Boom! The 1920sDo Now1. Take out homework.2. Answer this question in your

notebook:• How “roaring” were the

Roaring Twenties for average Americans?

Agenda• Do Now – Lady Gaga• Learner.org Video• The Roaring 20s

Homework:M: Content CheckT: Bonus March

World MapPost-WWI

The 1920s

The 1920s were a decade best remembered for unprecedented affluence, a profusion of

fantastic new consumer products, and a vibrant and creative urban cultural scene. But the decade also brought a deep agricultural

depression, fueling traditionalist resistance to the encroachments of modernity on rural

America.

Why should you care about the 1920s?• In both eras—the 1920s and today—we see presidents elected because the

voters liked their personalities, only to endure administrations mired in corruption and scandal.

• In both eras, we see soaring stock markets, providing euphoric investors with incredible financial returns.

• In both eras, we see a widening gulf between the incomes of the rich and the poor and middle-class.

• In both eras, we see a populace enthralled by celebrity, zealously tracking every move of America's sports and entertainment heroes.

• In both eras, we see a showdown between the secular values of the marketplace—in which everything is for sale, and sex sells—and the old-fashioned religious principles of fundamentalist Christianity.

• In both eras, we see powerful movements to restrict immigration amid fears that the arrival of too many newcomers to this nation will undermine American society and culture.

Unit 8 OverviewTopic 1. The New Era: 1920s

2. The Great Depression and New Deal

Big Questions • How “roaring” were the Roaring Twenties for average Americans?

• What fundamental cultural shifts did America experience in the 1920s? Was there any resistance to these changes?

• How did the American government, as well as governments in Europe, adapt in times of economic crisis?

Today… you will..-Identify the business of America and the consumer economy-Explain the Republican politics of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover-Explain the culture of Modernism with regards to science, the arts, and entertainment-Identify and explain the responses to Modernism, especially religious fundamentalism, nativism, and Prohibition-Identify and explain the ongoing struggle for equality concerning African Americans and women

A New Era: The 1920’s

Economic ConditionsSigns of Prosperity• Standard of living rose

– More people moved to urban centers• Large numbers of women and men

working in office jobs• Increased emphasis on the

marketing of consumer goods• Growing investment in the stock

market• Assembly-line production of Henry

Ford’s Model T enabled average families to purchase automobiles

• Starting in 1920 number of kids ages 10-15 in the industrial workforce began to decline

Signs of Trouble• Least-prosperous group of

the 1920s = farmers of Midwest and South

• For American farmers, the years 1921-29 = a period of falling prices for agricultural products

Labor Problems– Wages rose.– Union membership declined

• open shop policy: employers kept jobs open to nonunion workers

• welfare capitalism (voluntarily offered benefits and higher wages)

• Violent efforts to resist unionization in the South.• Strikes were unsuccessful: United Mine Workers had

violent, unsuccessful strikes; courts issued injunctions.

Economic Development• Unemployment was low.• Standard of living improved (indoor

plumbing & central heating)• 2/3 of all homes had electricity.• Real income increased significantly.• 40% of Americans (rural and urban) had

income in the poverty range.• Farmers suffered financial problems.

Business Prosperity•Productivity: Greater use of Frederick W. Taylor’s principles of scientific management—most major industries adopted the assembly line, and increased productivity.•Energy Technology: oil was used to power factories and automobiles (23% of U.S. energy by 1930); electrical motors increased electrical generation 300%.•Government Policy: corporate tax cuts and no antitrust law enforcement helped businesses.

Republican Presidencies-most were conservative-Republican popularity was a response to Roosevelt’s death

• Harding 1921-1923 (Election 1920-“return to normalcy”)

• Made some good appointments• Pardoned Eugene Debs (imprisoned for violating

the espionage act)• Laws he approved:

1. reduction of income tax2. Increase in tariff rates [Ford-McCumber Tariff Act of

1922]3. Establishment of Bureau of the Budget (Congress

reviews all government expenditures together)• Scandals:

– Teapot Dome Scandal: Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall accepted bribes for granting oil leasing near Wyoming.

– Attorney General Harry M Daugherty took bribes for agreeing not to prosecute criminal suspects.

Coolidge 1923-1929 (Election 1924 v. LaFollette, Progressive Party, 5 million votes)• Popular: Massachusetts governor who broke Boston

Police Strike “Silent Cal”: “If you don’t say anything, you

won’t be called on to repeat it.” “When more people are thrown out of work,

unemployment results.” “The business of America is business.”

• Laissez-faire policies: limited government allowed businesses to prosper.• Vetoed most Congressional acts; Cut spending• Refused bonuses for World War I veterans• Vetoed a Bill [McNary-Haugen] to help farmers

cope with falling crop prices.

• Hoover, 1929-1933 (Election of 1928-v. Alfred E. Smith: Roman Catholic, anti-prohibition)

Republican Politics: Harding, Coolidge, & HooverRepublican Prosperity• Republican presidents favored tax cuts for wealthy Americans• During Harding & Coolidge federal agencies created during the Progressive Era

aided business

Foreign Policy• “Isolationist” policies, but actively participated in decisions regarding

international finance & payment of war reparations• Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 = international agreement 62 nations

pledged to foreswear war as instrument of policy• Washington Naval Conference of 1921-1922

– Restrained naval arms race among US, Britain, Japan, Italy, & France– Signatory nations agreed to specific limitations on the # of battleships each nation

could build• Dawes Plan

– Response to econ. crisis in Germany– Rescheduled Germany’s reparation payments & opened way for US private loans to

Germany

Washington Naval Conference (1921)

International Disarmament Conference

Naval RatiosArms Race

Capital

Ships

Aircraft

Carriers

Britain 5 5U.S. 5 5Japan 3 3

The Dawes PlanNOTE: This is different from the Dawes Act (1887)

The Kellogg-Briand Pact (1929)

Renounced war as an “instrument of national policy”

New Culture: Jazz Age

• High school and college youth expressed rebellion against elders’ culture by dancing to jazz music.– Brought north by African

American musicians

• Phonographs and radios made jazz music available to the public.

• Electricity– Millions of Americans could purchase new

appliances : refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines

• Automobiles– Nearly everyone owned a car by 1930

(replaced railroads as key economic growth producer).

– Stimulated other industries:• Steel, glass, rubber, gasoline, highway construction

– Impacted all aspects of social life.• Entertainment

– The radio was new. Networks enabled people all over the country to listen to the same programs

– Movies were a national pastime. Talking pictures (The Jazz Singer) increased their popularity.

• Popular Heroes– Heroes went from being popular heroes

(Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, and Wilson) to sports and movie stars.

New Culture: Consumerism

Summary: The Culture of Modernism

The “Lost Generation of the 1920s”

– Key writers = Sinclair Lewis & F. Scott Fitzgerald

– Called Lost Generation b/c disillusioned w/ American society during 1920s

– Criticized middle-class materialism & conformity• Sinclair Lewis

criticized middle-class life in novels like Babbit and Main Street

Jazz• Black musicians such as Joseph

(“Joe”) King Oliver, W.C. Handy, & “Jelly Roll” Morton helped create Jazz

• Especially popular among the youth b/c it symbolized a desire to break with tradition

Mass Entertainment• Movies = most popular form of mass

entertainment• Sports becomes big business (led by

baseball)• Tech innovations made long-distance radio

broadcasting possible– National radio networks reached

millions of Americans

Art & Literature• Literature of Alienation

• Authors saw religion as hypocritical and the war as fraud created by business owners.

• Disillusioned authors were called the “Lost Generation.”

• Art– Architecture: Frank Lloyd

Wright expanded on Louis Sullivan’s ideas in applying functionalism, leading to skyscrapers without decoration.

– Paintings: Painters such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keefe showed the stark impact of technology and urban life.

New Culture: Gender Roles, Family, Education

• Flappers– Symbolized the new freedom by

challenging traditional American attitudes about women

– Favored short, bobbed hair, smoked cigarettes, and even wore the new one-piece bathing suits (scandalous!)

– High school and college graduates took office jobs until they were married.

• Divorce liberalized 1:6 marriages• Education

– More state governments enacted compulsory school laws.

– 1930: over 25% of school age young adults graduated from high school.

Summary: Struggle for Women’s Equality

• Revolution in Sexual Morals– Movies, automobiles, and dance steps encouraged

promiscuity.– Contraceptives were mostly illegal, but Margaret Sanger

advocated to achieve growing acceptance.• Outspoken reformer who openly championed birth

control for women

Summary: Struggle for Women’s EqualityWomen and the Workforce• Percentage of single women in

labor force declined b/n 1920-1930 (even though new jobs available in offices/stores)

• Did not receive equal pay & faced discrimination in the professions

• Most married women didn’t seek jobs outside of the home

Decline of Feminist Movement of 1920s• Passage of 19th amendment granting women the right to vote• Inability of women’s groups to agree on goals• Decline of Progressive reform movement

Summary: Struggle for African American’s EqualityThe Harlem Renaissance

• Thrived in 1920s• Outpouring of Black artistic &

literary creativity• Writers & artists expressed pride

in African American culture– Supported full social & political

equality for African Americans• African American intellectual

movement– Literature, Poetry, Art, etc.

• Langston Hughes– Novelist and Poet– Most famous figure of HR

Marcus Garvey• Jamaica Harlem

• Universal Negro Improvement Association– Largest black mass movement in history

• Black Nationalism / Pan-Africanism– Back to Africa Movement– Separatism

Big Question

How “roaring” were the roaring twenties for average Americans?

New Culture: ReligionDivision among Protestants reflected

tensions in society.

Modernism• Changing role of women + Social Gospel

movement + scientific knowledge = a redefinition of faith

• Modernists believed they could accept Darwin’s theory of evolution without abandoning their religious faith.

Fundamentalism• Rural Protestant preachers taught that every

word in the Bible must be taken literally. – Creationism (God created the universe in

seven 24-hour days) explained the beginning of all life.

– Blamed modernists for a decline in morals.• Anti-liberal & anti-secular movement that

gained strength in the 1920s

Revivalists of the 1920’s (Radio Evangelists)• Preached a fundamentalist message using the

radio.• Billy Sunday (attacked drinking, gambling, and

dancing)• Aimee Semple McPherson (attacked communism

and jazz music)

Cultures in Conflict: The Scopes Trial• John T. Scopes = H.S. Bio teacher

in Tennessee who was indicted for teaching evolution– Modernist Lawyer: Clarence Darrow– Fundamentalist testifier: William

Jennings Bryan (“expert on the Bible”)

• The nation followed the trial in newspapers and on the radio.

• Scopes was found guilty, but Darrow made Bryan look foolish in the trial.– Bryan died of a stroke soon

afterward.Aftermath: • laws banning evolution remained,

but were rarely enforced• the Northern press felt Darrow had

discredited fundamentalism.• The question of religion and public

schools remains controversial.• Shows cultural conflict in 1920s b/n

fundamentalism & modernism

Cultures in Conflict: Prohibition• Defying the Law

– 1919: 18th amendment: prohibition of alcohol.

– Conserve grain during the war.– Maintain a sober workforce.

• The Volstead Act = a federal law enforcing the 18th Amendment

– In cities, speakeasies sold bootleg liquor.• City police looked the other way.

– President Harding served liquor to guests.– Organized crime became big business

• Rival gangsters (Al Capone) fought for control of the bootlegging trade.

• Gangsters made millions selling illegal booze, prostitution, and narcotics

• Political Discord/Repeal– Republicans supported prohibition– Southern Democrats supported it; northern

city politicians wanted it repealed.– The Great Depression added economic

reasons for repeal; the 21st Amendment (1933) repealed prohibition.

Cultures in Conflict: Nativism• Causes

– Immigration resumed after the Great War ended (mainly eastern European Catholics and Jews)

– Nativist prejudices and fears heightened:• Competition for jobs• European radicals might incite revolution• The public demanded that Congress limit

immigration.

• Quota Laws [existed for all Asian and European nationalities]– The Quota Act of 1921: limited immigration to

3% of the number of foreign-born persons from a given nation present in the 1910 census.

– Quota Act of 1924 (specifically discriminated against Southern and Eastern European immigrants): 2% of those present in the 1890 census.

– 1927: Japanese immigration barred; 150,000 = limit for all Asian and Eastern and Southern European immigration.

The Sacco and Vanzetti Trial• The People of Massachusetts v.

Sacco and Vanzetti– After a robbery in Massachusetts led to

two deaths, Boston police arrested Sacco (shoeworker) & Vanzetti (fish seller), poor Italian immigrants and anarchists who had protested the Palmer raids. They were sentenced to death by electric chair.

• Artists and intellectuals debated over evidence used in the trial (guns).

• Many believed Sacco and Vanzetti were victims of government repression and xenophobia (fear of outsiders).

• Significant b/c it illustrated the fear of radicals and recent immigrants

Cultures in Conflict: The Ku Klux Klan– After lynching a Jewish man accused of

attacking a girl, the Ku Klux Klan reformed in 1915, and had 5 million members by 1925.

– It directed its hatred against Catholics, Jews, foreigners, and suspected Communists.

• Tactics– Wearing white hoods, Klansmen burnt

crosses, ad whipped, tarred and feathered , and hanged their victims.

– In Indiana and Texas, they had strong political influence.

• Demise– Native-born white Americans tolerated

the Klan at first, feeling it reinforced Christian morality.

– The murder conviction of Grand Dragon David Stephenson (Indiana Klan’s leader) caused membership to decline. It continues to exist, however.

Summary: Response to Modernism - NativismThe Ku Klux Klan• 1920s witnessed dramatic expansion of the KKK shows nativist reaction to

modernism!• D.W. Griffith’s full-length film The Birth of a Nation glorified the KKK• Favored white supremacy and restrictions on immigration• Hostile towards immigrants, Catholics, Jews, and African Americans

The National Origins Act of 1924• Primary purpose = use quotas to restrict flow of newcomers from

Southern & Eastern Europe• Quotas established by National Origins Act discriminated against

immigrants from S & E Europe primary reason for decrease in the numbers of Euro immigrating to the US in 1920s

• # of Mexicans & Puerto Ricans migrating to US increased b/c neither group was affected by restrictive immigration acts of 1921 & 1924

Big Question

What fundamental cultural shifts did America experience in the

1920s? Was there any resistance to these changes?