MayraMartinez

Mr.Duit
USHistory,Period4
17May2013
TheRoaringTwenties
What a better way to introduce the world as the Roaring Twenties. The Twenties were a
time of radical change that caused the new, developed, advancements, inventions, and discoveries
of technology and form of life in the United States.. The Roaring Twenties, the creation of the
new technology and services that changed the lives of the people living in this decade. The 1920s
helped shaped the world after the World War I, because more and more things started to change
such as the importance of the radio, commercial media, industries, fashion, music, and
entertainment.TheRoaringTwentiesgavebirthtowhatwehavetoday.
During the 1920s, there were many major events that marked the history of this decade.
These events built up the history of what we know today. Some of these events include the Wall
Street Bombing, Adolf Hitler is named as the leader of the Nazi Party, the Scopes Trial, the
Nassau Hurricane, and the St. Valentines Day Massacre. All of these events made an impact in the
1920s.
The Wall Street Bombing took place on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial
District of New York City. The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 was the most destructive terrorist
attack to date in the United States. The blast killed 38 people and 143 people were seriously
injured. The attack was caused by a powerful bomb that was hidden in a horsedrawn wagon.
Inside the wagon, the bomb was composed of 100 pounds of dynamite with 500 pounds of heavy,
castiron sash weights that exploded in a timerset detonation, sending the slugs tearing through the
air. The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but it is said that the driver left the
vehicle and escaped. The 38 victims were mostly young people who worked as messengers, clerks,
and brokers. It was reported that the bomb was an act of revenge for the arrest of Sacco and
Vanzetti. The bomb caused more than $2 million in property damage and it destroyed most of the
Morgan building. At the end, the bombing was never solved, but investigators believe that the
WallStreetBombingwascarriedoutbyGalleanists.
A second events was when Adolf Hitler was named the leader of the Nazi Party. By early
1921, Adolf Hitler was becoming highly effective at speaking in front of ever larger crowds. In
February, Hitler spoke before a crowd of nearly six thousand in Munich. The Nazi Party was
centered in Munich which had become a hotbed of ultra rightwing German nationalists. This
included Army officers determined to crush Marxism and undermine or even overthrow the young
German democracy centered in Berlin. Slowly, they began looking toward the rising politician,
Adolf Hitler, and the growing Nazi movement as the vehicle to hitch themselves to. Hitler was
already looking at how he could carry his movement to the rest of Germany. He traveled to Berlin
to visit nationalist groups during the summer of 1921. Then the executive committee formed an
alliance with a group of socialists from Augsburg. Hitler rushed back to Munich and countered
them by announcing his resignation from the Party on July 11, 1921. They realized the loss of
Hitler would effectively mean the end of the Nazi Party. Hitler seized the moment and announced
he would return on the condition that he was made chairman and given dictatorial powers. The
executive committee of the Nazi Party eventually backed down and Hitler's demands were put to a
vote of the party members. Hitler received 543 votes for, and only one against. At the next
gathering,July29,1921,AdolfHitlerwasintroducedasLeaderoftheNaziParty.
The Scopes Trial of 1925 was a Tennessee legal case involving the teaching of evolution in
public schools. In Tennessee it was prohibited to teach in public schools about theories of the
creation of the human body using the religious beliefs. The teachers felt that academic freedom
and integrity as well as separation of church and state was at stake. Twenty four year old science
teacher and football coach John T. Scopes would teach the class. Scopes was arrested and lawyer
Clarence Darrow defended Scopes. The trial raged on for days. The judge did not allow any of
Darrow's scientists to testify and public sentiment in the Bible Belt was against Scopes. Darrow
brilliantly was able to get Bryan to admit that the word of the bible is not literal, it was
interpreted. This seemed to destroy the whole case. Darrow asked for immediate judgment and
when the jury came back Darrow was shocked, he had lost. The judge gave a minimum fine
againstScopesandlaterhewasreleased.
The Nassau Hurricane of 1926 is also known as the BahamasFlorida Hurricane of July
1926 and Hurricane San Liborio. This hurricane was a destructive Category 4 hurricane that
affected the Bahamas. Although it weakened considerably before its Florida landfall, it was
reported as one of the most severe storms to affect Nassau in the Bahamas in several years until the
1928 Okeechobee Hurricane, which occurred just two years later. The storm's eye passed directly
over Nassau where winds were unofficially estimated at 135 mph (215 km/h) and heavy damage
was reported such as flooding rains and loss of crops to the southeastern United States and Florida.
The hurricane caused the death of more than 287 people in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic,
Bahamas,andFloridabythestorm.
On the morning of St. Valentine's Day in 1929, seven men were gunned down in cold
blood in a garage in Chicago. The murder was part of a Prohibitionera conflict between two
powerful criminal gangs in Chicago. The South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North
Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. George "Bugs" Moran was a career criminal who ran the
North Side gang in Chicago during the bootlegging era of the 1920s. He fought bitterly with
"Scarface" Al Capone for control of smuggling and trafficking operations in the Windy City. A
$50,000 bounty on Capone's head was the final straw for the gangster. He ordered that Moran's
gang be destroyed. On February 14, a delivery of bootleg whiskey was expected at Moran's
headquarters. But Moran was late and happened to see police officers entering his establishment.
Moran waited outside, thinking that his gunmen inside were being arrested in a raid. However, the
disguised assassins were actually killing the seven men inside. The St. Valentine's Day Massacre
actually proved to be the last confrontation for both Capone and Moran. Capone was jailed in 1931
andMoranlostsomanyimportantmenthathecouldnolongercontrolhisterritory.
Jazz, Ragtime and Broadway musicals were popular facets of 1920's music. Jazz gained
popularity in America and worldwide by the 1920s. Nothing quite like it had ever happened before
in America. By the mid1920s, jazz was being played in dance halls and roadhouses and
speakeasies all over the country. Early jazz influences found their first mainstream expression in
the music used by marching bands and dance bands of the day, which was the main form of
popular concert music in the early twentieth century. Americans bought more than 100 million of
phonograph records in 1927. The 1920's were Broadway's prime years, with over 50 new musicals
opening in just one season. Record numbers of people paid up to $3.50 for a seat at a musical. It
wasalsoadecadeofincredibleartisticdevelopmentsinthemusicaltheatre.
Fashion has always been influenced by the mode of transportation, the architecture of the
period, and the customs of the people, and so it was in the 1920's. In line with progress in other
areas, clothing developed closer relationships with art, and an increased sense of freedom was
expressed in simple yet elegant designs, with carefully selected fabrics, and an intelligent use of
color. Beautiful coordinated and accessorized outfits were a feature of 1920's ladies fashions. Hats,
shoes, stockings, handbags, dresses and jewelry all came together in harmony to create a unique
and elegant style that can only be appreciated when seen in reallife or in color illustrations. The
vibrancy is lost in black and white photographs. Women fashion experienced dramatic changes in
the early 1920's following the end of the first world war in a period often referred to as the
"roaring 20's". The passing of bustles and corsets gave clothing designers much greater freedom of
expression. New and colorful fabrics echoed the joy felt by a war weary population following the
end of hostilities. Dresses were lighter and brighter and shorter than ever before. Men clothing did
not changed that much, but today we can still see that men are for free of wearing whatever they
wantthankstochangesmadeinthe1920s.
There were many different fads during the 1920s. The radio was very popular in the
1920s. People enjoyed listening to sporting events, speeches, fictional stories, the news, weather
reports, market updates, political commentaries, and of course music. One of the most popular
types of music was jazz. Another was flagpole sitting. which was when a person would climb to
the top of a flagpole and sit there for as long as they could. Flagpole sitting was invented by a man
named Alvin Kelley in 1924. Mahjongg was a popular game in the 1920s. Some people even
payed ChineseAmericans to teach them how to play the game. Lastly, dance marathons were
competitions where people would dance constantly for as long as possible. These competitions
often lasted for weeks or even months. People would collapse of exhaustion and the winner would
bethelastcouplestanding.
The 1920s saw a big boom in the entertainment industry. With the postwar economic hike
after World War I, many Americans had extra money to blow, and they turned to entertainers to
help them burn a hole in their pockets. Broadway reached an alltime high in the 1920s. With
playwrights like Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein pumping out topnotch
showcases like "An American in Paris" and "Show Boat," its no wonder that a whopping 268
plays were offered in New York City in 1927 alone! Bigtime stars like Helen Morgan and Fred
and Adele Astaire helped bring in the crowds. The radio airwaves saw a big increase in popularity
as well. By the end of the decade, nearly half of all homes contained a radio. The 1920s also saw
the introduction of the Billboard music charts, with popular singers like Bing Crosby being able to
be heard nationally over the radio. The movie industry was not about to be left out of the
entertainment surge either! Silent films, that had been around since the beginning of the century,
became more popular in the 20s. The beginning of the decade saw the founding of
MetroGoldwynMayer and the popularity of silent film stars such as Buster Keaton, Charlie
Chaplin, Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino. The 1920s also saw the first appearance of Mickey
Mouse in Steamboat Willie. The movies were more than just an entertainment medium though.
Shows also had newsreels, which allowed the audience to see the news and view political leaders
andothermoversandshakersinaction.
The twenties were the first decade to emphasize youth culture over the older generations,
and the flapper subculture had a tremendous influence on mainstream America many new words
andphraseswerecoinedbytheseliberatedwomen.Someoftheseslangwordsinclude:
AndHowIstronglyagree! Bee'sKneesanextraordinaryperson,thing,idea
Bimboatoughguy Blind Date going out with someone you do not
know
CarryaTorchtohaveacrushonsomeone Daddyawoman'sboyfriend,especiallyifhe'srich
Doughmoney DumbDoraastupidfemale
Keenattractiveorappealing Flapperstylishwomanwithskirtsandshorthair
NobodyHomesomeonewhoisdumb Sinkeradoughnut
What'seatingyou?what'swrong Whoopeetohaveagoodtime

Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, he was the first of the six children of William and
Mary Ford. He grew up on a prosperous family farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan. Henry
enjoyed a childhood typical of the rural nineteenth century, spending days in a oneroom school
and doing farm chores. At an early age, he showed an interest in mechanical things and a dislike
for farm work. Henry Ford was an incredible contributor for the decade, because he realized his
dream of producing an automobile that was reasonably priced, reliable, and efficient with the
introduction of the Model T in 1908. This vehicle initiated a new era in personal transportation. It
was easy to operate, maintain, and handle on rough roads, immediately becoming a huge success.
By 1918, half of all cars in America were Model Ts. The company began construction of the
world's largest industrial complex along the banks of the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan,
during the late 1910s and early 1920s. By September 1927, all steps in the manufacturing process
from refining raw materials to final assembly of the automobile took place at the vast Rouge Plant,
characterizing Henry Ford's idea of mass production. Thanks to him, today many people in the
UnitedStatesareusingFordscarsandothermodels.
Babe Ruth was also known as the Bambino and the Sultan of Swat. He was a standout
pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Ruth gained fame as a hard working outfielder for the New York
Yankees. Babe Ruth was important because he brought new fans in 1920 when baseball was
suffering from a gambling scandal. Babe Ruth was able to revive all of the baseball passion that
fans had. Ruth set career records in this time for home runs, slugging percentage, runs battle in,
and bases on balls. Ruth was the first player to hit 60 home runs in one season, which was in 1927.
The fans believed in him and now he is known as one of the best African American baseball player
oftheUnitedStates.
Another way that the decade changed was when F. Scott Fitzgerald, an American author of
novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigmatic writings of the Jazz Age, a term he
coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
One of his biggest books was when he published his third book on April 10th, 1925, titled The
Great Gatsby. The book also had a lot of things that changed during the decade, for example, the
JazzAge,theflappers,thewayofspeakingsuchasslangwords.
Claude McKay was a Jamaican American writer, who joined Toomer at the forefront of the
Harlem Renaissance. He was born in Jamaica in September 18, 1889. McKay was a great influence
in the decade because in his novels and poems, McKay showed ordinary African Americans
struggling for dignity and advancement in the face of discrimination and economic hardships.
McKay represented the political and ideological left wing of the Harlem Renaissance. McKay was
a great inspiration to African Americans in this decade because he was willing to understand and
trytodoeverythingtosupportthem.McKaywasagoodrolemodelforhispeople.
Mary Louise Brooks was born on November 14, 1906. She was generally known by her
stage name Louise Brooks. Louise Brooks was an American dancer and actress, noted for
popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks was a great actress, she participated in the Pandoras Box,
the Diary of a Lost Girl, and finally in the Prix de Beaut. Brooks was a great influence for
women in this decade because she was unique and she wanted to dress differently from what she
used in the past. Brooks wanted to bring new fashion for women. Today, some of the old fashion
iscomingback!
In conclusion, the Roaring Twenties was the birth of what we have today. From
technology, entertainment, fashion, cars, and much more. This decade was basically the beginning
of life for many Americans. People living in the United States faced many events that changed
their world. During the 1920s, there were also a lot of role models that made this a great decade.
For example, Henry Ford introduced us to the new automobile, Babe Ruth revived the passion for
baseball, and Claude McKay spoked against discrimination. Today, all of Americans are able to
remember that changes in the United States during the 1920s and I am pretty sure that they feel
proudandhappytobehere.