Cody Crouch: Party in the USA | Centuries Collide

December 4, 2024 | S2:E9

Host Cody Crouch takes us on an unforgettable ride through the moments that made the U.S.A. the country it is today.

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Centuries Collide TBN Version | Cody Crouch: Party in the USA | Centuries Collide | December 4, 2024
  • Cody crouch: i'm cody crouch.
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  • On my new show, "centuries collide, american history," i'm
  • 00:00:03.059 --> 00:00:05.962
  • Traveling across the united states uncovering the incredibly
  • 00:00:05.962 --> 00:00:09.866
  • True history of what makes our nation so great.
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  • We're recreating some of american history's greatest
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  • Moments exactly how they happened.
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  • Male: didn't you think the rock would be bigger?
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  • Cody: welcome to the craziest, strangest, most whatever-est
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  • Crash course on american history.
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  • Buckle up, it's time for "centuries collide."
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Cody: america loves a good party, am i right?
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  • And during the second decade of the 20th century, america had a
  • 00:00:39.195 --> 00:00:43.166
  • Ton of reasons to celebrate.
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  • World war i was over, and yes, the good guys won.
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  • We had new cars to drive and jazzy new music to jazz out to.
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  • It's time to party, and sure, alcohol might be illegal, but
  • 00:00:54.744 --> 00:00:58.648
  • When has a pesky little rule ever stopped americans
  • 00:00:58.648 --> 00:01:01.484
  • From partying?
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  • Boston tea party, anyone, anyone?
  • 00:01:02.986 --> 00:01:06.956
  • The 1920's are here and this decade is one big party.
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  • We've got booze, jazz music, flapper girls, gangsters, fast
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  • Cars, more booze, and to top it all off, one of the biggest
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  • Hangovers in american history.
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  • Welcome to the roaring twenties, or as i like to call it,
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  • Party in the usa.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Cody: before we get to the 1920's,
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  • Let me catch you up to speed.
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  • The beginning of the 20th century falls within a period
  • 00:01:45.728 --> 00:01:48.264
  • Called the progressive era.
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  • There was a ton of immigration, the west had been one, we
  • 00:01:50.066 --> 00:01:53.002
  • Officially have 45 united states, and many of the reforms
  • 00:01:53.002 --> 00:01:57.140
  • That were sparked by the second great awakening a hundred years
  • 00:01:57.140 --> 00:01:59.943
  • Prior are finally coming to pass.
  • 00:01:59.943 --> 00:02:02.812
  • The progressive era focused on workers' rights, social welfare
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  • Programs, and creating laws around the day's big
  • 00:02:06.583 --> 00:02:09.919
  • Moral issues.
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  • For instance, thanks to child labor laws, kids weren't allowed
  • 00:02:11.254 --> 00:02:14.557
  • To work in factories anymore.
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  • Male: sorry kids, but you're fired.
  • 00:02:15.892 --> 00:02:18.461
  • You're fired, you're fired, and you're fired, especially you.
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  • Oh, don't be a sore loser, kid, stop crying.
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  • Cody: and women's suffrage was finally a thing.
  • 00:02:28.037 --> 00:02:30.840
  • The 19th amendment ensured that women could vote.
  • 00:02:30.907 --> 00:02:34.277
  • Finally, women could legally suffrage as good as any man.
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  • So, let's hear it for the ladies.
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  • During these big progressive changes, concerns about food
  • 00:02:40.783 --> 00:02:44.187
  • Safety led to upton sinclair's expose, "the jungle," which
  • 00:02:44.187 --> 00:02:47.957
  • Spurred the creation of the fda and established food
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  • Safety laws.
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  • These new forward thinking ideas like purified water, sanitary
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  • Conditions in meat packing plants, and putting labels on
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  • The food we eat, kept us from getting e coli and dysentery and
  • 00:02:59.135 --> 00:03:03.706
  • Even mad cow disease,
  • 00:03:03.706 --> 00:03:06.109
  • Which brings us to booze.
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  • Now, america has always loved to drink, right?
  • 00:03:07.777 --> 00:03:10.647
  • But thanks to the temperance movement, we were finally
  • 00:03:10.647 --> 00:03:13.249
  • Getting sober about getting sober, but maybe a little too
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  • Sober though.
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  • The thought was banning booze would fix the world's problems.
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  • It would end crime, prostitution, reduce poverty,
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  • And create happy, healthy families.
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  • But you can't use legislation to create a moral society, doesn't
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  • Work, never will, which they tried with prohibition in 1919.
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  • More on that later.
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  • The progressive era ended around the time our boys came home from
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  • World war i. america was a superpower, we were the richest
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  • Country on earth, and we were ready to get down.
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  • So, let's get the party started.
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  • Male: let's get this party started.
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  • Cody: now, as any good american teenager knows, if you wanna get
  • 00:04:03.933 --> 00:04:08.171
  • To the party, you gotta have transportation, which is where
  • 00:04:08.171 --> 00:04:12.475
  • Henry ford comes in.
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  • Little henry grew up on a farm here in dearborn, michigan, but
  • 00:04:14.811 --> 00:04:17.914
  • Farming wasn't really his thing.
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  • Boy: farming isn't my thing, i like machines.
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  • Cody: as a teenager, he moved to the big city of detroit where he
  • 00:04:25.722 --> 00:04:28.658
  • Worked as a machinist, which basically means he did machine-y
  • 00:04:28.658 --> 00:04:32.495
  • Kind of things, and this kid was hooked.
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  • Male: i'm hooked on machine-y kinds of things.
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  • Cody: henry eventually got a job at thomas edison's company, as
  • 00:04:38.601 --> 00:04:41.838
  • In the light bulb guy, where henry worked his way up to
  • 00:04:41.838 --> 00:04:44.807
  • Chief engineer.
  • 00:04:44.807 --> 00:04:46.175
  • In his spare time, henry worked on his machine-y things until
  • 00:04:46.175 --> 00:04:49.812
  • One day he had a lightbulb moment of his own.
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  • Male: what if there were a gasoline powered machine?
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  • Cody: henry ford built a gasoline powered machine that
  • 00:04:56.986 --> 00:04:59.789
  • Could take people from one place to another.
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  • Male: i call it the quadracycle.
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  • Cody: so, maybe branding wasn't his thing either.
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  • Well, this poorly-named machine of his, which was basically a
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  • Lazy boy on top of a weed eater on top of four bicycle wheels,
  • 00:05:14.704 --> 00:05:19.175
  • Was the start of an american revolution.
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  • I mean, it changed everything.
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  • Let me show you how.
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  • A few years later, he created the model t, which kind of built
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  • The modern world as we know it.
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  • To create a car for the masses, the ford company invented the
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  • Assembly line.
  • 00:05:36.993 --> 00:05:38.394
  • It used to take 13 hours to build a model t, but thanks to
  • 00:05:38.394 --> 00:05:42.565
  • The assembly line, it only took 93 minutes.
  • 00:05:42.565 --> 00:05:46.235
  • Cars only cost a few hundred bucks, which meant millions of
  • 00:05:46.235 --> 00:05:49.439
  • Americans could afford to buy one, even if they shouldn't.
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  • By 1926, 75% of all car purchases were made using
  • 00:05:54.377 --> 00:05:59.248
  • America's favorite party slogan.
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  • No, no, no, no, no, the other party slogan.
  • 00:06:03.486 --> 00:06:05.621
  • No, no, the other, other party slogan.
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  • That's the one.
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  • I mean, what better way to start an american party than with a
  • 00:06:12.028 --> 00:06:14.864
  • Ton of debt, and americans loved their cars.
  • 00:06:14.864 --> 00:06:21.037
  • Of course, now we need gas stations, diners, motels, we
  • 00:06:21.103 --> 00:06:25.575
  • Need rubber for the wheels, we need petroleum to fill
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  • The tanks.
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  • Streets and highways had to be constructed which cost millions
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  • Of dollars and created new jobs.
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  • The one-room schoolhouse was no more, now the government paid
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  • For kids to be transported to bigger schools, and seriously,
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  • If you thought the quadracycle was ugly, get a load of a 1920
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  • School bus.
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  • And here's where the party really gets exciting.
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  • The invention of the car led to the invention of america's
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  • Favorite pastime, and i'm not talking baseball, i'm
  • 00:06:56.539 --> 00:07:00.710
  • Talking dating.
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  • No, really, courtship is what they called the old way of
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  • Finding a mate.
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  • It was usually more formal with adult supervision and not a lot
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  • Of making out, but now kids could drive away from their
  • 00:07:12.288 --> 00:07:16.292
  • Chaperones and basically do whatever they wanted.
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  • Male: what does that mean?
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  • Female: oh, you know.
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  • Male: let's hitch up the wagon.
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  • Cody: and if you thought quadracycle was a poor name for
  • 00:07:30.506 --> 00:07:33.142
  • A car, check out with this famous 1920's judge called
  • 00:07:33.142 --> 00:07:36.646
  • The automobile.
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  • Male: those newfangled quadracycles are places of
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  • Ill repute.
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  • A house of prostitution on wheels.
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  • Cody: and that right there is how henry ford will forever be
  • 00:07:45.254 --> 00:07:48.558
  • Remembered as an all-american party animal.
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  • Male: he's a party animal, but he doesn't drink.
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  • Cody: at least on our show.
  • 00:07:58.234 --> 00:07:59.635
  • So, we've got the transportation, we've got the
  • 00:08:03.673 --> 00:08:06.776
  • Cash, what else do you need to throw a good old
  • 00:08:06.776 --> 00:08:10.479
  • All-american party?
  • 00:08:10.479 --> 00:08:11.847
  • Oh, yeah, how about guns and alcohol, and why not throw some
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  • Gangsters in there while we're at it.
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  • Welcome to the most exciting part of the party, prohibition.
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  • Let me break it down for you.
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  • January 16th, 1920, the 18th amendment becomes the law of
  • 00:08:26.128 --> 00:08:31.100
  • The land.
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  • It said the manufacture, sale, and transportation of
  • 00:08:32.435 --> 00:08:35.338
  • Intoxicating liquors were now prohibited.
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  • That's right, booze was illegal.
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  • This was a really big deal.
  • 00:08:41.844 --> 00:08:43.546
  • Americans loved their booze, so much so that it inspired
  • 00:08:43.546 --> 00:08:47.617
  • The architecture.
  • 00:08:47.617 --> 00:08:48.951
  • Here in chicago, the carbide building was designed to look
  • 00:08:48.951 --> 00:08:52.355
  • Like a bottle of champagne.
  • 00:08:52.355 --> 00:08:53.756
  • In fact, alcohol was a huge part of the economy.
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  • At the time, it was the fifth largest industry in the united
  • 00:08:58.527 --> 00:09:01.931
  • States, so how in the world did this happen?
  • 00:09:01.931 --> 00:09:06.035
  • There's a lot of factors, but the whole thing probably never
  • 00:09:06.102 --> 00:09:10.072
  • Would have happened if it wasn't for a little boy
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  • Named wayne wheeler,
  • 00:09:12.274 --> 00:09:14.677
  • Better known as the biggest party pooper
  • 00:09:14.677 --> 00:09:17.613
  • In american history.
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  • Boy: partying is not my thing.
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  • Farming is my thing.
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  • Cody: like basically everybody in history, wayne grew up on a
  • 00:09:26.022 --> 00:09:29.325
  • Farm, and one fateful day in the 1870's, everybody was hard at
  • 00:09:29.325 --> 00:09:33.596
  • Work doing farmy things.
  • 00:09:33.596 --> 00:09:35.164
  • Well, almost everyone.
  • 00:09:35.164 --> 00:09:36.766
  • One of the farm workers had a bit of a drinking problem, and
  • 00:09:36.766 --> 00:09:40.136
  • He had a pitchfork, and this pitchforking party guy got so
  • 00:09:40.136 --> 00:09:44.073
  • Drunk he accidentally stabbed little wayne with his pitchfork.
  • 00:09:44.073 --> 00:09:53.849
  • Boy: ouch!
  • 00:09:57.186 --> 00:09:58.521
  • Cody: from that moment on, little wayne dedicated his life
  • 00:09:58.521 --> 00:10:01.023
  • To the temperance movement.
  • 00:10:01.023 --> 00:10:02.792
  • In 1902, wheeler became the director of the anti saloon
  • 00:10:02.858 --> 00:10:06.729
  • League, which was kind of like the party pooper avengers.
  • 00:10:06.729 --> 00:10:10.466
  • Their entire mission was to abolish alcohol from
  • 00:10:10.466 --> 00:10:13.569
  • American life.
  • 00:10:13.569 --> 00:10:14.904
  • No one was as committed as wayne wheeler.
  • 00:10:14.904 --> 00:10:18.174
  • He even earned the nickname locomotive in trousers.
  • 00:10:18.174 --> 00:10:22.111
  • Male: toot, too.
  • 00:10:22.611 --> 00:10:23.979
  • Cody: wayne wheeler would do practically anything to gain
  • 00:10:23.979 --> 00:10:26.882
  • Political power.
  • 00:10:26.882 --> 00:10:28.250
  • He held rallies in different cities, he donated generously to
  • 00:10:28.250 --> 00:10:32.054
  • Political allies, and demonized political opponents.
  • 00:10:32.054 --> 00:10:35.491
  • The u.s. government created the bureau
  • 00:10:37.960 --> 00:10:40.096
  • Of prohibition to be the strongarm
  • 00:10:40.096 --> 00:10:42.665
  • Of the anti-party movement.
  • 00:10:42.665 --> 00:10:45.067
  • Male: probies unite.
  • 00:10:45.067 --> 00:10:46.535
  • [laughing]
  • 00:10:46.535 --> 00:10:49.205
  • Cody: these prohibition agent guys, nicknamed probies, would
  • 00:10:49.205 --> 00:10:53.142
  • Go around shutting down saloons, they dumped thousands of kegs of
  • 00:10:53.142 --> 00:10:57.346
  • Beer into the gutters, into the river, they even hunted down
  • 00:10:57.346 --> 00:11:01.484
  • Illegal booze makers and smugglers.
  • 00:11:01.484 --> 00:11:03.652
  • Male: oh, come on, man.
  • 00:11:05.888 --> 00:11:07.990
  • Cody: thanks to prohibition, the party in the usa was over and no
  • 00:11:08.057 --> 00:11:10.993
  • One ever drank again.
  • 00:11:10.993 --> 00:11:12.495
  • [heavenly music playing]
  • 00:11:12.561 --> 00:11:15.965
  • Cody: just kidding, just like wealthy politicians
  • 00:11:15.965 --> 00:11:18.267
  • And tax codes, there's always a loophole.
  • 00:11:18.267 --> 00:11:21.704
  • If you wanted to drink legally, you could always go to the
  • 00:11:21.704 --> 00:11:24.974
  • Pharmacy and buy liquor for, get this, medicinal purposes.
  • 00:11:24.974 --> 00:11:30.045
  • Male: this is for my fibromyalgia-matosis.
  • 00:11:30.045 --> 00:11:32.414
  • Cody: and get this, you could also buy booze from your local
  • 00:11:34.483 --> 00:11:37.319
  • Clergymen for religious purposes.
  • 00:11:37.319 --> 00:11:40.523
  • Male: it's for religious purposes.
  • 00:11:40.589 --> 00:11:43.993
  • Cody: whoo, hallelujah, or you could make your way to a secret
  • 00:11:44.059 --> 00:11:48.097
  • Unlicensed bar called a speakeasy, as long as you knew
  • 00:11:48.097 --> 00:11:53.002
  • The password.
  • 00:11:53.002 --> 00:11:54.403
  • And these places were everywhere, from dingy backrooms
  • 00:11:55.805 --> 00:11:59.175
  • And basements to fancy clubs with jazz bands and
  • 00:11:59.241 --> 00:12:02.444
  • Ballroom dancefloors.
  • 00:12:02.444 --> 00:12:04.380
  • Here's where the mob comes in.
  • 00:12:04.446 --> 00:12:05.948
  • These gun-toting gangsters were here to fight for your right to
  • 00:12:05.948 --> 00:12:09.552
  • Party and they kept the illegal booze flowing.
  • 00:12:09.552 --> 00:12:13.255
  • Here's some of the best at being the worst.
  • 00:12:13.322 --> 00:12:16.625
  • Male: party people, put your hands together for charles
  • 00:12:17.760 --> 00:12:21.764
  • Lucky luciano.
  • 00:12:21.764 --> 00:12:25.034
  • Cody: born in sicily, italy, lucky luciano basically created
  • 00:12:26.202 --> 00:12:30.339
  • The template for the classic mafia figure we see in movies
  • 00:12:30.339 --> 00:12:33.676
  • Like "the goodfellas" and "the godfather," and he made america
  • 00:12:33.676 --> 00:12:38.047
  • An offer we couldn't refuse.
  • 00:12:38.047 --> 00:12:40.015
  • Fun fact, he was terrible at grammar but great at supplying
  • 00:12:40.015 --> 00:12:44.620
  • Booze to the new york party scene.
  • 00:12:44.620 --> 00:12:46.856
  • Male: i'll give to you the boozes, you give me the monies.
  • 00:12:46.922 --> 00:12:50.426
  • Cody: and he made a killing.
  • 00:12:50.492 --> 00:12:52.361
  • After bribing the cops...
  • 00:12:52.995 --> 00:12:55.064
  • Male: we good here?
  • 00:12:55.130 --> 00:12:56.465
  • Cody: politicians and probies, he raked in a cool $4 million
  • 00:12:56.465 --> 00:13:01.437
  • A year.
  • 00:13:01.437 --> 00:13:02.771
  • And then there's jack diamond.
  • 00:13:02.771 --> 00:13:04.573
  • This guy was an irish-american
  • 00:13:04.573 --> 00:13:06.709
  • Gangster who supplied parts
  • 00:13:06.709 --> 00:13:08.410
  • Of philly and new york with booze.
  • 00:13:08.410 --> 00:13:11.547
  • And like all legit gangsters, he had his own unique nickname.
  • 00:13:11.547 --> 00:13:16.018
  • Male: ladies and gentlemen, jack the legs diamond.
  • 00:13:16.018 --> 00:13:22.057
  • Cody: legs was known for his legs for one of two reasons, he
  • 00:13:24.126 --> 00:13:28.864
  • Could outrun the cops, or his killer dance moves.
  • 00:13:28.864 --> 00:13:34.870
  • But legs's life wasn't one big party, there was kidnappings and
  • 00:13:36.872 --> 00:13:41.377
  • Murders and bouts of gang fights that come with the
  • 00:13:41.377 --> 00:13:44.346
  • Gangster life.
  • 00:13:44.346 --> 00:13:45.681
  • In the end, he reaped the violence he sowed and was gunned
  • 00:13:45.681 --> 00:13:51.687
  • Down by his rivals.
  • 00:13:51.687 --> 00:13:53.489
  • Male: cheers to legs.
  • 00:13:53.555 --> 00:13:57.026
  • Group: cheers.
  • 00:13:57.026 --> 00:13:59.128
  • Male: let's bring this beat back, oh, yeah.
  • 00:13:59.128 --> 00:14:04.300
  • Cody: which brings us to the most notorious prohibition
  • 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:11.173
  • Gangster of all time.
  • 00:14:11.173 --> 00:14:13.008
  • Male: give it up for the one, the only, al capone, scarface.
  • 00:14:13.075 --> 00:14:17.112
  • Cody: al capone was the undisputed mob boss of chicago,
  • 00:14:21.216 --> 00:14:24.787
  • Running gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging rackets.
  • 00:14:24.787 --> 00:14:28.324
  • I mean, so what if he's a murderous criminal?
  • 00:14:28.324 --> 00:14:31.727
  • He was a huge celebrity in his day.
  • 00:14:31.727 --> 00:14:34.730
  • Like a smooth-talking politician, he understood the
  • 00:14:34.797 --> 00:14:37.766
  • Importance of a good public image.
  • 00:14:37.766 --> 00:14:39.935
  • He donated to charity.
  • 00:14:41.670 --> 00:14:43.339
  • Al capone: and a little something for you, sister.
  • 00:14:44.473 --> 00:14:47.409
  • Cody: he ran a soup kitchen.
  • 00:14:49.144 --> 00:14:51.347
  • Male: this is the best soup i've ever had.
  • 00:14:51.413 --> 00:14:56.218
  • Cody: some people even viewed him as a modern-day robin hood.
  • 00:14:56.285 --> 00:14:59.855
  • And when he showed up to a chicago cubs game, the crowds
  • 00:14:59.922 --> 00:15:03.125
  • Went wild.
  • 00:15:03.125 --> 00:15:04.526
  • And he was basically a walking book of proverbs for a
  • 00:15:06.295 --> 00:15:09.331
  • 1920's gangster.
  • 00:15:09.331 --> 00:15:10.833
  • Al: be careful who you call your friends.
  • 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:13.869
  • I'd rather have four quarters than one hundred pennies.
  • 00:15:13.936 --> 00:15:18.240
  • Cody: at the height of his criminal enterprise, capone
  • 00:15:19.475 --> 00:15:21.677
  • Raked in about $100 million a year, and this guy owned
  • 00:15:21.677 --> 00:15:25.247
  • Everybody, politicians, lawyers, judges were all on his payroll.
  • 00:15:25.247 --> 00:15:30.919
  • Al: vote early and vote often.
  • 00:15:30.986 --> 00:15:33.622
  • Cody: and it's estimated that he owned 50% of the chicago police
  • 00:15:34.923 --> 00:15:38.794
  • Force, but eventually the public turned on capone.
  • 00:15:38.794 --> 00:15:45.601
  • On february 14th, 1929, seven men were murdered in a parking
  • 00:15:45.667 --> 00:15:50.372
  • Garage, shot to death by tommy guns.
  • 00:15:50.372 --> 00:15:53.342
  • It was a culmination of a violent turf war between two
  • 00:15:53.409 --> 00:15:56.178
  • Gangs, al capone's chicago outfit, and george the bugs
  • 00:15:56.178 --> 00:16:00.015
  • Moran's irish north siders.
  • 00:16:00.015 --> 00:16:01.917
  • People loved the booze, they loved the women, and they loved
  • 00:16:03.419 --> 00:16:06.922
  • Capone's parties, but the violent valentine's day massacre
  • 00:16:06.922 --> 00:16:10.492
  • Was just too much even for capone's biggest fans.
  • 00:16:10.492 --> 00:16:14.763
  • Al: you kill a few people on v-day
  • 00:16:16.065 --> 00:16:18.700
  • And all the love goes away.
  • 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:22.771
  • Cody: eventually the party ended for capone, but for someone so
  • 00:16:22.838 --> 00:16:27.242
  • Exciting, i find it ironic that he was convicted of what has to
  • 00:16:27.242 --> 00:16:31.480
  • Be the most boring crime of all time, tax evasion.
  • 00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:36.652
  • Al: they can't collect legal taxes from illegal money.
  • 00:16:38.053 --> 00:16:41.957
  • Male: good one.
  • 00:16:42.958 --> 00:16:44.660
  • Cody: capone in no way lived the wholesome american dream, but he
  • 00:16:44.726 --> 00:16:48.430
  • Did fulfill one of his oddly spoken proverbs.
  • 00:16:48.430 --> 00:16:52.201
  • Al: i would rather be rich, affluent, and greedy and go to
  • 00:16:53.602 --> 00:16:57.339
  • Hell when i die than live in poverty on this earth.
  • 00:16:57.339 --> 00:17:01.276
  • Male: raise the roof.
  • 00:17:03.645 --> 00:17:05.347
  • Cody: you see, in the 1920's, americans didn't stop partying,
  • 00:17:09.551 --> 00:17:14.123
  • They just changed the way they partied.
  • 00:17:14.189 --> 00:17:16.725
  • For example, old fashioned saloons catered almost
  • 00:17:16.792 --> 00:17:19.628
  • Exclusively to men.
  • 00:17:19.628 --> 00:17:22.431
  • If ladies wanted to drink, they could enter the side door known
  • 00:17:22.498 --> 00:17:26.168
  • As the ladies entrance, but in the 1920's, a brand new woman
  • 00:17:26.168 --> 00:17:30.606
  • Had emerged and she was ready to walk through the front door with
  • 00:17:30.606 --> 00:17:34.143
  • The boys.
  • 00:17:34.143 --> 00:17:35.511
  • The modern woman in the 1920's was more independent than ever.
  • 00:17:35.511 --> 00:17:39.348
  • Thanks to world war i, she had entered the workforce and
  • 00:17:39.348 --> 00:17:42.618
  • Decided to stay.
  • 00:17:42.618 --> 00:17:43.952
  • She could vote, she could ride in cars with boys,
  • 00:17:43.952 --> 00:17:47.289
  • She wore lipstick,
  • 00:17:47.289 --> 00:17:48.857
  • And cut her hair short.
  • 00:17:48.857 --> 00:17:50.192
  • She loved to dance and she was
  • 00:17:50.192 --> 00:17:51.994
  • Ready to show off her ankles.
  • 00:17:51.994 --> 00:17:54.496
  • By any traditional standard, the girls had gone wild.
  • 00:17:54.496 --> 00:17:59.101
  • So, we've got the transportation, we've got the
  • 00:18:01.637 --> 00:18:04.473
  • Booze, we've got men and women entering the same door, but
  • 00:18:04.473 --> 00:18:08.343
  • Every party needs a killer playlist, and the 1920's gave us
  • 00:18:08.343 --> 00:18:12.314
  • Jazz music.
  • 00:18:12.314 --> 00:18:13.682
  • And undoubtedly, the most famous jazz artist of the era was
  • 00:18:13.682 --> 00:18:17.519
  • Louis armstrong.
  • 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:18.887
  • Now, i know what you're thinking, just like every other
  • 00:18:20.355 --> 00:18:22.925
  • Famous person on the planet, louis had to have grown up on a
  • 00:18:22.925 --> 00:18:26.428
  • Farm, right?
  • 00:18:26.428 --> 00:18:28.096
  • Actually, no, little louis grew up right here in new orleans in
  • 00:18:28.163 --> 00:18:32.668
  • A neighborhood so rough and poor they called it the battlefield.
  • 00:18:32.668 --> 00:18:37.005
  • His mother was a prostitute and his dad abandoned them when he
  • 00:18:37.005 --> 00:18:41.009
  • Was just a little kid.
  • 00:18:41.009 --> 00:18:42.444
  • Louis left school in the fifth grade to begin working as a
  • 00:18:42.444 --> 00:18:45.113
  • Junk collector.
  • 00:18:45.113 --> 00:18:47.049
  • Boy: junk is not my thing.
  • 00:18:47.115 --> 00:18:48.450
  • Cody: louis's life took a surprising turn on new year's
  • 00:18:48.450 --> 00:18:51.453
  • Eve 1912.
  • 00:18:51.453 --> 00:18:52.955
  • After shooting his stepfather's gun during a party, he was
  • 00:18:52.955 --> 00:18:56.158
  • Arrested and sent to live at a boys home.
  • 00:18:56.158 --> 00:18:58.660
  • It was here that he received formal training in music with
  • 00:18:59.861 --> 00:19:02.831
  • The cornet, and he was hooked.
  • 00:19:02.831 --> 00:19:05.968
  • As a teenager, louis worked odd jobs during the day, but at
  • 00:19:06.034 --> 00:19:09.404
  • Night he would play blues music.
  • 00:19:09.404 --> 00:19:11.840
  • Louis armstrong: music is my thing.
  • 00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:13.542
  • Cody: he caught the attention of the greatest cornet player in
  • 00:19:13.609 --> 00:19:16.478
  • Town, joe king oliver.
  • 00:19:16.478 --> 00:19:18.947
  • Eventually, oliver began mentoring louis.
  • 00:19:18.947 --> 00:19:21.583
  • As america entered the 1920's, louis entered the chicago and
  • 00:19:21.650 --> 00:19:25.587
  • New york jazz scenes.
  • 00:19:25.587 --> 00:19:27.089
  • In a three-year span, he made more than 60 records, and today
  • 00:19:27.089 --> 00:19:31.827
  • They're regarded as the most influential jazz recordings
  • 00:19:31.827 --> 00:19:35.230
  • In history.
  • 00:19:35.230 --> 00:19:36.765
  • Louis's rise to fame coincided with a major technological
  • 00:19:36.832 --> 00:19:40.135
  • Breakthrough in the era, the radio broadcast.
  • 00:19:40.135 --> 00:19:43.272
  • During the 1920's, hundreds of radio stations emerged and
  • 00:19:43.338 --> 00:19:47.776
  • People started buying radios for their home.
  • 00:19:47.776 --> 00:19:50.078
  • This was a huge deal.
  • 00:19:50.712 --> 00:19:52.648
  • You see, before the radio, people had to wait for the daily
  • 00:19:52.648 --> 00:19:55.417
  • Paper to get their news, but now a radio broadcast could be live
  • 00:19:55.417 --> 00:20:00.355
  • And instantaneous.
  • 00:20:00.355 --> 00:20:01.757
  • Radio sitcoms like "amos and andy" were like the must-binge
  • 00:20:03.091 --> 00:20:06.595
  • Tv of the day, and people in small towns like joplin,
  • 00:20:06.662 --> 00:20:11.066
  • Missouri could be listening to the same exact music as people
  • 00:20:11.066 --> 00:20:14.803
  • In big cities like chicago or la.
  • 00:20:14.803 --> 00:20:18.440
  • Jazz grew out of new orleans and took over the speakeasies and
  • 00:20:18.507 --> 00:20:22.044
  • The airwaves of the 1920's.
  • 00:20:22.044 --> 00:20:23.412
  • Jazz is considered to be the only true, uniquely american
  • 00:20:25.247 --> 00:20:29.685
  • Art form.
  • 00:20:29.685 --> 00:20:31.053
  • It's the music of the melting pot.
  • 00:20:31.053 --> 00:20:32.387
  • It's a fusion of african and slave folk music and classical
  • 00:20:32.387 --> 00:20:36.058
  • European riffs.
  • 00:20:36.058 --> 00:20:37.626
  • Jazz had something for everyone, men and women, black and white,
  • 00:20:37.693 --> 00:20:42.097
  • Rich and poor, and like america, jazz is best when different
  • 00:20:42.097 --> 00:20:46.301
  • Peoples, cultures, and traditions come together in a
  • 00:20:46.301 --> 00:20:49.638
  • Unified song.
  • 00:20:49.638 --> 00:20:51.740
  • Now, it's probably worth mentioning that not everybody in
  • 00:20:51.807 --> 00:20:55.310
  • America wanted to party down in a speakeasy listening to
  • 00:20:55.310 --> 00:20:58.547
  • Jazz music.
  • 00:20:58.547 --> 00:20:59.915
  • In the 1920's, around 30% of americans were still farmers.
  • 00:20:59.915 --> 00:21:03.885
  • Group: farming is our thing.
  • 00:21:03.952 --> 00:21:05.787
  • Cody: and these farmers didn't share in the economic boom.
  • 00:21:05.854 --> 00:21:08.690
  • They couldn't afford fancy cars or flapper dresses, but here's
  • 00:21:08.690 --> 00:21:12.728
  • The deal.
  • 00:21:12.728 --> 00:21:14.096
  • The rift went way deeper than just money.
  • 00:21:14.096 --> 00:21:16.631
  • The 1920's also exposed the beginning of a cultural tension
  • 00:21:16.698 --> 00:21:20.435
  • That we still feel in our nation today.
  • 00:21:20.435 --> 00:21:23.205
  • The popular culture expressed in radio, magazines, and silent
  • 00:21:23.271 --> 00:21:27.075
  • Movies just wasn't in sync with traditional american values.
  • 00:21:27.075 --> 00:21:31.446
  • The drinking, the dancing, the flapper girl, the greediest
  • 00:21:31.513 --> 00:21:35.150
  • Murderous gangster, the buy now pay later consumerism, the
  • 00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:38.887
  • Casual sex, the entire party scene just did not sit well with
  • 00:21:38.887 --> 00:21:43.392
  • America's traditional christian values, so what happened?
  • 00:21:43.392 --> 00:21:48.663
  • Well, an altogether different type of party started to emerge.
  • 00:21:48.730 --> 00:21:53.735
  • Attendance at christian colleges boomed.
  • 00:21:56.304 --> 00:21:58.840
  • Media savvy evangelists packed tent revivals, and if jazz could
  • 00:21:58.840 --> 00:22:03.278
  • Make it on the radio, well, then so could a good, old fashioned
  • 00:22:03.278 --> 00:22:06.581
  • Bible show.
  • 00:22:06.581 --> 00:22:08.116
  • Popular la preacher, aimee semple mcpherson, understood the
  • 00:22:08.116 --> 00:22:11.920
  • Power of media.
  • 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:13.388
  • She was the first woman to ever hold a radio license and she had
  • 00:22:13.455 --> 00:22:17.659
  • The second most popular radio show in all of los angeles.
  • 00:22:17.659 --> 00:22:21.263
  • So, take that, devil.
  • 00:22:21.263 --> 00:22:23.598
  • As the decade neared its end, the great american party started
  • 00:22:26.334 --> 00:22:30.605
  • To die down, but do you remember little wayne wheeler?
  • 00:22:30.605 --> 00:22:35.377
  • Well, this guy wasn't done pooping on america's party.
  • 00:22:35.444 --> 00:22:38.480
  • Get this, when booze became illegal, desperate drinkers
  • 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.784
  • Started refining industrial alcohol, the type of stuff that
  • 00:22:42.784 --> 00:22:46.822
  • You find in paints and perfumes.
  • 00:22:46.822 --> 00:22:49.458
  • So, the probies, under direction of wayne wheeler, started adding
  • 00:22:49.458 --> 00:22:53.662
  • Poison to this stuff.
  • 00:22:53.662 --> 00:22:56.164
  • Between 10,000 and 50,000 people actually died.
  • 00:22:56.164 --> 00:23:00.635
  • Male: this tastes funny.
  • 00:23:01.436 --> 00:23:03.004
  • Female: what?
  • 00:23:03.004 --> 00:23:04.439
  • Cody: and wayne's response?
  • 00:23:04.439 --> 00:23:05.841
  • Male: they deserved it.
  • 00:23:05.841 --> 00:23:07.209
  • Cody: the public began to turn on the anti saloon league, and
  • 00:23:09.411 --> 00:23:12.681
  • By 1933 the prohibition experiment was over and
  • 00:23:12.681 --> 00:23:16.751
  • Americans could legally drink again.
  • 00:23:16.751 --> 00:23:18.320
  • You didn't need speakeasies anymore, you could just go to
  • 00:23:18.320 --> 00:23:22.190
  • A regular bar.
  • 00:23:22.190 --> 00:23:23.558
  • During the roaring twenties,
  • 00:23:24.493 --> 00:23:25.827
  • The dow jones industrial average
  • 00:23:25.827 --> 00:23:27.696
  • Increased sixfold, our wealth
  • 00:23:27.696 --> 00:23:30.432
  • Doubled, and average americans
  • 00:23:30.432 --> 00:23:32.200
  • Could afford such luxuries as
  • 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.069
  • Their own homes, cars, radios,
  • 00:23:34.069 --> 00:23:37.405
  • And telephones, but on october 29th, 1929,
  • 00:23:37.405 --> 00:23:43.512
  • A day history remembers as black monday,
  • 00:23:43.578 --> 00:23:46.715
  • The party in the usa was officially over.
  • 00:23:46.715 --> 00:23:49.918
  • The stock market crashed hard.
  • 00:23:49.918 --> 00:23:52.988
  • After a decade of rowdy partying and overspending, america had a
  • 00:23:52.988 --> 00:23:57.726
  • Massive hangover.
  • 00:23:57.726 --> 00:23:59.227
  • America was depressed,
  • 00:23:59.227 --> 00:24:01.296
  • Quite literally.
  • 00:24:01.296 --> 00:24:02.631
  • The great depression was
  • 00:24:02.631 --> 00:24:04.099
  • The worst economic downturn
  • 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:05.834
  • In history.
  • 00:24:05.834 --> 00:24:07.369
  • By 1933, 15 million americans were unemployed and almost half
  • 00:24:07.369 --> 00:24:12.707
  • Of the country's banks had collapsed.
  • 00:24:12.707 --> 00:24:15.010
  • The financial crisis plunged countless families into poverty
  • 00:24:15.076 --> 00:24:18.680
  • And forced many into bread lines and soup kitchens just
  • 00:24:18.680 --> 00:24:21.616
  • To survive.
  • 00:24:21.616 --> 00:24:22.984
  • This led to widespread homelessness with many people
  • 00:24:22.984 --> 00:24:25.854
  • Living in makeshift shanty towns, often referred to as
  • 00:24:25.854 --> 00:24:29.090
  • Hoovervilles, as they struggled to find shelter and
  • 00:24:29.090 --> 00:24:32.394
  • Bare necessities.
  • 00:24:32.394 --> 00:24:34.329
  • The 1920's were over, and so was the party in the usa, but by
  • 00:24:34.396 --> 00:24:39.000
  • 1933, at least americans could drink again.
  • 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:42.337
  • So, cheers to that.
  • 00:24:42.337 --> 00:24:44.539
  • We'll see you next week.
  • 00:24:44.606 --> 00:24:46.675
  • Male: ladies and gentlemen, a toast to the party in the usa.
  • 00:24:46.741 --> 00:24:52.280
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:24:52.614 --> 00:24:52.614