Unit 7: The Roaring 20s (1918 – 1929)

A Difficult Transition!

Review: The Five Themes of the Roaring 20’s

1. Liberation?2. Creativity?3. Pop Culture?4. Consumerism?5. Fear?

A DIFFICULT TRANSITION!

DLT: I can describe the problems the U.S. faced after World War I and discuss the causes and effects of the Red Scare of 1919-1920.

Influenza!• Sept. 1918 – early 1919• Pandemic bird flu kills 550,000

Americans (50,000 Soldiers)• Probably killed 50-100 Million

Worldwide.• It probably originated in the U.S.

though it was called the Spanish flu.

• Strangely, it hit men and women in their 20s & 30s the hardest.

Women Face New Problems

• Gains made by both groups were off set due to a recession – an economic slowdown.

• The slow economy saw fewer women working in 1920 than in 1910

• The job market was more competitive after the war

African-Americans Face Racial Violence• Due to the Great Migration and

returning soldiers there was a shortage of jobs and housing in Northern cities.

• 25 Riots during the summer 1919.• Chicago (Summer 1919) – 13 days of

violence left dozens dead & hundreds injured.

• Tulsa, OK (1921) – 10 whites & 13 Af-Am dead & 35 blocks burned in Af-Am neighborhood.

Inflation Leads to Post-War Labor Strikes• Rising prices were capped during the war by

government controls.• After the war, people wanted goods, which

were scarce, and not Liberty Bonds. • Scarcity = Inflation Why?• Farmers suffered from falling farm prices and

industrial workers suffered due to inflation.• 1919 saw 4 million workers (20% of the

workforce) struck at one time or another for higher wages and better working conditions.

• The strikers usually lost and some turned violent.

• Union leaders and radicals were blamed for the disorder.

The Boston Police Strike of 1919

• In Boston, MA the entire police force went on strike in Sept. 1919.

• The wanted to create a police union and the mayor said no.

• Governor Calvin Coolidge (MA) became a national hero for stopping the strike.

The Red Scare! 1919-1920

• V.I. Lenin, dictator of the U.S.S.R. (Russia) promoted the spread of communism across the world.

• Many Americans thought the labor strikes of 1919 were incited by the U.S.S.R & radical, communist union leaders in the U.S.

• Numerous bombings across America in 1919-1920 seemed to confirm there was a revolution brewing here.

• Wall Street bombing (Sept. 16, 1920) killed 38 and injured 143!

The Palmer Raids

• A. Mitchell Palmer, U.S. Attorney General, countered by going after suspected radicals (anarchists, socialists, and communists)

• 1000s were arrested & most were never charged with a crime

• Many were innocent recent immigrants from S & E Europe

• 100s were deported to the U.S.S.R. via a ship known as the Buford which was called the “Red Ark”

The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti

• April 15, 1920 – S. Braintree, MA - 2 men at a shoe factory were robbed and murdered

• 2 Italians – Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti were arrested & charged with the crime

• There was little evidence against them; most feel they were victims of their ethnicity and ideology

• August 23, 1927 – they were executed in the electric chair

Exit Slip – The Red Scare1. What disease killed millions around the world in 1919-1920?

a. Influenza b. Cholera c. Pneumonia 2. Race riots occurred in each city EXCEPT ______ during 1919-

1921.a. Tulsa b. Chicago c. Phoenix

3. Police officers in this large U.S. city were heavily criticized for striking in 1919?a. New York b. Boston c. Philadelphia

4. During the Red Scare of 1919-1920, many persons of foreign descent were deported because they were suspected of being ___________.a. Communists b. Criminals c. Jews

Bell Ringer – The Red Scare

• What were some things that caused Americans to be fearful in the years immediately following World War I?

1.2.3.4.