Social, Technological, and Intellectual Changes

The Red Scare

• After WWI, the Russian Revolution brought a Communist government to power in Russia

• Americans feared the spread of communist ideas to the U.S.

Palmer Raids• A. Mitchell Palmer

and his agents hunted down communists, socialists, and anarchists

• Deported and/or jailed suspects without trial

Sacco and Vanzetti• Italian born immigrants

• Convicted of murder based on circumstantial evidence

• Became the symbol of distrust of foreigners during the 1920’s

Sacco and Vanzetti

Decline of Labor Unions

• Labor unions declined in support because many had ties to communism

Radio

• New form of entertainment and communication

Airplanes

• Made transportation faster and more efficient

Prohibition

• 1920, 18th Amendment passed that forbade the manufacturing and sale of alcohol in the U.S.

• Law was controversial and was in place until 1933

“Lost Generation”

• Disenchanted writers from the 1920’s

• Wrote about the pitfalls of materialism and greed of the 1920’s

F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Writer who revealed the negative side of the 1920’s excess

• Most famous book, The Great Gatsby

Ernest Hemingway

• Former WWI veteran

• Wrote books that criticized the glorification of war

• The Sun Also Rises

Race, Religion, and Roles of Women

Harlem Renaissance

• A literary and artistic movement celebrating African-American culture

• Saw the rise of African-American poets, writers, artists, singers, and the birth of jazz

Langston Hughes• Harlem

Renaissance's best known poet who wrote about the difficult lives of working class African-Americans

Margaret Sanger

• Spread information about the controversial birth control pill

• Started the American Birth Control League

Fundamentalism

• The belief that everything in the bible is true

• Many people saw advances in technology and science as an attack on Christianity

Scopes Trial• 1925 court case pitting the teaching of

evolution against fundamentalism

• John T. Scopes was tried for breaking Tennessee law against teaching evolution

• Defended by Clarence Darrow

• Prosecuted by William Jennings Bryan

• Drew national attention and controversy