Unit 5 the Roaring 20 S

Unit 4 1

Unit 4 – The Roaring 20’s

The Politics of the Roaring 20’s

I. Americans Struggle with Postwar issues

 WW I had left much of the American public exhausted  Many Americans responded to the stressful conditions be becoming fearful of outsiders

. Nativism – prejudice against foreign-born people (swept the nation) . Isolationism – a policy of pulling away from involvement in world a affairs

Fear of Communism

. Define communism economic/political system based on government ownership of private property and one party control

1. The Red Scare

. The panic in the US began in 1919 after revolutionaries in Russia overthrew in czarist regime; led by V.I. Lenin they established a communist state . Why was it called the “RED” scare? Red Flag of Communism . A Communist party did form in the US

2. The Palmer Raids

. Named after Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer . The “raids” hunted down suspected communists, socialists, and anarchists . What were (2) results of these raids?

1. government deported 100s of alien radicals

2. did not turn up much evidence of any plot to overthrow the government

3. Sacco and Vanzetti

. Italian immigrants who were executed for robbery and murder . Little evidence against except that they were Italian and anarchists . What is the significance of these men?

Anti-immigrant feelings were growing in the United States Unit 4 2

Limiting Immigration

 Anti-immigrant attitudes had been growing since the 1880’s –WHY?

a. immigrants causing labor problems with ideas of anarchy and communism

b. WW I was over so there was no demand for cheap labor

1. The Klan Rises Again

. KKK was devoted to “100% Americanism” (4.5 mil. members 1924) . Who were their targets? African Americans, Jews, Catholics

2. The Quota System

. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 set up a quota system  This system established the maximum number of people who could enter the US from each foreign country  Reduced the amount of Catholic and Jews  What nationality was prohibited from entering? Japanese

A Time of Labor Unrest

 Another severe postwar conflict formed between labor and management.  Government did not like workers strike during WW I because of the war effort – the AFL pledged not to strike.  After the war (1919) there were more than 3,000 strikes  Who did the employers attempt to link the strikers with? Radicals = Communists/Anarchists

 Identify the following strikes:

1. The Boston Police Strike – police fired by governor 2. The Steel Mill Strike – broke steel worker’s union 3. The Coal Miner’s Strike – John L Lewis led successful strike

 Labor Movement Loses Appeal – membership dropped severely

1. immigrants were willing to work in poor conditions 2. difficult to organize immigrants because of language barrier 3. farmers who had migrated to cities were used to relying on themselves 4. most unions excluded African-Americans Unit 4 3

II. The Harding Presidency

 Warren G. Harding called for a “return to normalcy” (EXPLAIN)

Return America to a more stable, less chaotic (no strikes; protests, war)

Harding Struggles for Peace

1. Washington Naval Conference - 1921  President Harding invited several major powers to discuss arms control, war debts and the reconstruction of war-torn countries  Charles Evans Hughes (Sec. of State) urged that no warships be built for 10 years and this led to the Kellogg-Briand Pact (EXPLAIN)

Nations who signed promised not to use war in their foreign policy; problem was how to enforce it

2. High Tariffs and Reparations  Great Britain and France owed the US $10 billion  Wanted to sell US goods or collect reparations from Germany  How did the Fordney-McCumber Tariff prevent the selling of goods? Raised tax on goods imported into US and this slowed world wide trade

 Dawes Plan - US loaned money to Germany to pay France and GB so they could pay the US back.

Scandal Hits Harding’s Administration

1. Harding’s Cabinet

. Good = Hughes, Herbert Hoover, Andrew Mellon . Bad = so called Ohio Gang; president’s poker-playing cronies

2. Scandal Plagues Harding

. President’s main problem was that he didn’t understand many of the issues. . Harding’s corrupt friends used their offices to become wealthy through graft.

3. The Teapot Dome Scandal - 1923 . The most spectacular example of corruption was the Teapot Dome. . Oil reserves in Teapot Wyoming were leased to friends of Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall – What did Fall do that was illegal? took bribes from businesses so they can use Federal land to drill oil  Harding had a stroke on August 2, 1923 and died.  Calvin Coolidge takes over and wins the election of 1924. Unit 4 4

III. The Business of America

 Calvin Coolidge – “The Business of America, is Business!”

American Industries Flourish

 Both Coolidge and his successor (R) Herbert Hoover favored policies that would keep taxes down and business profits up, and give business credit to expand.

 What was their goal with these policies? Allow for private business and enterprise to grow and flourish which would provide jobs for Americans

1. The Impact of the Automobile

. The automobile literally changed the American landscape  Construction of paved roads (Route 66)  House styles changed – garages and driveways  Rapid construction of gasoline stations, public garages, motels, tourist camps and shopping centers  IDENTIFY changes for people

 Young People = more independent  Rural families = go to big cities to shop and see entertainment  Urban Sprawl = cities began to spread out and grow

2. The Young Airplane Industry

. Automobiles were not the only form of transportation taking off. . The airplane industry began as a mail carrying service for the Post Office . First flights were a disaster, but eventually the airplane was soon established as a means of peacetime transportation

 IDENTIFY Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart Famous American aviators

America’s Standard of Living Soars

 The years from 1920-1929 were prosperous ones for the United States; Americans owned around 40% of the world’s wealth.

1. Electrical Conveniences = the use of electricity transformed the nation Unit 4 5

. Factories using machines; suburbs; households; . Irons, refrigerators, cooking ranges, toasters . What was the significance of these appliances? Gave Americans more time for leisure (free time); made life easier

2. The Dawn of Modern Advertising

. With new goods flooding the market, advertising agencies no longer just informed the public about products and prices. . They hired psychologists to study how to appeal to people’s desire for youthfulness, beauty, health, and wealth.

A Superficial Prosperity

 During the 1920’s most Americans believed prosperity would go on forever.

1. Producing great quantities of goods

. As productivity increased, businesses expanded. . As businesses grew, so did the income gap between workers and managers

2. Buying goods on credit

. Credit was used to lure consumers to purchase more goods . DEFINE installment plan Pay for a product in monthly payments or installments; not all at once

. Some economists and business owners worried that installment buying might be getting out of hand and that is was a sign of a weak economy and “superficial prosperity” (EXPLAIN)

The US economy looked solid on the surface however there were many problems with economy that people did not see. Unit 4 6

The Roaring Life of the 1920’s

I. Changing Ways of Life

Rural and Urban Differences

. America changed dramatically in the years before 1920 – more and more Americans moved to big cities (2 mil a year between 1922-1929) . Small town attitudes (conservative moral values, close social relationships) began to lose their hold on the American mind as cities grew.

1. The New Urban Scene

. New York (5.6), Chicago (3) and Philly (2) were the 3 largest cities . Life in booming cities was far different from the slow paced, intimate life in America’s small towns

 EXAMPLES: immigrants, movie theaters, vaudeville shows and a toleration for sinful behavior (EXPLAIN) drinking, gambling, casual dating

2. The Prohibition Experiment

. One vigorous clash between small town and big city Americans began in earnest January 1920 when the 18th Amendment went into effect

. DEFINE Prohibition manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol was prohibited

 What did the reformers think Prohibition would get rid of? Crime/corruption – accidents on the job - abuse

. Eventually, Prohibition’s fate was sealed by the government  Failed to budget enough money to enforce the law  Volstead Act established a Prohibition Bureau in the Treasury Department

 What made their job so difficult? Not enough officers to enforce the law

3. Speakeasies and Bootleggers

. To obtain liquor illegally, drinkers went underground to hidden saloons and nightclubs known as speakeasies . These could be found everywhere

. What was alcohol allowed for? Medical or religious purposes . Bootleggers = people who smuggled liquor in from Canada, Cuba, etc. Unit 4 7

4. Organized Crime

. Flourished in nearly every major city during Prohibition . Al Capone ruled Chicago with an iron first and ran an empire that netted him $60 million a year

 By the mid-1920’s only 19% of Americans supported Prohibition, but it remained in force until 1933 when the 21st Amendment got rid of the 18th.

Science and Religion Clash

 Another battle between traditional and fundamental ideas was between fundamental religious groups and secular thinkers over the truths of science.

1. American Fundamentalism

. Fundamentalism was a Protestant movement grounded in a literal, or nonsymbolic, interpretation of the Bible. (IDENTIFY Billy Sunday) Famous preacher who held large revival meetings

. Fundamentalists were skeptical of scientific knowledge; they argued that all important knowledge could be found in the Bible.

 What major scientific theory did they reject? Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

2. The Scopes Trial

. In March 1925, Tennessee passed the nation’s first law that made it a crime to teach evolution . John T. Scopes (biology teacher) was arrested for teaching Darwin’s theory

. The Scopes Trial (July 10, 1925)  Fight over evolution and the role of science and religion in public schools and in American society.  Clarence Darrow (famous lawyer) defended Scopes  William Jennings Bryan (fundamentalist politician) was the prosecutor  Never a question of guilt or innocence; Scopes was obviously guilty

 What was the trial famous for? Darrow’s questioning of Bryan Unit 4 8

II. The Twenties Woman

Young Women Change the Rules

 In the rebellious, pleasure-loving atmosphere of the 20’s, many women began to assert their independence, reject the values of the 19th century, and demand the same freedoms as men

1. The Flapper

. The emancipated young woman who embraced the new fashions and urban attitudes of the day. . Many young women became more assertive  EXAMPLES = smoking, drinking, talking openly about sex . Attitudes toward marriage changed as well – EXPLAIN Were becoming more of a partnership; fewer arranged marriages

2. The Double Standard . Although many young women donned the new outfits and flouted tradition, the flapper was more of an image of rebellious youth than a widespread reality, it did not reflect the attitudes and values of many young people.

. What was the double standard towards dating? greater freedom for men compared to women

Women Shed Old Roles at Home and at Work

 The fast-changing world of the 1920s produced new roles for women in the workplace and new trends in family life. WHY? (2 reasons)

1. booming industrial economy 2. time saving appliances

1. New Work Opportunities

. Women worked successfully during the war in men’s jobs, but when the war was over, the demand for women workers dropped . Many female college graduates turned to “women’s professions” and became nurses, teachers, librarians and traditional clerical jobs . By 1930, about 10 million women were earning wages but few rose to managerial positions and earned less then men

2. The Changing Family

. Widespread social and economic changes reshaped the family. . What was the significance of the advent of birth control? Decline in birthrate Unit 4 9

. At the same time social and technological innovations simplified household labor and family life  Ready made clothes and ready to eat food  Public services to help elderly and sick; workmen’s compensation

. Marriage and Women  Marriages became based more on love and companionship

. Children  Less work for them to do, more time for leisure

 Why could this be a problem with this for families?

Conflict between parents who were strict and wanted ‘old country’ values and their children who were more free and rebellious Unit 4 10

III. Education and Popular Culture

Schools and the Mass Media Shape Culture

 During the 1920’s, developments in education and mass media had a powerful impact on the nation

1. School Enrollments

. 1914 = 1 million American students in school; 1926 4 million . A big reason for this increase was that prior to 1920, high schools had only catered to college bound students; this changed to include vo-tech schools. . Problems schools faced:

a. teaching immigrant kids

b. financial costs of education were skyrocketing

2. Expanding News Coverage

. The growing mass media shaped a mass culture in the US. . Newspaper circulation rose with the use of sensationalism . Magazines readership also grew. (Reader’s Digest, Time)

3. Radio Comes of Age

. Radio was the most powerful communications medium to emerge in the 20’s . Radio networks had created something new in the US:

 The shared national experience of hearing news as it happened; presidential addresses or the World Series

America Chases New Heroes and Old Dreams

 During the 20’s, many people had money and the leisure to enjoy it.  $4.5 billion on entertainment  Americans flooded sports stadiums to see stars, who were glorified as superheroes by the mass media

1. Lindbergh’s Flight

. America’s most beloved hero was not an athlete, but a small-town pilot who made the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic (Charles A. Lindbergh)

 Where did he leave from? Land? Left from New York, landed in Paris, France Unit 4 11

 Significance of Lindbergh was that he stood for all that was good and honest about America and what Americans could achieve.

2. Entertainment and the Arts

. America’s thirst for entertainment in the arts and on the screen and stage unquenchable in the 1920’s . The first major movie with sound was The Jazz Singer – 1927

. Other notables in the Arts:

- George Gershwin = classical music composer

- Georgia O’Keeffe = painter; New York building

3. Writers of the 1920’s

. The 20’s also brought an outpouring of fresh and insightful writing, making it one of the richest eras in the country’s literary history.

- Sinclair Lewis (The Babbitt); 1st American to win Nobel prize for literature

- F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby  Wrote of the darker side of high society

- Ernest Hemingway – A Farewell to Arms  Wrote simply about the horrors of WW I.