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THE ROARING TWENTIES
1920 – 1929
THE ROARING TWENTIES
Were an exciting time
Full of social and cultural changes
TIRED OF TENSIONSAmerican people were tired of the tensions of reform and war
Average people wanted to return to normal times
Wanted the nation to be less involved in world affairs and more involved in activities at home
THE 19TH AMENDMENT 1869: The National Women’s Suffrage
Association had been formed
Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony
1920: The 19th Amendment was ratified
Gave women the right to vote
AMERICANS RETURN TO NORMAL
Republican Warren G. Harding was elected President in 1920
Received the greatest percentage of votes ever gained by a candidate
Promised a return to “normalcy”
Looking for quick solutions for the nation’s problems
HARDING AS PRESIDENTPassed the Emergency Quota Act
Limited immigration to the US
New Tariff Act was written
Raised the tax on imported goods
A Veterans Bureau was establishedGave aid to ex-soldiers and families
Generally, not an effective President
THE TEAPOT DOME SCANDAL
2 Oil businessmen gave the Secretary of the Interior $400,000
Secretary arranged for them to rent some government oil reserves
Harding didn’t know until the scandal became public
COOLIDGE AS PRESIDENT1923: Vice President Calvin Coolidge became President
Friend and supporter of the business community
Government regulations controlling big businesses hurt the American economy
A PERIOD OF SOCIAL CHANGES
Industry thrived
Most Americans were making more, so they spent more
Had more leisure time and money for things like movies or music clubs
Americans became more mobile with the car
Telephone improved communication
WOMEN BECAME MORE INDEPENDENT
Many young women in the 1920s were called flappers
Recently won the right to vote
Changes in their hair and dress
Women wanted to gain more social freedom
RADIO CHANGED AMERICAN LIFE
By the mid-1920s, most middle class families had a telephone, radio, and phonograph in their home
Radio brought an unlimited source of free information and entertainment right into the home
JAZZ CAPTURES THE SPIRIT Improvised
Created a truly American style
The earliest type of Jazz was Dixieland in the South
New dances, like “The Charleston”
Older Americans were concerned about its effect on young people
AMERICAN WRITERS Tried to tell the story of what was
happening in America
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great GatsbySinclair Lewis: Main Street and Babbit
Ernest Hemingway: Farwell to Arms
Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence
John Dos Passos: Three Soldiers
THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
An area in New York became a creative
center for many African Americans
Writers, poets, musicians, entertainers,
and students increased African American
pride
Focused on African American dreams,
disappointments, and discrimination
DISCRIMINATION PROBLEMSSome Americans wanted to deny
equality and freedom to those different
“American First” became their slogan
The new Ku Klux Klan was formed in the South in 1915
Wanted to define an American as white, protestant, and native born
1924: THE IMMIGRATION ACT Limited the number of immigrants
allowed in the US from Southern and Eastern Europe
Immigrants from Japan were not allowed in the US
Felt these immigrants were a threat to society
Feared that the communist revolution in Russia would spread
PROHIBITION
1919: The 18th Amendment was ratified
Made it illegal to sell alcohol in the US
1933: The 21st Amendment repealed the Prohibition amendment
THE “DRY DECADE” Bootleggers continued to make and sell
alcohol illegally
Speakeasies, where liquor was sold, became popular meeting places
Organized crime made millions of dollars and became powerful
Reformers tried to do a good thing, but brought a high rise in crime
THE ELECTION OF 1928
Calvin Coolidge ran for re-election
Didn’t pay attention to the decline of society
Too many good things were happening
Republicans nominated Herbert Hoover
A “self-made” man
Democrats nominated Al Smith
Governor of New York
Voters picked Hoover for President
THE ELECTION OF 1928
THE STOCK MARKET CRASH
Stock market continued to rise through 1928 and most of 1929
People took savings out of the bank to buy stock
Price was actually higher than their true value
Stock prices dropped sharply
There were more sellers than buyers
OCTOBER 19, 1929Stock market crashed
People tried to sell, but there were no buyers
The US was in the worst economic depression in US History
The “Roaring Twenties” came to a crashing end
1930s would be called the “Great Depression”