Ch. 23: The 1920s

Booming Business, Ailing Agriculture

Recession hits when wartime defense contracts end

But by 1922 business bounces backAge of electricity brings new consumer

goods- by 1925 60% of households have electricity

Automobile was the major industry- by 1930 60% of families have a car

Ford led in the beginning, then GM, back to Ford

Automobile industry accounts for 9% of all wages in manufacturing and stimulates many other industries

Rising stocks reflect the speculative nature of Wall Street

Business boom stimulates capitalist expansion overseas◦corporations built facilities abroad◦U.S. investors loaned European

nations money to repay WWI debt◦Private investment abroad

increases five-fold

Economic nationalism prevails- high protective tariffs◦Fordney-McCumber Tariff (1922)

and Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930)◦http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d

xPVyieptwA◦As a percent of GDP U.S. exports fell◦However, manufactured goods rose

to 61% of exports by 1920s

Even though wages did rise in the decade, workers benefitted unequally◦North faired better than the South◦Women, blacks, Mexicans, and recent

immigrants faired the worstFor farmers, grain prices plummet

◦Government purchases end, European agriculture is revived, farm exports slow

◦Farm income falls by 60%

New Modes of Producing, Managing, and Selling

The assembly line boosts output by 40%Managers discourage individuality, etc.

– “Fordization of the face”The assembly line doesn’t foster pride

in skill or provide opportunity for advancement

However, this created American industrial might

Business consolidation continues after the war

Giant corporations begin setting up divisions within the company, making day-to-day oversight highly complex

The gradual increase in wages came because leaders recognized that higher wages would improve production and consumer buying power◦Ford paid his workers $5 a day

New systems of delivering goods developed◦Dealer networks in the automobile industry;

Chain stores and department stores (air conditioning helps popularize these stores)

Advertising takes off

Buying on credit soars◦Installment plans with fixed payment

schedules◦Was mostly confined to big ticket

items◦Accounts for 75% of automobile

sales by 1929

Women in the New Economic EraCigarettes for women as “torches of

freedom”Cosmetics were “hope in a jar”Male workers dominated the

manufactoring plantsThe number of working women

increased to 2 million, but their number as a percent of the total female population hovered at 24%

Women went to work in corporate officesMedical schools even capped female

admissions

Struggling Labor Unions in a Business Age

Union membership fell from 5 – 3.4 million during the 20s

Why?◦Overall wage rates climbed◦Older craft-based unions were ill suited

for the new mass-produced factories◦Management hostility◦Anti-union campaign (employee

associations)◦Welfare capitalism

Stand Pat PoliticsRepublican dominance of the

1920s◦Northern farmers, corporate leaders,

businesspeople, native-born white-collar workers and some blue-collared workers

Warren G. Harding◦Bland with a soothing appeal◦Known for his womanizing and his

poor cabinet appointments

Scandals◦Charles Forbes (head of the

Veteran’s Bureau) – a draft dodger who stole funds fled the country

◦Harry Daugherty (Attorney General) – influence peddling; escaped two criminal trials

◦Albert Fall (Sec. of Interior) – leased government oil reserves for a $400,000 bribe. The Teapot Dome Scandal; went to jail

Republican Policymaking in a Probusiness Era

Congress lowers taxes and inheritance taxes for the wealthy (supported by Sec. of Treasury Andrew Mellon)

Supreme Court overturns business regulatory laws

Coolidge opposes government assistance to other groups – 1927 Mississippi flood victims or a price-support plan for farmers (McNary-Haugen bill)◦This does move some farmers to the

Democratic Party

Independent Internationalism

U.S. refuses to join the League or its International Court of Justice

Washington Naval Arms Conference◦Specific ratio of ships amongst the world

powers (reduced tonnage: U.S., GB, Japan, Italy, France)

Kellogg-Briand Pact- 60 nations and purely symbolic

Women and Politics in the 1920s: A Dream Deferred

Polling places shift from saloons to schools and churches Women’s Join Congressional committee lobbies for child-

labor laws, protection of women workers, and federal support for education

Sheppard-Towner Act (1921) – funded rural prenatal and baby care centers staffed by public health nurses

However, the 19th Amendment had little political effect Reformers could not go so far as to get an ERA- felt it

would undermine gender-based law protecting women Those who continued to “push buttons” were labeled

communist Women expressed their liberation through consumption

Immigration RestrictionNational Origins Act of 1924- 2% of each

nation’s 1890 representation in America“America must be kept American”The law excluded Asians and South

Asians as person ineligible for citizenship but place no restrictions on immigrants from the Western Hemisphere◦Need for large scale, low-paid migratory

workers in growing agribusiness sector◦Mexican American found little support from

the Catholic Church

Nativism, Anti-Radicalism, and The Sacco-Vanzetti Case

Red Scare and A. Mitchell Palmer“Those anarchist bastards”

Fundamentalism and the Scopes Trial

John T. ScopesDayton, TNACLUWilliam Jennings BryanClarence DarrowH.L. Menken of the American

Mercury

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Kdc0LLSW8

KKK and the Garvey Movement1915 revival and Birth of a

Nation◦Membership drive- expansion to 5

million◦Dismal end

Garvey and the UNIA◦Unpopular with mainstream black

organizations◦He eventually served prison time

and was deported

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jAPdm9OU5k

ProhibitionRural vs. urban values; anti-

immigrant; impact of women’s movement; continuance of WWI conservation and anti-German sentiment

18th AmendmentVolstead ActBy 1929 alcohol consumption

was at about 70% of prewar era

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJdKK6L8Z2o

Election of 1928Al Smith (D) – Catholic and a wet from

NY vs. Herbert Hoover (R) – brilliant, professional with wartime service

Business and conservatism winsThere is a fear of the popeElection began a new political

realignment◦Some in the Midwest abandon Republicans

due to Coolidge’s insensitivity; Democrats begin to carry the biggest cities

Herbert Hoover’s Social ThoughtHoover did not believe in cutthroat

capitalism; he sought a more rational approach, welcoming welfare capitalism

He encouraged corporate consolidation and cooperation- some 250 conferences◦Supported the 8-hr workday and higher

wages to increases purchasing power

◦However, his belief was that capitalists would embrace such policies because of ethics

Cities, Cars, and Consumer GoodsBy 1930, 40% of African

Americans lived in citiesElectricity meant women spent

less time on household choresFood prep declined and fresh food

was available all yearAutomobile and all its impact for

both city and farm life; pricingAdvertisingChain and department stores

Soaring Energy Consumption

Electrification and autos impact the nation’s natural resources

Electrical use triples; by 1929 20 million cars on the road

Need for oil◦ U.S. access to Mexican oil◦ Plays a role in Teapot Dome◦ Triggered wildcats

Did it help or hurt the conservation movement?◦ Sierra Club and Audubon Society kick in ◦ Hoover actually create a National Conference on

Outdoor Recreation to set national recreation policies

Mass-produced entertainment

Light reading for diversion◦Saturday Evening Post and Reader’s Digest◦Book of the Month Clubs and Literary Guilds

Radio◦NBC formed in 1926, followed by CBS a year

later- this is standardization of radio◦Amos ‘n’ Andy

Movies◦Chaplin, Pickford, Valentino, Jolson, Steamboat

Willy◦MGM, Warner Brothers, and Columbia

Celebrity Culture

The Jazz Age and Postwar Crisis of Values