Roaring 20’s

2 major themes:ModernistsFundamentalists

A “Return to Normalcy: The Politics of the 1920s

After 2 decades of reform movements and a war, Americans wanted a “return to normalcy.”

Americans elected three pro-business Republican Presidents – Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. These Presidents and Congress raised the tariff

but lowered other taxes.

The Politics of the 1920s

Republican Warren G. Harding became President in 1920.

Congress passed the Fordney-McCumber Tariff that raised the tax on imported goods to 60%, the highest in U.S. history.The tariff helped American businesses, but

kept the French and British from selling American products and repaying their debts to American banks.

The Politics of the 1920s

Harding’s Scandals Harding died in August 1923 & several

scandals became public Teapot Dome Scandal

The Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall leased government lands to two oil companies.

Suddenly, Fall had an extra $400,000 in the bank.

The Politics of the 1920s

Calvin Coolidge was President from 1923 to 1929.Coolidge continued the policy of high tariffs and low

taxes. Republican Herbert Hoover won the Presidential

election of 1928.Hoover had gained fame for organizing famine

relief in Europe immediately after WWI.Hoover continued the policies of Harding and

Coolidge and predicted poverty would end soon.

The Economy of the 20’s

Many Americans enjoyed prosperity in the 1920s.

There was low unemployment and the standard of living increased for most Americans.

Americans bought washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and refrigerators.

What caused the economic boom?

Increased productivity of the assembly line made lots of low-cost goods

New energy technologies of oil and electricity

Government policies of high tariffs, tax cuts for businesses, and ignoring the anti-trust laws of the Progressive Era

Farm prices had gone up during the war & farmers had borrowed to buy more land to take advantage of high prices.

After the war was over, prices plummeted and farmers were in debt.

American factories were producing more goods than consumers could buy, so for the first time they allowed consumers to buy on credit. Installment plans – To buy a $150.00 refrigerator, a

buyer paid $20.00 at first, then $12.00 per month for 12 months. The consumer paid $164.00 for the fridge.

Economic Problems of the 1920s: Warning signs

The Flapper

The Birth of Car Culture 1913: 1.2 million 1929 : 26.5 million cars

on the road Henry Ford’s $260 Model T made the car

affordable for many (20 million sold by 1930) New industries evolved around the cars like gas

stations, car repair shops, and motels. There were changes in social patterns.

Rural families could travel to the cities, and families could now take vacations.

Courtship became dating as it moved from the young woman’s home to public and more private areas.

The Culture of the 1920s: The Rural to Urban Shift

The Culture of the 20’s

For the first time, more Americans lived in towns than in the country.

Lifestyles changed as new electrical appliances like refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines gave Americans more leisure time.

The advertising industry was born to sell products. Increased productivity, the new installment plans, and advertising created a consumer culture.

Entertainment in the 1920s

Before WWI, people relied on newspapers. Now radios broadcast sporting events, soap

operas, news, etc, and all Americans were exposed to the same stories and information.

Americans became a nation of movie-goers in the 1920s. The first picture with sound or “talkie” premiered in 1927. America got its first movie stars.

Standardization of taste – same entertainment is available to everyone

RadioKDKA Pittsburgh

GE, Westinghouse,& RCA form NBC

Silent MoviesCharlie Chaplin

“Talkies”The Jazz SingerStarring Al Jolson

Mary Pickford“America’s Sweetheart”

CelebritiesBabe Ruth &Ty Cobb

Jack Dempsey

Charles Lindbergh The Spirit of St. Louis

Rudolph Valentino – The Sheik

Theda Bara: The Vamp

Clara Bow: The “It” Girl

The Culture of the 1920s: Jazz

Jazz was born in the early 20th century in the African-American communities of New Orleans. It evolved from ragtime and blues.

Jazz spread North as the Great Migration that had begun in WWI continued on through 1930.

Famous jazz musicians include Louis Armstrong (trumpet), Duke Ellington (pianist).

Jazz was so popular that the 1920s is referred to as the jazz age.

Jazz is considered America’s most significant contribution to world music.

Jazz Music

Music “By 1917, many key Jazz players, white and black,

had left New Orleans and other southern cities to come north. The reason was not the notorious 1917 closing of the New Orleans red light district, but simple economics. The great war in Europe had created an industrial boom, and the musicians merely followed in the wake of millions of workers moving north to the promise of better jobs.” Dan Morgenstern

Changes in Women’s Roles

Women had the vote. Poor women had always worked, but it became

acceptable for unmarried middle class women to work.

Women began to question their traditional roles The new dance styles, like the Charleston, were much

more physical. Urban women began smoking, drinking, using

cosmetics, and talking openly about sex. There was a growing acceptance of birth control The new, modern woman was symbolized by the

flapper.• Knee-length dresses (knee- oh my!)• Bobbed hair

Flappers

Guardians of morality

Changes in women’s roles

Divorce laws became less strict and the divorce rate increased.

More women began attending high school and college.

http://www.jld.org/ama/orig/1928flappers.jpg

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1999/century/time.capsule/fashion/02/flappers.final.gif

http://collaborative.ucdavis.edu/ss0405/yacharnp/images/flappers.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/flapper_culture/

http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/clash/NewWoman/Sexuality-page1.htm

Edward Hopper: The Nighthawks

Georgia O’Keefe: Red Poppy

Culture War: Modernism v. Fundamentalism

Modernists open to the ideas of Darwin, accepting of changes in women’s role; opposed Prohibition

Fundamentalists Rejected Darwin’s theory that plants and animals

had evolved over millions of years & that humans had evolved from monkeys,

believed God had created the Earth in 6 days (Genesis),

supported Prohibition; mostly in the South and West

The Scopes Monkey Trial, 1925

Tennessee passed a law prohibiting teaching of evolution in March 1925.

In the tiny town of Dayton, high school teacher John Scopes was accused of teaching evolution in biology class.

The case went to trial in July 1925

The Scopes Monkey Trial

The American people were obsessed with the trial and news reporters from all over the country came to Dayton.

The American Civil Liberties Union hired Clarence Darrow, a famous attorney to defend Scopes.

William Jennings Bryan volunteered to serve as a special prosecutor.

Darrow called Bryan to the stand as a Biblical expert & Bryan admitted that he didn’t believe God created the world in 6 24-hour days. Bryan’s supporters were shocked.

Scopes was found guilty but the conviction was overturned later.

Darrow & Bryan

http://www.authentichistory.com/1920s/images/scopes_trial_01.jpg

Prohibition

The reign of tears is over. The slums will soon be a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile and children will laugh. Hell will be forever for rent.

- Reverend Billy Sunday at the beginning of Prohibition

 

Prohibition

The 18th Amendment made it illegal to produce, sell, or transport alcohol, but it didn’t stop the drinking.

People went to underground clubs called speakeasies to drink. You had to know the password to get into a speakeasy. There were 100,000 speakeasies in New York City at one

point. Bootleggers supplied illegal alcohol for a high price. Organized crime gangs realized they could make huge

profits smuggling in alcohol from Canada, Cuba, and the Caribbean.

Prohibition

Violence broke out between rival criminal gangs.

Few Americans took the law seriously and less than 20% supported Prohibition by the mid-1920s.

Prohibition did, however, reduce alcohol consumption.

The 18th Amendment was repealed in 1933. http://www.nps.gov/

history/museum/exhibits/alca/images/AlCapone.jpg

The “Lost Generation”: Alienation & Disillusionment

“Ours was a generation grown up to find all gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken.” FSF

The term “Lost Generation” refers to writers who were disenchanted with American society. Many went to live in Europe.

War veterans disillusioned after seeing senseless slaughter of World War I.

Many hated the excess spending, materialism, and conformity of American society.

Writers included are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Harlem Renaissance

This was a flowering of literature and art in the 1920s, centered in Harlem, and celebrating African-American culture.

Famous writers of the Harlem Renaissance include Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and Zora Neale Hurston.

The Dark Side of the 1920s: the Return of Nativism

The number of immigrants increased after WWI, and the US began to see an increase in anti-immigrant feeling. Why? Isolationists wanted little contact with Europe-

including immigrants! Immediately after WWI, unemployment was high as

soldiers came home. There was lots of competition for jobs

After the Russian Revolution, people were afraid of a communist takeover

The Dark Side of the 1920s: the Return of Nativism & the Red Scare

Causes of the Red Scare Because of several bombs were mailed to

government offices, people believed there was a communist plot to take over America

People suspected of being communists were put in prison without trials, and some foreigners were deported without trials

Immigration Quotas

Congress passed two laws to limit immigration. Quota Act of 1921 – Limited immigrants to 3% of the

US 1910 population of that group 2nd Quota Act of 1924 – Limited immigrants to 2% of

their 1890 US population.• Canadians & Latin Americans exempted from the law.• The goal of the act was to reduce immigration from Eastern

Europe.

Sacco & Vanzetti Trial

Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants and anarchists who had avoided the draft during WWI.

They were accused of murdering a factory bookkeeper. Both had alibis & the judge made prejudiced comments during their trial.

Many people believed they were convicted because of their backgrounds.

They were executed in 1927.

http://images.google.com/url?q=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/SaccoV/SaccoV.htm&usg=__t5mlCcJqGiqx9OcD9mnw9QB_JB8=

Ku Klux Klan

The Klan was reborn in Stone Mountain, Georgia in 1915.

The Klan preached prejudice towards blacks, Catholics, Jews, foreigners & communists

By 1925 it had 5 million members and became very active in politics.

The Klan became so powerful it controlled the government of Indiana. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/

Article.jsp?path=/HistoryArchaeology/TheProgressiveEraandWorldWarI/GroupsOrganizations-6&id=h-2730

Tactics

The Klan used its traditional tactics of white robes, burning crosses in yards, and threats.

The Birth of a Nation

Decline of the KKK

The Klan, however, had problems with corruption, tax fraud, and fights over who would be the leader.

1925 Grand Dragon David Stephenson was convicted of murder. His conviction essentially ended the Klan.