Sensing the post-war feelings of Americans, the Republican presidential candidate of 1920, Warren G. Harding, a U.S. senator from Ohio, promised the voters a "return to normalcy." His running mate was Calvin Coolidge, the governor of Massachusetts. The Democratic candidates were James M. Cox, the reformist governor of Ohio, and the young Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration. Cox and Roosevelt campaigned on a reformist platform that supported America's entry into the League of Nations. However, Americans did not support such a reformist, internationalist stance. Harding won the presidential election with 16,152,200 of the over 25,000,000 votes cast -- the widest popular margin to date (60.3%). The Republican administrations of the 1920s (Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover) called for a "New Era" of government relations with the business community. Harding began the process as part of his "return to normalcy." All of them strongly believed in a laissez-faire policy of non-interference by government in any private business activity. At the same time, they were aggressively "pro-business" and supported business interests at home and abroad. For example, they favored high tariffs in order to protect American industry. They also worked aggressively to negotiate trade agreements with foreign nations that would open overseas markets to American products.

Politics of the 1920s

Civil Rights are ExpandedWomen's suffrage organizations, such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Woman's Party, had worked for years to convince people that women should be given the right to vote. They continued to organize through World War I. After the war, the suffrage movement gained support and in 1920, women finally secured the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed their right to vote. Over the years, Native Americans had assimilated more and more into American society. Native Americans, however, as a group were not citizens of the U.S. Originally, each tribe was considered to be a separate "nation" (for instance, the Cherokee Nation). The federal government finally granted Native Americans citizenship in 1924 as a group, although about two-thirds had acquired it previously via negotiated treaties, military service, etc.

Sensing the post-war feelings of Americans, the Republican presidential candidate of 1920, Warren G. Harding, a U.S. senator from Ohio, promised the voters a "return to normalcy." His running mate was Calvin Coolidge, the governor of Massachusetts. The Democratic candidates were James M. Cox, the reformist governor of Ohio, and the young Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Wilson administration. Cox and Roosevelt campaigned on a reformist platform that supported America's entry into the League of Nations. However, Americans did not support such a reformist, internationalist stance. Harding won the presidential election with 16,152,200 of the over 25,000,000 votes cast -- the widest popular margin to date (60.3%). The Republican administrations of the 1920s (Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover) called for a "New Era" of government relations with the business community. Harding began the process as part of his "return to normalcy." All of them strongly believed in a laissez-faire policy of non-interference by government in any private business activity. At the same time, they were aggressively "pro-business" and supported business interests at home and abroad. For example, they favored high tariffs in order to protect American industry. They also worked aggressively to negotiate trade agreements with foreign nations that would open overseas markets to American products.

Politics of the 1920s

Civil Rights are ExpandedWomen's suffrage organizations, such as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and the National Woman's Party, had worked for years to convince people that women should be given the right to vote. They continued to organize through World War I. After the war, the suffrage movement gained support and in 1920, women finally secured the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed their right to vote. Over the years, Native Americans had assimilated more and more into American society. Native Americans, however, as a group were not citizens of the U.S. Originally, each tribe was considered to be a separate "nation" (for instance, the Cherokee Nation). The federal government finally granted Native Americans citizenship in 1924 as a group, although about two-thirds had acquired it previously via negotiated treaties, military service, etc.

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (1886-1939) -- Born Gertrude Pridgett, she originally attained fame as a minstrel and vaudeville performer. In 1902, she first encountered the beginnings of blues music. In 1904 she married a fellow performer, William "Pa" Rainey, and quickly received the nickname "Ma." They performed minstrel and vaudeville shows as a song-and-dance team. At some point, she began singing blues songs and was instrumental in their musical evolution. She received yet another nickname, the "Mother of the Blues." From 1923 (when she signed with Paramount) until 1928, she recorded close to 100 songs.

Joseph "King" Oliver (1885-1938) -- Like many other jazz musicians of the 1920s, Oliver began his career in New Orleans. There he earned the name "King" while playing cornet with Kid Ory's band. After the main jazz district in New Orleans was shut down, he moved to Chicago in 1922 and formed King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. After four years, he asked Louis Armstrong to join him and play cornet with him. Armstrong later became perhaps the greatest and most famous jazz musician ever. By 1928, however, the band broke up and Oliver moved to New York City. By the late 1920s, health problems slowed him down and his popularity faded.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) -- Louis Armstrong is arguably the greatest jazz musician of all time. Armstrong began his study of the cornet in New Orleans after he was sent to the Colored Waifs School as a juvenile delinquent in 1913. Playing music quickly became his passion. He did not actually own his first cornet until given one by "King" Oliver. The two spent much time playing together. When Oliver left the Kid Ory band in 1918, Armstrong replaced him. In 1926, Oliver asked Armstrong to join him in Chicago. By the late 1920s, Louis Armstrong's popularity was soaring. He quit Oliver's band and played in several bands, eventually switching to the trumpet. His fame continued to grow and his musical style and repertoire continued to grow. Through his many film, radio, and television appearances, he popularized jazz music. Until his health began to fade in the late 1960s, Louis Armstrong toured throughout the world. Even as his career came to a close, Armstrong recorded yet another number one hit, "What a Wonderful World," in 1968.

W.C. Handy (1873-1958) -- W.C. (William Christopher) Handy was the son and grandson of ministers. He went to college and taught school for some time. Born and raised in Alabama, Handy took to heart the music of Southern blacks. He saw blues music as a reflection of black slave culture as well as the harsh realities of life that followed the Civil War. Handy pursued a career in music much to his father's chagrin. He had his own band from 1903 to 1921. Handy is best known, however, for his compositions that fused ragtime and blues music. His first big hit, "Memphis Blues," did not come until 1911. He was forced to publish one of his best-known pieces -- "St. Louis Blues" (1914) -- himself. Because of this, he organized his own publishing firm that he headed for years. After "Memphis Blues," hits followed in rapid succession, eventually earning him the title "Father of the Blues."

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (1886-1939) -- Born Gertrude Pridgett, she originally attained fame as a minstrel and vaudeville performer. In 1902, she first encountered the beginnings of blues music. In 1904 she married a fellow performer, William "Pa" Rainey, and quickly received the nickname "Ma." They performed minstrel and vaudeville shows as a song-and-dance team. At some point, she began singing blues songs and was instrumental in their musical evolution. She received yet another nickname, the "Mother of the Blues." From 1923 (when she signed with Paramount) until 1928, she recorded close to 100 songs.

Joseph "King" Oliver (1885-1938) -- Like many other jazz musicians of the 1920s, Oliver began his career in New Orleans. There he earned the name "King" while playing cornet with Kid Ory's band. After the main jazz district in New Orleans was shut down, he moved to Chicago in 1922 and formed King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. After four years, he asked Louis Armstrong to join him and play cornet with him. Armstrong later became perhaps the greatest and most famous jazz musician ever. By 1928, however, the band broke up and Oliver moved to New York City. By the late 1920s, health problems slowed him down and his popularity faded.

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) -- Louis Armstrong is arguably the greatest jazz musician of all time. Armstrong began his study of the cornet in New Orleans after he was sent to the Colored Waifs School as a juvenile delinquent in 1913. Playing music quickly became his passion. He did not actually own his first cornet until given one by "King" Oliver. The two spent much time playing together. When Oliver left the Kid Ory band in 1918, Armstrong replaced him. In 1926, Oliver asked Armstrong to join him in Chicago. By the late 1920s, Louis Armstrong's popularity was soaring. He quit Oliver's band and played in several bands, eventually switching to the trumpet. His fame continued to grow and his musical style and repertoire continued to grow. Through his many film, radio, and television appearances, he popularized jazz music. Until his health began to fade in the late 1960s, Louis Armstrong toured throughout the world. Even as his career came to a close, Armstrong recorded yet another number one hit, "What a Wonderful World," in 1968.

W.C. Handy (1873-1958) -- W.C. (William Christopher) Handy was the son and grandson of ministers. He went to college and taught school for some time. Born and raised in Alabama, Handy took to heart the music of Southern blacks. He saw blues music as a reflection of black slave culture as well as the harsh realities of life that followed the Civil War. Handy pursued a career in music much to his father's chagrin. He had his own band from 1903 to 1921. Handy is best known, however, for his compositions that fused ragtime and blues music. His first big hit, "Memphis Blues," did not come until 1911. He was forced to publish one of his best-known pieces -- "St. Louis Blues" (1914) -- himself. Because of this, he organized his own publishing firm that he headed for years. After "Memphis Blues," hits followed in rapid succession, eventually earning him the title "Father of the Blues."

Reading QuestionsFull Sentences

1.) What was the campaign slogan of Warren Harding? What was the government's relationship with business during the 1920s?

2.)Which groups received expanded civil rights during the 1920s? What rights were extended to those groups?

In the 1920s two new types of African-American music burst onto the national music scene: blues and jazz. Blues initially developed from the songs of African-American slaves in parts of the Deep South. Its African influences are evident in its tones and structures. Jazz also had its roots in traditional African-American musical forms -- it melded African rhythms and European tones. Jazz first developed in New Orleans and spread to other urban areas populated by blacks. During the 1920s, through live performances, recordings, and especially through radio -- which itself had only become a household possession in the 1920s -- both blues and jazz became immensely popular among white audiences. Indeed, as radio and the recording industry spread the sound of blues and jazz throughout the country, the music of the nation's black community became one of the defining features of 1920s mass culture. Indeed, jazz music became so tremendously popular that the 1920s are frequently referred to as the "Jazz Age," a name popularized by the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. The term refers to both the music and the freewheeling lifestyle that accompanied it.

What are the roots of jazz?

Where did jazz spread and grow?

Jazz or Blues?

Jazz or Blues?

Jazz or Blues?

Jazz or Blues?

Jazz or Blues?

How did jazz catch on with white crowds?

What does Fitzgerald mean by “Jazz Age”?

Write an essay describing the origins of blues and jazz. To complete the project, follow these steps: 1. Listen to a musical piece performed by one of the artists in

the accompanying list. What do you think are the defining elements of blues and jazz? How does each song make you feel?

2. Using as many resources as possible, write an essay that includes the following elements:

a. Explain the origins of blues and jazz. b. How did they contribute to the culture of the 1920s? c. What effect did radio have on the spread of what had

been previously local or ethnic cultural forms?d. Create an artifact that expresses your argument in non-

lingustic (don’t use words) terms.