The Roaring Twenties

1919-1929

I. The Shaky Postwar Economy

- people have money to spend- too many dollars and too few goods leads to

inflation (prices go up)- In two years, prices doubled- Workers wanted to be paid more- 3,600 strikes in 1919

- Boston police went on strike, as well as steel and coal workers

II. The Red Scare 1919-1920

- Russia had become a communist country in 1917, so people feared that workers would revolt in the United States

- Government decides to crack down on suspected communists- 5,000 people were arrested without warrants

and often denied lawyers in the Palmer raids- Only 3 pistols were seized

III. Sacco and Vanzetti

- immigrants were suspected of bringing radical ideas like communism with them

- Two anarchists were found guilty of murder and put to death even though the evidence was flimsy

- The government and people were overcome by fear

IV. Prosperous Times

• What were people buying?

• Why did education become more important?

V. Advertising and CreditVI. Popular EntertainmentVII. Music and DancingVIII. Fads and FanciesIX. Lucky LindyX. Literary LifeXI. The Scopes Monkey TrialXII. Black MigrationXIII. The Return of the KKK

V. Advertising and Credit

Ads made people believe the products were a necessity and would make life better.

People were more willing to go into debt and buy on credit in good economic times.

VI. Popular EntertainmentPeople had more spare

time and more money to spend.

Radio, movies, and sports were popular.

nickelodeons

The Jazz Singer (1927)

Jack Dempsey

Babe Ruth

VII. Music and Dancing

Broadway musicals

Jazz- Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bessie Smith

Big-band music played; people danced the fox-trot, camel-walk, tango, and Charleston.

Flappers wore short skirts and short hair

VIII. Fads and Fancies

• Mah Jong• Crossword puzzles• Magazines like Time,

Reader’s Digest and New Yorker started in the 20s

Lucky Lindy

Charles Lindbergh was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (NYC to Paris)

He became a hero and symbolized individual effort and the adventuresome spirit of the 1920s

Literary LifeLost Generation-

American writers who wrote of hypocrisy and greed

Ernest Hemingway F. Scott FitzgeraldHarlem Renaissance-Black life was celebrated

in literature, music, and art

Langston Hughes Zora Neale Hurston

                                

The Scopes Monkey Trial

• The theory of evolution divided Americans

• John Scopes, a biology teacher, broke the law by teaching Darwin’s theory in school

• Scopes was found guilty and fined $100

• The trial symbolized the conflict between country and city values

Prohibition• Volstead Act- provided the

enforcements of prohibition enacted by the 18th Amendment

• “speakeasies” and “bootlegging” became popular

• Organized crime spread distributing illegal alcohol

• Gangs fought over territory• Al Capone was the most

famous gangster of the 1920s

One-Way TicketI am fed upWith Jim Crow lawsPeople who are cruelAnd afraid,Who lynch and run,Who are scared of me

And me of themI pick up my lifeAnd take it awayOn a one-way ticket-Gone up NorthGone up WestGone!

-Langston Hughes

Presidents of the 1920s

• Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) Republican- promised to let the U.S. run itself without too much government interference- brought his loyal (but unqualified) friends from Ohio to be his political advisers- died in office of a possible heart attack

• Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) Republican- a “hands-off” president, laissez-faire- believed the business of America is business

• Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) Republican

Black Migration

• Blacks looked to the North as a place with less racial prejudice.

• Millions moved to the northern cities of New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

• Prejudice was found in the North, too.

• Marcus Garvey led a movement to lead blacks back to Africa.

The Return of the KKKpage 704

• Membership increased greatly in the 1920s.

• The KKK became successful in politics.

• KKK members felt threatened by the changes of the 1920s.

Stock Market Crash of 1929page 732

People thought they could get rich quick by playing the stock market.

Dangerous practices:speculation-

buying on margin-

Stock Market Crash of 1929page 732

People thought they could get rich quick by playing the stock market.

Dangerous practices:speculation- the practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of getting a huge return.

buying on margin-

Stock Market Crash of 1929page 732

People thought they could get rich quick by playing the stock market.

Dangerous practices:speculation- the practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of getting a huge return.

buying on margin- the practice that allows investors to purchase stock for only a fraction of its price (10 to 50 percent) and borrow the rest.

On October 29, 1929, a record 16.4 million shares were sold. The collapse of the stock market is known as the Great Crash.

Stock Market Crash of 1929pages 741-742

How did the effects of the Crash spread to all Americans?

1. Risky loans hurt the banks2. Consumers borrowed heavily3. People rushed to withdraw their money from the

banks4. Banks failed and closed5. Savings were wiped out6. Production went down7. Unemployment went up8. Cycle continued leading to the Great Depression

The Great Depressionpage 744

A time of economic hardship in the U.S. from 1929 to 1941

What caused the Great Depression?1. Stock market crash2. An unstable economy

Unequal distribution of wealthOverproduction

3. Overspeculation4. Mistakes in monetary policy

Social Effects of the Depressionpages 745-750

• What were Hoovervilles?

• What happened on the farms?

• What was the Dust Bowl?

Election of 1932page 756

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeats Herbert Hoover to be president in the greatest landslide the U.S. had ever seen.

“So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

-FDR, First Inaugural Address, 1933

The New Dealpage 769

relief recovery reformNew Deal- Programs of FDR’s administration

that were aimed at combating the Great Depression.

FDR’s first act as president was the “bank holiday”. Banks were closed for the next four days and could not re-open unless they were healthy and insured.

The New Dealpage 774-5

relief recovery reform

Choose three New Deal agencies:

Write the name and purpose of it.

1.

2.

3.

Critics of the New Dealpage 782

• Some felt that the New Deal did too much (bringing state socialism), while others felt the New Deal did not do enough (poverty still existed).

• Some felt the programs created a bloated and dangerously powerful federal bureaucracy and encouraged inefficient use of resources.

• Some opposed deficit spending- – Paying out more money from the annual federal budget

than the government receives in revenues.

FDR’s Problems with the Supreme Courtpage 783

• The Supreme Court had declared some acts of the president unconstitutional.

• FDR asked Congress to allow him to _______________________________.

• His real intention was to _______________.

• The number of justices on the Supreme Court remained at _____.