Changing Attitudes In The 1920's
Changing attitudes in the 1920’s came about through progressivism, and the divide between country and urban life. Women were becoming more and more independent. Depression was beginning to sink its claws into the American economy first by way of rural towns and farms who felt the blow not with the stock market crash in 1929, but with the decline of agricultural prices in 1920. Most rural Americans still held to old traditions, and found how life was in the city offending to their beliefs and customs. It helped spur the KKK into action again. This time however, they weren’t just anti-black, they were pretty much anti everything except native-born protestant white citizens. They dominated several state governments for a time. During the 20’s
though, a large wave of immigrants flooded into the U.S. Many of these immigrants were different from the previous, seeing as how they were from Southern and Eastern Europe rather than places like Germany or Great Britain. Then comes the Harlem renaissance, which is where many black people moves northward seeking better employment and quality of life in general. Harlem became a great scene of African American cultural life in the U.S. with the creation of jazz among other artistic, literary, and political happenings.
Of course this warranted a backlash from the nativists of the time. This is part of where tradition gets in the way of progress. Nativists fear that they are losing their city to the less desirables, which in this case is the newest immigrants. This view is hypocritical in the fact that at one point down their bloodline, any american not Native American was an immigrant and therefore in their eyes a “less desirable.” For urban city life however, things were still “roaring”. There were celebrities like baseball player Babe Ruth and pilot Charles Lindbergh making the newspaper. There were also young Americans who rejected old traditions and embraced new ones like listening to jazz, dancing provocatively, and drinking illegally in the speakeasies. Women also started to adopt a new lifestyle that danced on the toes of tradition. They started to wear knee length skirts, a bob haircut, drank, danced and smoked in jazz clubs. These women were known as flappers.
though, a large wave of immigrants flooded into the U.S. Many of these immigrants were different from the previous, seeing as how they were from Southern and Eastern Europe rather than places like Germany or Great Britain. Then comes the Harlem renaissance, which is where many black people moves northward seeking better employment and quality of life in general. Harlem became a great scene of African American cultural life in the U.S. with the creation of jazz among other artistic, literary, and political happenings.
Of course this warranted a backlash from the nativists of the time. This is part of where tradition gets in the way of progress. Nativists fear that they are losing their city to the less desirables, which in this case is the newest immigrants. This view is hypocritical in the fact that at one point down their bloodline, any american not Native American was an immigrant and therefore in their eyes a “less desirable.” For urban city life however, things were still “roaring”. There were celebrities like baseball player Babe Ruth and pilot Charles Lindbergh making the newspaper. There were also young Americans who rejected old traditions and embraced new ones like listening to jazz, dancing provocatively, and drinking illegally in the speakeasies. Women also started to adopt a new lifestyle that danced on the toes of tradition. They started to wear knee length skirts, a bob haircut, drank, danced and smoked in jazz clubs. These women were known as flappers.