers, and other populations that did not share in the era's prosperity, the glamor of the Jazz Age and its booming economy had always been a fiction. But for them, as for millions of Americans, the end of the era was almost at hand. The Great Depression loomed.\r\n\r\nThe 1920s redefined the nation and still influences American society today.\u00a0The cultural influence of jazz has continued to be an important factor across decades: from classic blues to bebop, rhythm 'n' blues to rock' n' roll, soul to disco, and the evolution of hip-hop. The mass consumerism, discussion of women's rights, growth in technology, social advancements, and \"culture war\" tensions that characterized the 1920s mirror many of the prominent debates and ongoing issues we see in the 2020s.\r\n
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WATCH IT<\/h3>\r\n

Watch this video to hear John Green review the 1920s in the United States.<\/p>\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/VfOR1XCMf7A?t=1s\r\n\r\nYou can view the\u00a0transcript for \u201cThe Roaring 20's: Crash Course US History #32\u201d here (opens in new window)<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Critical Thinking Questions<\/h3>\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Explain how the 1920s was a decade of contradictions. What does the relationship between mass immigration and the rise of the Second Ku Klux Klan tell us about American attitudes? How might we reconcile the decade as the period of both the flapper and prohibition?<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. What new opportunities did the 1920s provide for women and African Americans? What new limitations did this era impose?<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Discuss what the concept of \u201cmodernity\u201d meant in the 1920s. How did art and innovation in the decade reflect the new mood of the postwar era?<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Explain how technology took American culture in new and different directions. What role did motion pictures and radio play in shaping cultural attitudes in the United States?<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Discuss how politics of the 1920s reflected the new postwar mood of the country. What did the Harding administration\u2019s policies attempt to achieve, and how?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"

    The mass production and consumption of automobiles, household appliances, movies, and radio shows fueled a new economy and new standards of living. A novel culture industry introduced talking films and jazz while sexual and social constraints relaxed. But at the same time, many Americans turned their back on political and economic reform, denounced America\u2019s shifting demographics, called for limits on immigration, retreated into \u201cold-time religion,\u201d and revived the Ku Klux Klan with millions of new members.<\/p>\n

    Elsewhere, and particularly in the bustling cities, Americans fought for equal rights and cultural commentators noted the appearance of \u201cthe New Woman\u201d and \u201cthe New Negro.\u201d Meanwhile, older immigrant communities whose arrival preceded the new immigration quotas aimed at southern and eastern Europe, clung to their cultures and their native faiths. The 1920s were a decade of conflict and tension.\u00a0For farmers, racial minorities, unionized workers, and other populations that did not share in the era’s prosperity, the glamor of the Jazz Age and its booming economy had always been a fiction. But for them, as for millions of Americans, the end of the era was almost at hand. The Great Depression loomed.<\/p>\n

    The 1920s redefined the nation and still influences American society today.\u00a0The cultural influence of jazz has continued to be an important factor across decades: from classic blues to bebop, rhythm ‘n’ blues to rock’ n’ roll, soul to disco, and the evolution of hip-hop. The mass consumerism, discussion of women’s rights, growth in technology, social advancements, and “culture war” tensions that characterized the 1920s mirror many of the prominent debates and ongoing issues we see in the 2020s.<\/p>\n

    \n

    WATCH IT<\/h3>\n

    Watch this video to hear John Green review the 1920s in the United States.<\/p>\n