The Roaring 1920s!!!A decade of excess in fun,

fear, new gadgets, spending and government,

Demobilization from the Great WarArmy goes from 3 million to 500,000Economic controls lifted, industry

converted back to peacetime productsWar time spending caused inflation,

Wilson was busy getting the League of Nations passed

Farmers hit hard, prices fell, debt from borrowing to mechanize their farms during the war

Demobilization from the Great WarLabor unrest – 3,600 strikes in 1919, people

hoard food and fuel due to fear of strikers, Seattle shipyard workers wanted a 10% raise

Boston Police strike – looters stole goods and wreaked havoc on the cityMassachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge

called out state guard and hired a new police force “no right to strike against public safety”

350,000 steel workers and 450,000 coal miners struck

Red Scare - CausesCommunist revolution occurred in

Russia – overthrow of the Czar, established the Soviet Union

Communist Party established in the USAIWW - Industrial Workers of the World

connected to the Communist PartyPeople of all walks of life joined, less

than 1/10 of 1% of Americans actually joined

Compare the Economic SystemsCommunism Capitalism

Government owns all property(land), capital(investment money) and machines(factories)

Government makes all economic decisions

All people are equal, no competition is encouraged

Private people own all property, capital and machines

The market makes all economic decisions

Competition is rewarded, those who win get more

Red Scare - EffectsBombs mailed to government and business

leaders – postmaster and John D. RockefellerAmericans scared of being taken over by the

CommunistsA. Mitchell Palmer - had presidential ambitions,

wanted Communism to be a campaign issue1919 - FBI formed under the Department of

JusticeJob was to hunt down anarchists, socialists,

Communists, etc.Invaded people’s Civil Rights

No search warrants needed Jailed with no cause Jailed attorneys who went to help Deportations without trials

No evidence turned up in raids, May Day plot discredited

Sacco-Vanzetti Trial2 men were immigrants and radicalsAccused of killing 2 men during a

robbery in MassachusettsGuilty, but thought trial was biased

because they were immigrantsExecuted in 1927, in 1980s were

found innocent and pardoned by Governor Dukakis

Rise of the KKKAnti-immigrant, anti-black, anti-Communist, anti-saloon, anti-union, anti-Catholic and anti-Jew

Felt threatened by changes in US society

Huge increase in membership, especially in the Midwest

Status of Women19th Amendment ratified in 1920

Women had the right to vote

Immigration Laws1921 – Emergency Quota Act – limit number

of immigrants from certain countries1924 – National Origins Act – amendments to

1921 Act2% of European nations living in US in 1890Discriminated against Eastern and Southern

Europeans Catholics and Jews

1929 – National Origins act shifted base year to 1920 – severely cut number of immigrants from EuropeReduced total # who could come to 150,000Excluded Japanese – insulted – rumblings of

WWIIDidn’t apply to Western Hemisphere (Mexico,

etc.)

Harding Administrationhttp://americanhistory.si.edu/PRESIDENCY/5

a_frame.htmlIsolationism – stay out of foreign affairsIncrease of nativism – favor “old”

AmericansTrend toward political conservatism and

away from activism of Progressive EraNormalcy – back to the good old days

US wanted to stay out of future European conflicts and world affairs – IsolationismLed to the Red Scare

Harding AdministrationUnions – roll back of gains under T. Roosevelt,

Taft and Wilson – nation became anti-unionSuspected of being Communist, Big Business

promoted ideaImmigrants had no choice but to work in poor

conditionsMultiple languages made it difficult to organize

workersPeople off rural farms were very self-reliant,

difficult to organizeExcluded African Americans from unions, changed

in 1925

Harding AdministrationBusiness Issues

Wanted less government controlDecrease military spending, reduce income

taxes by 2/3Fordney-McCumber Tariff - 1922

Increase taxes on imports to 60%Intended to protect US businessesPrevented foreign nations from selling to the

USProhibited Britain and France from paying

war debts

Harding AdministrationForeign Policy Issues

League of Nations not ratifiedFour Power Treaty - US, GB, FR & Japan (JP) -

agree to respect Pacific Island possessionsFive Power Treaty - US, GB, FR, IT & JP – froze

size of navies, no new bases on foreign territories

Nine Power Treaty – put Open Door policies in a treaty for commercials rights to China No limits on land military forces or small naval

vessels (destroyers and subs)

Harding AdministrationScandals – personally honest, but “who needs

enemies with friends like these?”“Ohio Gang” - used ties to President Harding to sell

government appointments, pardons, immunity from prosecution and fraudulent contracts

Teapot Dome Scandal Sec. of Interior – Albert Fall - secretly leased oil

lands owned by the US Navy to private company for a $300,000 bribe

Senate investigation, found guilty and went to prison Harding went to visit Alaska, health problems and

died on way back before the scandals were made public

Vice President Calvin Coolidge took over, very quiet guy

Changing Life in 1920sRural life Urban life

ConservativeGod-fearing

ProtestantsTraditionalNot in favor of

change in society

LiberalSome secular,

all religionsNon-traditionalIn favor of major

social change

New Urban SceneHuge cities – NYC - 5.6 million, Chicago 3

millionFast paced, immigrants, trolleys, subways ,

skyscrapersLots of entertainment

Sports – baseball, football, tennis, golfMusic – opera, symphony, jazz clubsMedia – newspapers, radio shows, magazines,

booksCity dwellers tolerated drinking, smoking,

gambling and casual dating considered shocking and sinful in small towns

Prohibition18th Amendment prohibited the manufacture,

sale and distribution of alcohol – reformers thought alcohol was cause of corruption, wife and child abuse, crime, accidents on the job, etc.

2 Groups that supported prohibitionWomen’s Christian Temperance UnionAnti-Saloon League

Many ignored the lawImmigrants with cultural standards, tired of

sacrifices of WWI, resented government interference

Volstead Act underfunded law enforcement and doomed it to failure

ProhibitionDefine Speakeasies –

Define Bootleggers –

Organized Crime – underworld gangs made and sold alcohol at huge profitsAl Capone - $60 million per year522 bloody gang killings during the 1920s

ProhibitionCauses EffectsReligious groups

thought alcohol was sinful

Reformers believed gov’t should protect public health

War time hostility against immigrant German-American brewers, and others

Disrespect for the law

Increase of lawlessness, smuggling and bootlegging

New income for criminals, growth of organized crime

Clash of Science and ReligionScopes Trial - Fundamentalism vs.

ModernismCase was over the teaching of

evolutionReligious Fundamentalists opposed

teaching evolution in the classroomWilliam Jennings Bryan won but was

disgraced by Clarence Darrow (fought for teacher – Scopes)

1920s Women - FlappersBehavior Styles1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

1920s WomenDefine the “Double Standard” for women

A set of principles granting greater sexual freedom to men than to women

Examples:Society holds women to stricter standards of

behavior than men“boys will be boys” but girls need to be perfect

and pureWomen advance in the workplace

Bankers, lawyers, police officers, etc.1 million college graduates moved into

professions

EducationSchool enrollments - 1 million high school

students in 1914 to 4 million in 1926New “modern” high schools

Catered to college bound studentsOffered courses for broad range of students Vocational training for industrial jobsHome economics for future homemakers

Job was to education and assimilate new immigrant children to be “Americans” – taught English and American culture, values and ways

Mass Media – go to page 625Newspapers

1.2.

Magazines1.2.

Radio1.2.

Heroes of the Age (page 626) Sport Name Accomplishment1.

2.

3.

Why was Charles A. Lindbergh so popular?

MoviesBy 1925, fourth largest industry in

America with 20,000 movie housesStars of the time

Charlie ChaplinClara BowRudolph Valentino

The Jazz Singer – First major film with sound

Theater, Music & Art (pg 628-629)Name Work of Art

Playwrights1.2.Composers1.2.Painters1.2.Writers1.2.3.

Great Migration100,000s of African AmericansMoved from rural South to industrial Northracial violence and economic discriminationLeft due to floods, droughts and destruction of

cotton crop by boll weevilGoals of African Americans

Aggressively protest racial discriminationLegislation to protect rights and against lynchingImprove living standard for African Americans

Impact of Marcus Garvey and the UNIAReverence for AfricaIncreased number of African American business

ownersIncreased African American pride

ConsumerismSociety began to adjust to autos – freedom,

fun, etc.Urban sprawl as people moved to suburbs

Electrical Conveniences cheaper, more of themIrons, washers, radios, vacuum, phonograph

Advertising – made people want things they did not know they needed“Say it with flowers” – doubled sales between

1912 & 1924Credit – installment plans to buy big items

Allowed to pay over time rather than have the money to start with

Focus on buying more stuff, less savings