Extended Essay

Extended Essay

The 20th century was a century of change for the US. This is especially true of the rapidly shifting culture in the ‘roaring’ 1920’s. In a focused look at the 1920’s and the cultural changes occurring in conjunction with musical changes in the genre of jazz, I intend to address the question, “To what extent did the growth and development of jazz as a rising genre of music influence American culture as seen in the 1920’s?” The evaluation of primary and secondary sources showed that the development of jazz as a genre catalyzed racial integration of African Americans, revolutionized the entertainment industry, and ultimately pulled the country’s culture away from the conservative, reserved Victorian era sentiment into the more expressive and liberal culture that manifested itself throughout the sixties and seventies and is still visible today. The growth and development of jazz music during the 1920’s in the US had a very significant influence on American culture, to the extent that it was responsible not only for the revolutionized entertainment industry, but a cultural shift from Victorian ideals, and racial integration and equality for African Americans.
Breaking down of racial barriers was becoming possible in the 1920’s due to the presence of nightclubs that featured African American musicians. Chicago, a target destination to big-name jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, was home to hundreds of jazz clubs that became popular attractions to young whites.   Whites had more liberty to cross these boundaries than their African American peers. Jim Crow segregation laws were still restricting African Americans from going into certain nightclubs for whites. However there was plenty of interest from whites to go into black clubs to learn the music.   White musicians such as saxophonist Bud Freeman and drummer Dave Tough began playing in the clubs just like their black peers. Jazz music acted as a hook for white people into black culture, which caused a growing...