Bell Ringer What problems could you see developing in the USA
after WWI? What was the Red Scare? Why are the 1920s called the
roaring twenties?
Slide 2
Bell Ringer What is normalcy? Who did the new KKK discriminate
against? What is credit (in terms of economics & buying
things)?
Slide 3
Ch 26-29: The Roaring Twenty's: 1920s in the USA
Slide 4
After WWI (1918-1920) As the boys came home after WWI, the
United States would demobilize, and develop many problems Soldiers
now need jobs -> unemployment is an issue The economy will go
into a recession (war production -> peace/normal production
almost ALWAYS causes a recession) Growing unions will go on strike
(AFL, IWW) Fear of immigrants who may be communists or anarchists
(Red Scare)
Slide 5
Sacco & Vanzetti Both Sacco & Vanzetti were Italian
immigrants to the USA (Nativist feeling in USA) Sacco learned
English & worked in a shoe factory, Vanzetti had numerous low
paying jobs Both men were apart of unions, and both were open
members of the East Boston Anarchists group
Slide 6
Sacco & Vanzetti- The Crime April 15, 1920 the
Slater-Morrill Shoe Company factory in Braintree, MA was robbed.
The company payroll was stolen and 2 men were killed by two bandits
with hand guns who looked Italian. Three weeks later Sacco &
Vanzetti, known to the police as radicals, were arrested by the
police. Both were carrying hand guns with ammunition.
Slide 7
Sacco & Vanzetti- The Trial During the trial: S & V had
fled to Mexico instead of being drafted, both were anarchists, both
were Italians, and both had lied about the weapons. Both men had
alibies saying that they were not around the scene of the crime,
and neither had a criminal record. The defense of S & V was
largely paid for by working class people who were members of Unions
The Prosecutor kept going back to the fact that the men were
Immigrant Anarchists (Paranoia-> RED SCARE) The men were found
guilty and sentenced to death (Even after someone confessed to the
crime), and the case was appealed numerous times. Sacco and
Vanzetti would die on July 27, 1927
Slide 8
Nativism Revived As the Red Scare heightens more people become
Nativists. This leads to a quota system which restricts the number
of immigrants that can come from each country By 1924 the quotas
will be dropped, and all immigrants from Asia are banned. By 1929
only of the immigrants enter the US as did in 1921
Slide 9
Revived KKK The Nativist feelings of the time led to the
rebirth of the KKK. The Birth of a Nation portrayed the clan as
heroic, chivalrous, individuals who for to save society By 1920
Klan membership would reach 3-4 million, and actually win political
offices in numerous southern states This time however the Klan
became equally anti-immigrant, anti- African, anti-Catholic,
anti-Jewish, anti-woman, and anti-union (Only liked WASPs), and
continued to push their political agenda through terror &
intimidation.
Slide 10
Racial Tension The tension created by immigrants revived social
problems for Black Americans. Lynching and race riots were again
becoming an issue in society. Marcus Garvey would start the Back-
To- Africa movement, where he encouraged blacks to return to land
of their ancestors. The movement attracted 2 million followers, and
established a company with the intent of moving people back to
Africa. Garvey was charged and convicted for mail fraud in 1925,
and the movement died out. WEB DuBoise V Booker T Washington V
Marcus Garvey
Slide 11
The Start of the 1920s As the 1920s start Warren G Harding
becomes President with promises to return the USA back to Normalcy
He supports a free enterprise system that favors: private ownership
of land, resources, and factories (strongly favors owners/hurts
workers) Harding selected many of his friends to political office
Harding made Chicago banker Charles Dawes his Financial Advisor.
The Country quickly had a surplus, products became cheaper so more
people could buy them, and unemployment dropped
Slide 12
Teapot Dome Scandal Many of Hardings political appointments
took bribes and were suspected of serious crimes Hardings friend
(the Secretary of the Interior) convinced Harding to give his
office control over the nations oil reserves. This man then leased
the reserves to two companies for $360,000 to do with as they
pleased. This scandal shook the publics trust in how the government
was being run
Slide 13
Foreign Policy-Washington Naval Conference In 1921 Harding
would invite Great Britain, France, Japan, & Italy to
Washington to discuss naval disarmament (getting rid of weapons)
The US offered to scrap 30 war ships, and other nations soon
followed suit. The Washington Naval Conference limited the
production of large war ships, but many nations got around this by
building more small war ships. Harding would die in 1923, his VP
takes over
Slide 14
Foreign Policy- Dawes Plan By 1923 Germany had stopped payment
on their reparations from WWI. Dawes will step in: The US loaned
money to the Germans (with a low interest rate), who paid the
British and French, who repayed their loans to the US. The circular
flow of money was known as the Dawes Plan, and would work until
1929
Slide 15
Foreign Policy- Kellogg-Briand Pact In 1928 Herbert Hoover is
President of the USA The US will sign the Kellogg- Briand Pact with
61 other nations. The Pact effectively outlawed war, and rejected
conflict as a form of national policy The US had returned to their
isolationist ways that they held in the early 1900s
Slide 16
Foreign Affairs- League of Nations (1920s) In the 1920s the
League of Nations was tasked with keeping world peace If you
measure success by not allowing another World War in the 1920s,
then they succeeded. However, the League realistically experienced
a mix of successes and failures. The League had global success with
limiting child labor, improving womens rights, and establishing the
World Health Organization
Slide 17
If a Country misbehaved the League could issue harsh criticisms
of nations, and impose economic penalties (not trading with nations
that misbehaved). However, non-members of the League were not
required to follow its decisions. The League was hampered by the
lack of a standing army, and the non participation of the USA (BUT
not COMPLETELY useless)
Slide 18
The Roaring Twenties The 20s will be characterized by economic
success, general prosperity, and changing cultural values At the
end of the 1920s the US was producing 40% of the worlds
manufactured goods
Slide 19
Economy Mass Production and Division of Labor would both play a
HUGE part in the 1920s. Henry Ford would continue his success from
starting in 1915. Ford would produce one car every 10 seconds by
1930. Model T Fords had dropped drastically in price from $850 in
1909 to $260 in the 1920s
Slide 20
Items such as: radios, refrigerators, telephones, vacuums, and
toasters all became cheaper & made life easier Plastics &
synthetic materials (both of which had been developed during the
war) also became prominate in society and made life easier It was
this extra time that allowed many people to enjoy leisure
activities such as listening to the radio, seeing a movie, going to
sporting events, listening to new music, or maybe visiting a speak
easy
Slide 21
The availability and cheap prices of almost everything led to
advertising. This becomes the rise of a consumer culture in the USA
For the first time people had the ability to buy on credit or on an
installment plan
Slide 22
Cultural Changes The 1920s experiences the birth of jazz music.
Before the 20s music was largely church based, and most people had
never heard music like jazz. Jazz was often accompanied by singing
that featured improvisation, another new thing for society. Louis
Armstrong became a cultural phenomenon overnight. This was the Jazz
Age, and jazz music will fill clubs and airwaves across the
country
Slide 23
Harlem Renaissance As blacks moved across the nation many of
the artistically talented headed to Harlem. The outpouring of
talent from the African Americans writers, artists, and musicians
who gathered in the city. Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and
Wallace Thurman (and more) become famous from this Renaissance
Slide 24
1920s: Traditionalists & Fundamentalists The 1920s will
become a cultural war On one side of the war are the
Traditionalists and Fundamentalists. These groups fear that the new
culture of the 1920s are corrupting Americas youth & society as
a whole (They are old people) They believe that young people should
turn back to the Bible, God, and traditional family values
Slide 25
1920s: Modernists The other side of this culture war are
Modernists (They are young people) They are excited by the new
music, mobility (cars are CHEAP), movies, dancing, and style
Women/Girls are especially fond of the 1920s as make-up, clothing,
style are radically different from before. This is the age of
Flappers.
Slide 26
1920s: Prohibition The problem when the young battle the old is
that the young DONT VOTE!!! The Fundamentalists and Traditionalists
see alcohol as a major social problem The Womens Christian
Temperance Union will be influential in the passage of the 18 th
Amendment, aka Prohibition This law will make the production, sale,
or transport of alcohol illegal. Drys -> People in favor of
Prohibition Wets -> People against Prohibition
Slide 27
Scopes Monkey Trial John Scopes, a TN school science teacher
taught the theory of evolution to his students, even though it was
prohibited by law. The battle of science vs the bible was the real
focus of the case. William Jennings Bryan, the champion of
Fundamentalism, would prosecute Scopes, but would be tricked into
expressing that the bible may not be infallible. Scopes was found
guilty, but Science won the day.
Slide 28
Prohibition will cause the rise of organized crime (Al Capone)
The competition between rival gangs will actually cause worse
social problems than the ones that the removal of alcohol was meant
to fix Speakeasies will supply the public with illegal alcohol for
elevated prices Bootleggers will also attempt to make their own
alcohol, and many people will DIE from back liquor Even though
Congress passes Prohibition the never actually funded the
enforcement of the law.
Slide 29
Stock Market Crash: October 1929 The Roaring Twenties will die
in late October 1929 Almost EVERYONE played the market in the
1920s. Stocks always seemed to go up, so people continued to put
more and more money into the market The educated bankers realized
stock prices were grossly inflated, and started to sell their
stock. This caused a panic, and on Black Thursday Oct 24 the Market
will loose 11% of its value
Slide 30
Brominate bankers and families will buy large quantities of
stock on Friday to temporarily stabilize the market. On Black
Monday Oct 28, stocks crash again dropping 13% of their value, and
on Tuesday Oct 29 th lose 12% of their value. Entire fortunes will
be lost in a matter of minutes. Banks had invested peoples savings
into the stock market to earn money for further investment, and
when people when to pull on their savings there was no money
Slide 31
Smoot-Hawley Tariff In addition to the Market Crashing the
Smoot-Hawley Tariff would be signed into law. President Hoover,
trying to protect US farmers, wanted a tariff placed on foreign
goods to make imported products more expensive. This led to
retaliatory Tariffs by nations such as Canada, Britain, France,
& Germany The Tariff caused international trade to drop to
catastrophically US exports declined by 66%, and the nations GDP
dropped by over 50% (other nations were similar or worse) The Great
Depression had begun