The Roaring 20’s

After WWI Americans returned to isolationism- refusing to become involved in foreign affairs.

Temporary recession occurredGovernment stopped spending on military

itemsFarmers lost markets in Europe

Adjusting to Peace

The Red Scare was an atmosphere of panic that hit America. Citizens were scared of Communism spreading to America.

Palmer RaidsAttorney General Mitchell Palmer ordered

the round-up of 4,000 suspected communists without warrants.

Most were released. 600 deportedHysteria

The Red Scare

Union office after a Palmer Raid

Sacco and Vanzetti TrialTwo Italian immigrants convicted of robbery

and murderBelieved the robbery was to obtain funds for

anarchist revolutionEven though there was a lack of evidence, the

judge found them guilty and executed them. Many believed they were executed for their

anarchist beliefs

The Red Scare, anarchist bombings and Sacco and Vanzetti case led to the rise in Nativism- dislike of foreigners.

Migrations of African Americans to the North led to racial tensions and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.Hostile to immigrants, Catholics, Jews and

African AmericansRace Riots

Chicago- 38 people killed

The Rise of Nativism and Racism

Favored American businessSupported laissez-faire policiesHigh protective tariffsLower taxes on wealthyWeak enforcement of antitrust laws

The Three Republican Presidents- Harding, Coolidge and Hoover

Called for “Return to Normalcy”Less ambitious foreign policy and a greater

emphasis on peacetime production and prosperity at home

Teapot Dome ScandalCabinet member leased oil-rich lands at Teapot

Dome to two business friends in exchange for personal bribes

Laissez-fairePro businessRepublican

Warren Harding

“Rugged Individualism”- Americans were given equal opportunities, free education, and a will to succeed. This spurred the progress and was the basis of America’s success

Laissez-faire policiesPro businessRepublican

Herbert Hoover“We in America today are nearer the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land.” Ironic?

Single most important factor behind American prosperity of 20’s

Jobs- 1 out of 9 workers employed by auto industry

Greater mobilityFamily vacationsGrowth of suburbs

Henry Ford- Model T car was the first car that many middle

class Americans could buy.Assembly line production- increased production=

lower prices= increase in auto workers’ wages

Rise of the automobile

Henry Ford

"Americans can have any kind of car they want, and any color they want, as long as

it's a Ford, and as long as it's black."

Glenn Curtiss- Early aviation pioneer; successfully designed a “hydroeroplane” that could take off and land on water

Rise of new industries

Advertising stimulated demandWorkers had higher wages and more leisure

time= greater purchasing powerBuying on credit- buyer put a small amount of

money as a down payment to take an item home and paid off the rest through installments.

Age of Mass Consumption

Consumer Spending for Recreation

Consumer Debt 1920-1931

Speculation- purchase of any item not for personal use, but in the hopes of selling it later at a higher price

1920’s – speculation in stocks and real estate

Speculation Boom

Temperance Movement- Aimed at making alcohol illegalFrances Willard- President of the

National Women’s Temperance Union

Eighteenth Amendment- banned the sale of alcoholic drinks

OppositionMany believed it forced people’s

moral beliefs on othersPut thousands of people out of

workLed to the rise of organized crime“speakeasies”- hidden bars

Twenty-first Amendment- Prohibition is repealed

Prohibition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PAIOy41SjQ

“Lawless”

Pitted older religious beliefs against new scientific theories

John Scopes accused of teaching the theory of evolution

William Jennings Bryan- prosecutorClarence Darrow- defended ScopesFirst trial to be broadcast over the radioScopes was convicted and fined $1

Scopes Monkey Trial

Nativist feelings led to tight immigration restrictions from Europe

Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924, and 1929Designed to keep immigrants from Southern and

Eastern Europe out of AmericaEugenics- pseudo-scientific belief that the human

race could be improved by breeding. It was believed that superior parents would lead to better childrenLed to forced sterilizationsSegregation laws marriage restrictionsClosely tied to Social Darwinism

Immigration

WomenMore women voting=

greater independenceReject restrictive

clothing a traditions= flapper dresses, short hair, more makeup

Began reading Sigmund Freud and treating sexuality more openly

New Values

Tin Pan AlleyA section of New York City where song-writing

and musical ideas mixed together to form American popular music

Blues, jazz, and ragtime blended together

20’s Music:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICd-fNX19jQ

New Values

“Lost Generation” writers who rejected the material wealth of the 20’s; didn’t fit in with society after experiencing the horrors of WWISinclair Lewis- BabbittErnest Hemingway- A Farewell to ArmsF. Scott Fitzgerald- The Great Gatsby

Youth and Lost Generation

1910-19302 million African Americans left the South for

the “Promised Land” of the Northeast and Midwest

Still rejected by racism in North and MidwestCreated cities-within-cities

Harlem in NYC- African American community

The Great Migration

Harlem Renaissance- During the 1920’s, it was the general awakening of African American culture.

Rising middle class of African Americans

Jazz musicPoets and writers

Langston Hughes- poet “I Too Sing America”

Zora Neale Hurston- writer Their Eyes Were Watching God

Harlem Renaissance

Marcus Garvey- political activistFormed-Universal

Negro Improvement Association

Encouraged African Americans to set up their own shops and businesses

Back-to-Africa Movement- advocated African Americans return to Africa

Harlem Renaissance

More leisure time= more time for entertainmentSports, radio, movies, magazinesBabe Ruth, Jack DempseyCharles Lindbergh- 1st person to fly across

the Atlantic OceanEmergence of movies and radio-

common American culture

Charlie Chaplin:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxWhaFrBz64https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww5pb-z0o0I

Popular New Heroes