Chapter 20The Roaring Twenties

Is anything normal?

America is suffering: Post-war disillusionment Bouncy Economy Tangled up internationally

Republican hopeful Warren G. Harding wins the Presidency with a promise of “normalcy”.

Russian Revolution Czar Nicholas II lost

popularity from making bad decisions. Going into WWI which

resulted in food shortages, casualties, etc.

Due to riots, weakened protests… he was forced to abdicate.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks

Nov. 6, 1917 – took power. “End to war, all land to

peasants!” They put all private farms,

industries, land and transportation under Gov’t ownership.

More problems for the Russians

1918 – Russian Civil War (reds vs. whites) Lenin’s supporters – reds Whites – former landowners, gov’t/army

officials (backed by Allies)

1920 – Reds won! Became the USSR

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Four aspects of Communism 1.) Gov’t owned all land & property. 2.) A single political party controls the Gov’t. 3.) Individuals had no rights that the Gov’t was bound to respect. 4.) The Gov’t vowed to stir up revolution in other countries & spread communism throughout the world.

This ideology was hostile towards American beliefs & values (capitalism, 1st amendment).

1919 – The Red Scare Puts fear of communism into America’s life! 1919 – Schenck vs. US

Justified jailing persons based on communism. Schenck mailed letters to draftees telling them to aviod

the draft. He argued this was his 1st amendment rights. He was convicted to breaking the Espionage Act.

You can’t shout “BOMB” on an airplane.

Palmer Raids Headed up by an army chief of staff. 500 immigrants were sent back for being “subversives,”

communists spies.

Strikes galore!!!

Labor strikes Communists were behind the strikes, but really…

1919 food prices and rent went up. 1920 the cost of living increased.

Cost and Steel Strikes Boston Police Strike

Hadn’t gotten a raise since start of WWI. Demanded a raise, 19 were fired for union activity. Coolidge said, “there is no right to strike against the

public safely by anybody, anywhere, anytime.” Gained national attention for this firm stance.

The Harding Presidency Republicans were a solid

party. They favored business and

economic growth. He gave some of his

buddies jobs. Foreign policy reflected

isolationism. Called for disarmament. US grew more nativist.

Annual immigration quota – 350,000 people.

NO Asian immigration.

Teapot Dome Scandal

Strain from rumors of scandal killed President Harding. 2 of his officers committed suicide when they knew they

would be caught. 1921-2: Harding’s Secretary of Interior Albert Fall,

gave secret oil drilling rights on gov’t fields in Elk Field, California and Teapot Dome, Wyoming to two private oil companies.

He got $300,000 illegal payments and gifts. Was Jailed!

The Coolidge Presidency

Harding’s Vice President.

Became Pres on Aug. 3, 1923.

Re-elected in 1924 with the slogan, “Keep cool w/ Coolidge.”

Laissez-faire business policy.

Kellogg-Briand Act Sec. of State Frank Kellogg, did most of

Coolidge’s foreign policy. 1928, with US’s isolationism feeling he made an

interesting treaty with French foreign minister, Briand.

Kellogg-Briand Act 15 nations agreed to not threaten war in dealing with

one another, 60 eventually joined. Dissolved b/c they had no provisions for enforcement. By 1941, many nations that had signed were at war.

Election of 1928 Republican – Herbert

Hoover During & after WWI he got

praise for how he ran programs in Europe to ease hunger.

Ran against Democrat Alfred Smith.

21.4 million to 15 million. Hoover won!

A Business Boom

Consumer Economy – huge growth! Depends on a large amount of buying consumers.

Individuals who use products. Buying on Credit.

Don’t pay all at once…pay on an…installment plan – pay over a period of time.

Growth of Electricity General Electric picked up T. Edison’s business.

Offered: toasters, sewing machines, coffee pots, irons, and vacuum cleaners.

Henry Ford’s Revolution Ford and his famous

“Model T”. 1896 – 1st lightweight

gas-powered car. 1903 – had first auto

company. 1908 – sold 30,000 of

an improved type he called the Model T.

Ford’s Assembly Line Ford wanted to

“democratize the automobile.” Produced more cars and

sell them at prices more people can afford.

Each worker does one specialized task in the construction of the final product.

Didn’t invent, but made more efficient. Line moved, workers

stayed in place. 1915 – Cars were $390.

Captain of Industry… or Robber Barron?

Business was good and bad. Lost $ when Chevy put out different colors & styles.

1914 - $5/day pay rate. Double what other factories played at the time.

Used vehicle to fight unions. Didn’t want to change his Model T, so by 1936

he had slipped to 3rd in the car industry. Assembly line could be boring for workers.

All over the place businesses were growing!!!!

Steel, car, rubber, motels, campgrounds, gas stations,

restaurants, & freight companies.Monopolies grew!!!

Cultural shifts in the 1920’s The war ended

and the nation prospered.

Symbol of this – the flapper New type of

woman, young, rebellion, fun loving.

Shorter dresses, short hair, tight cloths, make-up, smoking, drinking, etc.

How it was: Single women worked,

quit when got pregnant, few leadership positions, few voted in 1920.

How it changed: Women began to seek

office Jeannette Rankin,

Montana, 1st woman in Congress

More leadership positions, more began to work.

Movement for other groups

Demographic changes The statistics that describe a population (date on race

or income). 1920’s – 6 million moved to cities from country.

African Americans – Great Migration Get out of the South, away from Jim Crow Laws. Industrial Revolution offered jobs in the cities. North wasn’t always better.

Some in the North didn’t’ like the African Americans because they didn’t want their jobs taken away.

Movement for other groups (cont.)

Other migrations Since European immigration was low…why?

Immigrants from Mexico and Canada were depended upon to fill low-paying jobs.

L.A. needed workers and became a BARRIO. A Spanish speaking neighborhood.

Rise in suburbs Came about in part due to Great Migration!

Cities built transportation (trolleys, railway cars, buses, etc.)

When cars were introduced, these lost customers.

American Heroes

Morales were changing in the U.S. In the cities there were things going on that

were “bad”…smoking, drinking, skimpy clothes, bright make-up.

Newspapers ran sensational headlines screaming about crime.

The nation needed heroes to survive.

Lucky Lindy 25 year old Charles

Lindberg. Spirit of St. Louis – his

airplane. Prize of $25,000 to fly

nonstop from NY to Paris. 33 ½ hour flight. He represented solid

moral values of old U.S.

Amelia Earhart

Inspired by Lindberg. 1932, she flew alone

from Hawaii to California.

1937, she tried to fly around the world. She disappeared

somewhere in the pacific ocean.

Sports Heroes George Herman Ruth

Babe Ruth Sultan of Swat 714 Home Runs

Gertrude Ederle Freestyle swimming Gold in 1926 Olympics 1st woman to swim 34

mile wide English Channel.

Mass Media

Mass Media Print and broadcast methods of

communicating information to large numbers of people.

Movies Between 1910-1930, the number of theatres

rose from 5,000 to 22,5000. 1927 – 1st film with sound, The Jazz Singer.

Mass Media (cont.) Newspapers

1900 – NY Times was only 14 pages long Mid 1920-s – was 50 pages Many companies went out of business, newspaper

chains brought them up! William Randolph Hearst gained control of newspapers in

more than 20 cities. Radio

Westinghouse took the lead. By 1922 – 500 stations were on the air.

The Jazz Age

Features improvisation, musicians make it up as they are playing, and has an off-beat rhythm.

African American roots Grew out of Southern music (ragtime, blues). 1900 – New Orleans bands were mixing the sounds.

Radio listeners began to hear/like it. 1920’s – became the “jazz age”.

Harlem had 500 Jazz clubs.

Famous Jazz Musicians

Duke Ellington Middle class

upbringing. Famous jazz

composer. Excellent on the piano.

Other Artistic Movements

George Gershwin Russian, wrote the jazz piece “Rhapsody in Blue.”

Georgia O’Keeffe Painted natural objects

Flowers, animal bones, landscapes, etc.

Sinclair Lewis Muckraker who tackled American society with irony. Won Nobel Prize in 1930 for literature.

The Lost Generation Groups of writers in the

1920’s who believed they were lost in a greedy and materialistic world that lacked moral values.

Left the US for Paris. F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby They found the rich to be

shallow persons.

The Harlem Renaissance The African American

cultural center of the US was NY City’s, Harlem.

1930 – 200,000 Af Amers lived there.

Was a national center for Jazz.

Was the home of African American literary awakening of the 1920’s.

The Harlem Renaissance

James Weldon Johnson – emerging writer. Alain Locke – The New Negro

Celebrated the blossoming of Af Amer culture. Zora Neale Hurston – Their Eyes were Watching

God Langston Hughes – poet, short story writer

Career stretched into the 1960’s Spoke with clear/strong voice about jobs and

difficulties of being human, American, and black.

Langston Hughes:“I Too, Sing America.”I too, sing America.

I am the darker brother,they send me to eat inthe kitchenwhen the company comes, but I laugh,and eat well, and grow strong.

Tomorrow,I’ll be at the tablewhen the company comes, nobody’ll daresay to me, “eat in the kitchen,”then.

Besides, they’ll see how beautiful Iamand be ashamed –

I too, am America.

Prohibition…never heard of it!

Many American ignored it. Including President Harding, see pg. 622

Volstead Act – Congress passed, 1919. To enforce the 18th amendment. Ignored by most of east coast.

1924 Report found that: 95% of Kansas obeyed, 5% of NY obeyed.

Sharpened contrast b/t rural and urban morals.

Prohibition, smrohibition… Bootlegging

Suppliers of illegal alcohol. Some smuggled whiskey from

Canada or Caribbean. Others used alcohol from grain,

corn, potatoes, etc. Speakeasies

Many bootlegger’s customers owned these.

They were illegal bars that flourished in the cities.

Heavy gate usually blocked the door.

Only opened to people who showed a membership card or were recognized by a guard.

Organized Crime

In some cities, criminals formed large groups who controlled distribution of alcohol. Gangs would fight for territory.

Racketeering In the typical “racket”, local business’ were

forced to pay a fee for “protection”. Buy from us…we won’t shoot you.

Al Capone – “Scarface” Most notorious gangster

in Chicago. Here, bootlegging had

added immense wealth to gambling, prostitution, etc.

Reached all levels, including Gov’t.

$60 mil/yr from bootlegging.

Finally caught from tax evasion in 1931. Prohibition was a problem

until 1933.

1920’s Religion

Problems that separated religions: Science and technology – where do they fit? War and widespread modern problems Bible was written by humans & had mistakes?

Response: 12 pamphlets called “The Fundametalists” Traditional Christian ideas, Bible had no error!

Bible is literally true, all stories actually happened. Fundamentalism gained power in the

1920’s.

Evolution and the Scopes Trial Theory of Evolution

Fundamentalists felt that it contradicted the Bible.

They worked for passage of laws to prevent public schools from teaching it.

The setting… Dayton, TN (passed the

Ban law) John Scopes, science

teacher Thought law

unconstitutional, friend sued him as favor.

The major players: William Jennings Bryan

Prosecution, fundamentalist, former Presidential candidate.

Clarence Darrow Defense, “attorney for the

damned.”

Evolution and the Scopes Trial The trial: July 10-21, 1925

Carnival atmosphere (reporters, chimps) 1st trial ever broadcast on American radio.

Expert science testimony excluded Darrow puts Bryan on witness stand

To be an expert on the Bible Bryan admitted that not even he interpreted the Bible fully

literally. Scopes convicted, fined $100

Bryan became a martyr for the Fundamentalists (died after) Jan. 17, 1926 – TN Supreme Ct. upheld law,

overturned conviction of Scopes, no appeal to S.Ct. The law against teaching evolution remain in Tenn,

until 1967, but no other teachers were prosecuted.

KKK rise again (remember The Birth of a Nation?)

2nd Ku Klux Klan 1915—Stone Mountain, GA William Simmons, 1st Grand Wizard Targets Catholics, Jews, immigrants, “race-mixing” For prohibition, Imm. Restriction, fundamentalism “White, native-born, Protestant supremacy” Popular nationwide—5 million members by 1925 WKKK organized klanswomen (no longer around)

Klan marches on Washington, August 1925 This march showedThe great numbers thatThe Klan had recruited.Many Americans believedThe Klan only wanted toProtect “its” own way ofLife. So, most did notProtest the Klan, until they Became so violent.