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Presidential PoliticsWarren G. Harding

– Post WW I President– Promised “Return to Normalcy”– Republican Conservatism– Presidency plagued with

political, personal scandals – “Ohio Gang” cabinet of poker

players and drinkers ran White House

Teapot Dome Scandal– Harding’s Secretary of the

Interior sold public lands to private oil companies for bribes

– One of several scandals that plagued the Harding Administration

Presidential Politics

Calvin Coolidge• Succeeded Harding as

president• Known as “Silent Cal”– Said little, did little– Greatly reduced

government spending and regulation

– Business-focused leadership

Consumerism

Model T• Car made affordable by

Henry Ford• Efficient assembly line

production• Allowed payments in

installments

Consumerism

Consumer Society• New products

– car, radio, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, sewing machines, soda, toasters

• Increased Advertising– Newspapers, radio,

billboards

• Easy Credit– Payoff in installments

Nativism

Sacco & Vanzetti Trial• Immigrants tried &

executed on little evidence of murdering a factory paymaster

• Conviction fueled by fear of immigrants and communists

NativismKu Klux Klan• Expanded message of hate to

all non-WASPs– WASP ideal-white, Anglo-Saxon

(western European), Protestant• Anti-black, anti-immigrant,

anti-Catholic, anti-Jew, anti-communists

• *KKK membership grew--4.5 million (1924)

• *Utilized violence, terrorism, and political pressure to push agenda in creating “100% American Society”

Nativism

Quota System • Limited immigration to

3% of 1890 census figures

• Eastern/southern European countries virtually denied access

• Most restrictive immigration policy in United States History

Clash of CulturesFlappers• Young women of the era who

challenge feminine ideals– Assertive, speak up, drink,

smoke, dance, casual dating, loose fitting dresses above knee, bobbed hair, taped down breasts, string beads, felt hats, silk stockings, use birth control

• Emancipated Woman• 19th Amendment

– Right to vote, politically active• Outgoing Urban woman• Modern household

conveniences liberate

Clash of Cultures

Adoption of Prohibition• Return to days of

temperance• Attack on Catholics,

immigrants• 18th Amendment

– outlaws manufacturing, sale, distribution of alcohol

• Success—drinking did decline, related abuses, health problems declined

Clash of Culture

Repeal of Prohibition• Prohibition did not

outlaw drinking alcohol• Abuse—speakeasies,

bootleggers, mobsters (Al Capone), lost respect for law, underground culture

• 21st Amendment repeals Prohibition

Clash of CulturesAmerican Fundamentalism• Protestant movement• Attack on science of

modern era• Reject evolution theory• Tennessee Law outlawed

teaching evolution• Scopes Trial (Monkey Trial)

– Teacher John Scopes arrested for teaching evolution

– Becomes trial between free speech & science v. fundamentalism & faith

Clash of Cultures

Lost Generation• Post-World War I writers

disillusioned by war, faddishness, and materialism of the 1920s

• Generally cynical writers– Sinclair Lewis—Babbit– F. Scott Fitzgerald—The

Great Gatsby– Earnest Hemingway—The

Sun Also Rises– T.S. Eliot—The Waste Land

Entertainment

Movies• Began as silent films

with subtitles• Stars emerge– Rudolph Valentino--hunk– Charlie Chaplin--slapstick– Clara Bow--“It Girl”

• “Talkies” by end of the decade

Entertainment

Radio Shows• Fastest growing

entertainment of the era

• Comedies-Amos N’ Andy

• Music (Irving Berlin)• News• Sports coverage

Entertainment

Sports• Newspapers, radio

increased popularity• Baseball—Babe Ruth• Boxing—Jack Dempsey• Football—Red Grange• Golf—Bobby Jones• Tennis—Helen Wills

African American Culture

Jazz• Combines ragtime, blues, Negro

spirituals, modern instruments, rhythm, & improvisation

• Truly American Music– Originates New Orleans

• Transforms musical world• Foundation for rock n’ roll • Jazz Greats

– Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith…more

• Jazz bridges the racial divide– Blacks played white clubs – Jazz adapted by white musicians

African American CultureHarlem Renaissance• African American cultural, political,

literary, musical revival• Centered in Harlem, NY• Beginnings of black pride-“Black is

beautiful.”• NAACP continues efforts combating

lynching, protecting civil rights• Marcus Garvey—encouraged black

improvement, pride, economic independence, return to Africa

• Langston Hughes—literary voice of the African American

• Cotton Club-African-American night club

“…the chief business of the American people is business”

“Besides,They’ll see howBeautiful I amAnd be ashamed—

I, too, am American”

"I've never been hurt by anything I

didn't say."