US History Chapter 32 Notes

US History Chapter 32 Notes  American Life in the “Roaring Twenties” (1919-1929) o After a war and uncertain resolution, the US strayed from further meddling in foreign affairs. . They kept the economy mostly separate from the world, to extreme success. o The strong economy led wages to rise and new products to be made. . People pursued leisure and entertainment, while some worried about losing traditions.  Seeing Red o 1917- Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. A small communist party formed in the US. o Most Americans highly distrusted and despised communist ideas, and feared Russia. o Near the end of the war, there were a lot of strikes in the US over high prices. . Many worried that the strikes were caused by the communist party. . 1919- Calm strike in Seattle led the mayor to blame Russia and communism. . Billy Sunday was a notable anti-communist. o 1919-1920- A ‘red scare’ led to many alleged communists being accused (most were just leftists). . Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer (“Fighting Quaker”) found a bunch of them.  June 1919- A bomb exploded in Palmer’s house, making him more concerned. o December 1919- Over 200 alleged radicals were sent on the Buford to Russia. o 1920- A bomb exploded on Wall Street, and communists were blamed. o 1919-1920- Many state legislatures made criminal syndicalism laws. . These outlawed advocacy of violence for social change. . Some protested that this violated the first amendment. . But many socialists/IWW workers were still arrested, and 5 elected socialists weren’t allowed to serve in NY legislature. . Businessmen were happy with the red scare, since they wanted ‘open shops’, preferably without any unions. “The American Plan”. o 1921- Nicola Sacco and Bartolommeo Vanzetti (workers) were convicted for murdering a paymaster and guard- the judge and jury were prejudiced, because of the ethnicity and religious beliefs. . So liberals and radicals were mad for 6 years, but the two were still executed. . They were probably guilty, but a death sentence was excessive.  Hooded Hoodlums of the KKK o 1920s- KKK became popular again, now more like nativists than just anti-African American. . They hated AAs, communists, Catholics, Jews, foreigners, pacifists, gamblers, adulterers, evolutionists, bootleggers, and birth control advocates. (That’s too much hatred.) o KKK was especially popular in the Midwest and south. It had 5 million members in the 1920s. . They had many secret rituals and theme songs, and a lot of influence. . They also used a lot of violence against those they didn’t like. o Late 1920s- KKK’s membership declined, especially as Congress was investigating embezzling done by officials. Not only was it prejudiced and horrible, it was also a Ponzi scheme.  Stemming the Foreign Flood o 1920s- Many more immigrants (mostly from southern and eastern Europe) were showing up, and the US had just become more isolationist. So many ‘natives’ were mad. o So Congress made the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. . A quota of people of each nationality was let into the country each year- the quota was 3% of those of the same nationality that had already been residents in 1910.  So this helped the groups that already had large amounts of residents. o 1924- Immigration Act. The quota was made 2%, and 1890 instead of 1910. . This meant much fewer immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. . Also, another part of the act forbid Japanese immigrants, which enraged Japan. . Canada and Latin America didn’t have to follow the quota system, since they were close by. o These acts were the first real attempts to cut down on immigration. . 1931- People started leaving, since the Depression was so bad. o Even though immigration had diminished, there were still many isolated ethnic groups in the US. . This made it hard to make powerful labor unions- too many language barriers.  The Prohibition “Experiment” o Prohibition was the last major change from the Progressive movement. . 1919- The 18th Amendment established prohibition. (Volstead Act). . South and West were happy as it kept alcohol away from African Americans, and decreased violence and prostitution. . But eastern cities, and immigrants especially, valued social drinking, and so were mad. o Of course, it was impossible to outlaw something that had been so popular for so long, especially when there was a lot of resistance and the gov’t wasn’t very strong. o People violated the law, and thought that if they did this enough, it would end. o Workers weren’t happy, as the rich were able to buy illegal alcohol, but they didn’t have the money. o Many made bootleg liquor, and the enforcement wasn’t very good. . Speakeasies opened up everywhere, and many became rumrunners, smuggling from Canada. . Much of the homemade alcohol was extremely dangerous. o Business was helped by less absenteeism, but people drank more during Prohibition than before.  The Golden Age of Gangsterism o Prohibition led to much bribing and violence in taking control of illegal alcohol market. . Gangs formed in cities and had many shootouts, leading to 500 deaths in Chicago.  There was very little police involvement- few were prosecuted. o 1925- Al Capone began a gang warfare which would go on for 6 years and make him rich. . Even though he was clearly involved in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929, it was impossible to convict him. . He was finally sent to jail for income-tax evasion, and destroyed by syphilis. o Gangsters took over the prostitution, gambling, and narcotics businesses. . They often forced people to pay them to stay safe. . Gangsters also got involved in labor unions. They made much more than the gov’t. o Charles A. Lindbergh’s baby was kidnapped by gangsters in 1932. . Congress made the Lindbergh Law- interstate abduction was a capital offense.  Monkey Business in Tennessee o 1920s- Much progress in education. . More state requirements to stay in school until 16 or 18. . ¼ 17-year-olds finished high school. . John Dewey (at Colombia University) promoted ‘learning by doing’ ideas.  This was ‘Progressive education’, and wanted students to be involved in the process. o Much progress in science, also. . 1909- Rockefeller Foundation had made a health program in south that stopped hookworm. . There was also better nutrition and health care. 1929- Life expectancy was 59. o Fundamentalists (strictly religious people who disapproved of new science) were not happy. . They thought that teaching evolution was an assault on religion.  They blamed this for ‘moral decay’ of teenagers, and jazz music. . So many fundamentalists tried to ban teaching of evolution- this worked in 3 states.  One of these was TN. o 1925- In Dayton, TN, John T. Scopes (biology teacher) taught evolution. . So he was indicted, and this led to a media frenzy during his trial. . He had excellent, well-known defense lawyers, and William Jennings Bryan on prosecution.  Clarence Darrow (defense) made Bryan look bad, and he then died of a stroke. . Scopes was found guilty and subject to a fine, which the TN supreme court didn’t apply. . Although the law wasn’t overturned, the trial made the Fundamentalists look bad.  But Fundamentalism still persisted, especially among the Baptists.  The Mass-Consumption Economy

o There was a lot of prosperity during the 1920s, aside from the recession in 1920-1921.

o The war stimulated businesses.

o So did SOT Andrew Mellon’s tax policies- they allowed for more investment.

o There were many new machines that ran off of oil being taken from fields.

o Henry Ford had an automobile plant on Rouge River near Detroit, which made vehicles every ten seconds.

. He used assembly line production, which was wildly successful.

o Cars became incredibly popular during the 1920s, and there were many businesses that made electrical power for the automobiles. 30 million cars by 1930.

o Because of the new machines, there was high amounts of production.

. But now, the major issue was selling the goods they could make.

o So advertising became very popular- consumerism and materialism was promoted.

o 1925- Bruce Barton wrote “The Man Nobody Knows” discussing the advertising prowess of Jesus Christ.

o Sports was extremely important, especially baseball and boxing.

. George (Babe) Ruth (baseball) and Jack Dempsey (boxer) were especially famous.

o People also bought things ‘on credit’, leading to much going into debt.

. This meant that the structure was highly unstable and prone to collapse.

 Putting America on Rubber Tires

o 1920s- Another industrial revolution.

. Cars were important, along with gasoline engines perfected by Americans (made by Europeans).

o 1890s- Henry Ford and Ransom Olds were both earlier automobile producers.

o 1910- There were 69 car companies. But cars weren’t very well made.

o Detroit became a major city for car production, especially thanks to Frederick Taylor, who improved efficiency (“Father of Scientific Management”)

o Ford made the Model T, which was affordable and reliable, but also strange looking.

. He used standardized parts to allow for efficient production. . Ford built an immense business, despite his lack of education.

. He used the assembly process, which was so efficient that workers could buy the products.

. 1914- 500,000 Model T’s were released. 1930- 20 million.

o 1929- There were 26 million cars in the US- more than any other country.

 The Advent of the Gasoline Age

o The auto industry became very important, more important than steel (although it used steel).

. 1930- The industry and supporting industries had 6 million workers.

 Supporting industries were glass, rubber, fabric, highway creation, etc.

. The rise of the auto industry led to improvements in quality of life.

o The petroleum business was rapidly expanded, especially in CA, TX, and OK.

o The railroad industry declined with the creation of cars, buses, etc.

o There was faster transport of goods, which allowed perishable foods to go farther.

. So cities actually had fresh produce! That was nice.

o Many more roads were built- money was supplied by a gasoline tax.

o Cars went from being for the rich to being for everyone. They were usually necessary.

. Many people drove for leisure or vacation, and women became more independent.

. People became less isolated, and more people moved to better states.

o Buses meant fewer separate schools and churches were needed.

o There were more suburbs and commuters.

o There were many accidents. 1951- One million Americans had died in car accidents.

o Many adults were concerned that cars were causing moral decay of teenagers.

. The car allowed for more organized crime and prostitution.

o The car was preferred since it was comparably less messy than horses.

 Humans Develop Wings

o 1903- Orville and Wilbur Wright flew a plane for 12 seconds with a person in it at Kitty Hawk, NC.

o Airplane flying was at first a stunt, and then it became important for the military in the Great War.

o DC then subsidized some private airplane companies to fly passengers and mail.

. 1920- First airmail route across the US- from NYC to San Francisco.

o 1927- Charles Lindbergh flew from NYC to Paris (the first to do so!). It took forever. . The public was very excited, and this benefitted the new aviation industry.

o Of course, there were still tons of accidents (about as many as the railroads had had).

. 1930s- Air travel was safer than vehicle travel.

o The aviation industry further damaged the railroad industry and improved the military.

 The Radio Revolution

o 1890s- Italian Guglielmo Marconi made wireless telegraphy. This allowed for communication in WWI.

o Later, broadcasting radio was made. 1920- KDKA station in Pittsburgh made an early broadcasts.

o After that, there were wireless phonographs and televisions. 1920s- Broadcasting was long distance.

. National networks were made instead of local programming.

. Many of the broadcasters were private companies, and there was a lot of advertising.

o The radio became an important part of home life- with entertainment programs and advertising.

. Sports became more important, and politicians reached larger audiences.

. Radios also broadcast readings of the bible and music.

 Hollywood’s Filmland Fantasies

o 1890s- Very early televisions were somewhat known. Edison and others had helped to make them.

o 1903- The first ‘movie’, “The Great Train Robbery”, was released and played in cheap theaters.

. 1915- “The Birth of a Nation” was an important movie (though it promoted the KKK).

o Hollywood became the important producer of movies. They made many moves with nudity at first.

. Then the public pressured them to censor the films.

o WWI- Many anti-Germany propaganda films were made.

o 1927- “The Jazz Singer” was made- this was the first movie with sound. Silent movies disappeared.

. There were even a few color movies made. Movies were extremely popular and well-funded.

o The rise of movie and radio led to some loss of cultural aspects from isolated ethnic communities. But it also allowed for a more standardized system and the formation of stronger labor unions.

 The Dynamic Decade

o 1920- Majority of Americans now lived in urban areas. Women had more jobs, though low in pay.

o More contraceptives were available due to the work of Margaret Sanger.

o 1923- National Women’s Party (Alice Paul) started campaigning for Equal Rights Amendment.

o Modernist religions became more powerful, stressing a nice god instead of a forceful one. . Churches also made their own movies to promote their religion.

o Clothing became more revealing, especially for women. Sex became more openly discussed.

. Sigmund Freud said that this allowed for a healthier environment.

. There were fewer taboos. Jazz music led to more intimacy in dancing.

o Jazz popularized the saxophones. It expanded out of New Orleans, and led to the prominence of some African American musicians (Handy Morton, Joseph King Oliver, etc.)

. Producers created all-white jazz bands to make money.

o Harlem, NYC, was an important African American community that produced creative work.

. Langston Hughes was an important poet from here.

. Marcus Garvey created the United Negro Improvement Association.

 This was supposed to help AAs settle in Africa.

 It also made businesses to promote economic success of AAs

o Black Star Line Steamship Company was one of these.

o Most of the businesses did not do well, and Garvey was convicted and deported for mail fraud in 1927.

 The UNIA did allow for more confidence, and led to the Black Muslim movement.

 Cultural Liberation

o A new literature movement was on the rise after the Great War.

. New authors were no longer just Protestants from New England, like before.

o H.L. Mencken was an important author. He made the magazine “American Mercury” that made criticisms of marriage, democracy, prohibition, and other such things.

o Authors started to ignore the taboos and traditional ideas present in old writing.

. 1920- F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “This Side of Paradise”, which became important for youths.

 He later wrote “The Great Gatsby”, revealing problems of the society.

. Theodore Dreiser wrote “An American Tragedy”.

. Ernest Hemingway wrote “The Sun Also Rises” and “A Farewell to Arms”, revealing the awfulness of the war and flaws of patriotism.

o Some authors wrote about small-town life.

. Sherwood Anderson wrote about psychological issues from that isolation.

. Sinclair Louis wrote against materialism. . William Faulkner wrote against the war and also about the south.

. Ezra Pound was an important author. He influenced T.S. Eliot, who wrote “The Waste Land”.

. Robert Frost wrote about New England. e.e. cummings was very untraditional.

o There were also new stage writers.

. Eugene O’Neill wrote “Strange Interlude”, about Freudian ideas.

. The Harlem Renaissance led new writers and musicians to prominence.

o There was better architecture and city planning. (The Empire State Building!)

 Wall Street’s Big Bull Market

o 1920s- Many banks still failed every year. There was a lot of real estate speculation.

. FL had a boom and collapse in 1925.

o There was much speculation and competition in the stock exchange.

. People bought stocks ‘on margin’ (with a small down payment).

. Many used the stock exchange to get rich, though there was some concern that the entire system was highly unstable and unsustainable.

o The gov’t didn’t do much to stop speculation. The debt increased to almost $24 billion in 1921.

. Conservatives were encouraging the gov’t to try to reduce this debt.

. 1921- Republicans in congress made the Bureau of the Budget to help the president make better plans for spending.

o SOT Mellon disapproved of the high taxes from the war, since he thought it would stop the rich from investing in factories and helping the economy, and would lead to less revenue.

. So he reduced taxes from 1921-1926. Congress got rid of the excess-profits tax and the gift tax, and reduced the excise tax, the surtax, and income and estate taxes significantly.

. Of course, this led to the middle class having to provide much of the tax revenue.

. Mellon reduced the national debt by $10 billion, but it could have been more.

 Plus, more taxation could have decreased speculation and stopped the Depression.