The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties A Booming Economy The Automobile Drives Prosperity Automobiles allowed for urban sprawl. In the late 1920s, 80% of cars were in the United States. Think of everything associated with cars. What does this mean for our economy? Decline of railroads Growth of suburbs Interstate highway system Higher wages for auto workers Rise of the automobile Growth in related industries Greater Freedom Mass production; lower prices A Bustling Economy 40% of the world’s money was in the U.S. Electricity was more common which allowed for refrigerators, ranges, washing machines… Danger Signs of the 1920s • Everything was growing too fast. o Farms making too much food. o Businesses expanding too fast. • People buying on margin. o Installment Plan – “A dollar down, a dollar forever” • People getting deeper and deeper into debt. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Roaring Twenties The Business of Government The Harding Administration Warren Harding was not especially intelligent and it showed during his administration. Harding did not learn the complexities of his job, so he trusted others to make the tough decisions for him. Harding’s cabinet included the so-called Ohio Gang, the president’s poker-playing cronies. Teapot Dome Scandal Sec. of Interior, Albert Falls, transferred oil reserves in Elk Hills, CA & Teapot Dome, WY, from the navy to the Interior Department. Then Fall, secretly leased the land to two private oil companies in exchange for bribes. Coolidge Prosperity Calvin Coolidge, a respected man of integrity, helped to restore people’s faith in their government. Coolidge reduced the national debt, trimmed the federal budget, and lowered taxes to give incentives to businesses. The economy soared, generating industrial profits, and a spectacular growth in the stock market. Coolidge remained silent on many social issues: 1. Falling prices for farmers. 2. Jim Crow Laws in the South. 3. Labor union demands for better working conditions. America’s Role in the World Under both Harding and Coolidge, America continued to play a major role in international affairs… Goal U.S. Action League of Nations World Court To prevent war and settle disputes between nations. To make judgments in international disputes voluntarily submitted by nations. Washington Naval Conference To reduce arms race and size of navies of major problems. KelloggBriand Pact To “outlaw war…as an instrument of national policy” U.S. membership favored by Wilson; Rejected by Senate. U.S. participation favored by Harding; Rejected by Senate. U.S. agreed with leading naval powers to limit construction of warships. U.S. agreed with many other nations to renounce war as a means of settling international disputes. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Roaring Twenties Social & Cultural Tensions Education & Popular Culture 1914 = 1 million people in school 1926 = 4 million people in school The Need for Teachers!! Taxes needed to be increased to help pay for schools across America. More and more people became educated, so going to college became more common than ever before. Traditionalism & Modernism Clash Fundamentalism – The belief that every word in the Bible was the literal truth. (If it was written in the Bible, then it must be true. The growing trend of emphasizing science over traditional ideas about religion became known as modernism. Scopes Trial Tennessee made it illegal to teach evolution. John Scopes taught it anyways and was brought to trial. Clarence Darrow hired by ACLU and William Jennings Bryan for the government. Result: Each side still believed in the truth of its own position. The conflict over evolution continues to rage on today. Postwar Trends Many Americans responded to the stressful conditions of WWI by becoming fearful of outsiders. A wave of nativism and isolationism swept through the nation. Isolationism – A policy of pulling away from involvement in world affairs. Fear of Communism One perceived threat to American life was the spread of communism. The Red Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian government, Scare establishing a new communist state. The Communists cried out for a worldwide revolution that would abolish capitalism everywhere. 70,000 radicals joined the newly formed Communist Party in the U.S., which mailed dozens of bombs to the government. The Palmer raids U.S. Attorney General Palmer and J. Edgar Hoover hunted down suspected communists, socialists, and anarchists. Communism – An economic and political system based on a single-party government ruled by a dictatorship. They trampled people’s civil rights, invading homes and offices and jailing suspects without allowing them legal counsel. Palmer’s raids failed to turn up evidence of a revolutionary conspiracy. Soon, the public decided that Palmer didn’t know what he was talking about. Sacco & Vanzetti The Red Scare fueled people’s suspicions of foreigners and immigrants. Sacco and Vanzetti were both Italian immigrants that were arrested and charged with robbery and murder. Witnesses had said that the criminals appeared to be Italians. Both men claimed their innocence and provided alibis; the evidence against them was circumstantial. The jury still found them guilty and sentenced them to death. Protests rang out throughout the U.S., Europe, and Latin America because many believed that they were mistreated. Limiting Immigration During the wave of nativist sentiment, “Keep America for Americans” became the prevailing attitude. Anti-immigrant attitudes had been growing ever since immigrants began arriving from southern and eastern Europe. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 setup a quota system for immigrants. Quota System – System established the maximum number of people who could enter the U.S. from each foreign country. Historical Significance: The Quota System discriminated against people from eastern and southern Europe (Roman Catholics & Jews); Japanese immigration was prohibited. The Klan Rises Again The KKK used the Red Scare and anti-immigrant feelings as an execuse to harass any group unlike themselves. By 1924, KKK membership reached 4.5 million. The KKK targeted: 1. African Americans 2. Foreign-Born 3. Roman Catholics & Jews Cities & Urban Life Continue to Increase By 1920, 51.2% of Americans lived in cities. New York City = 5.6 million Philadelphia = 2 million Prohibition & Crime Temperance reformers finally get prohibition passed in January 1920 (18th Amendment). Congress then passed the Volstead Act, a law that officially enforced the amendment. The biggest problem was that there are only 1,500 men to enforce this new law. Bootleggers – People who sold illegal alcohol to consumers. Speakeasies – Secret drinking establishments in cities that attracted new customers. The lack of law enforcement for prohibition brought rise to both organized and unorganized crime. Al Capone was the biggest bootlegger in Chicago. He made $60 million a year. By the mid 1920s only 19% of Americans supported the law. In 1933 the 21st Amendment was passed, which repealed the 18th Amendment. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Roaring Twenties A New Mass Culture New Trends in Popular Culture American’s now had more spending money, but the question that remained was what to do with all the money. During the 1920s Americans started to spend money on games, the arts, and watching sports. This famous dance is known as the… CHARELSTON! Lindbergh made the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The trip took 33 hours. People had parties upon his return to the states. Women Assume New Roles In the 1920s, people were eating and drinking like there was no tomorrow. Women who Flappers influenced styles and challenged the attitudes, but relatively few women were social norms. (Short full-fledged flappers. Not all women skirts, roughed wanted to be flappers, but many wanted cheeks, and a short more control over their lives – hair style.) and got it. Women started to get jobs in traditional roles (teachers, nurses, musicians, librarians, secretaries, etc.) Women began living longer, marrying later & having fewer children, freeing their time to pursue other interests. Flappers – The Roaring Twenties The Harlem Renaissance A New “Black Consciousness” Marcus Garvey was an immigrant from Jamaica, who believed in a “Back to Africa” movement. Garvey advocated for separation of the races as the only means to improvement life for African Americans. In 1914 he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association. The Association claimed to have 2.5 million followers that advocated for black pride and black support of black-run businesses. The Jazz Age The 1920s is also referred to as “The Jazz Age.” African Americans, such as, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bessie Smith were the unofficial ambassadors of the jazz. The Harlem Renaissance The Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North during WWI, meant that over 40% of all African Americans lived in cities. There were riots due to the unfair practices in cities regarding African Americans. A.A. were moving to the Upper West Side. Harlem became known as the “Black Capital,” which had many problems, but the people overcame them. The Harlem Renaissance was:  Literary and Artistic movement that celebrated African American culture.  Well-educated African Americans who focused on black pride and wrote about the trials of being black in America.