Prosperity and Change

The United States between WWI and the Great Depression

Postwar Adjustments

• As a result of WWI, USA was world’s largest CREDITOR nation.– In 1922, European

nations owed the US $11.5 BILLION

– Britain and mainland Europe were completely destroyed by WWI.

– USA became ISOLATIONIST

Postwar Adjustments

• War ended in 1918. By 1919 4,000 men a day were being discharged from the armed forces.

• There was no plan to help these men get back into society.

• To free up jobs for returning veterans many women left their jobs voluntarily or were fired.

Postwar Society

• In the 1920s, America saw major changes in three areas:– Society– Media– Culture

Social Changes

Social Changes: Women

• Women had been working for decades, and after women were granted the right to vote with the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920, women began to push for more independence.

• The FLAPPER epitomized this new attitude

Flappers: New and Daring

1900’s woman 1920’s woman

Flappers: New and Daring• Women began

breaking from tradition, both in work and society.– More makeup,

less fabric– Drinking and

smoking… in public!!

– Single women were more likely to go out to bars, clubs, etc.

“Breezy, slangy, and informal in manner; slim and boyish in form; covered in silk and fur that clung to her as close as onion skin; with carmined [vivid red] cheeks and lips, plucked eyebrows and close-fitting helmet of hair; gay, plucky, and confident.” -Preston Slossen, 1930

Turn and Talk:

How did the flapper symbolize change for women in the 1920s?

Women at Work• During the 1920s,

about 15% of wage-earning women became professionals and 20% percent held clerical positions.

• Percentage of working married women increased from 23% (1920) to 29% (1930).

• Businesses were prejudiced against women.– No doctors or

lawyers; less pay than men; quit if pregnant.

On the Move

The Great Migration continued throughout the 1920s, but many new immigrants entered the country at the same time.

Changing Demographics

Great Migration• African-Americans had originally

begun to move north to escape the Jim Crow South and work factory jobs left by men that entered the armed forces during World War I.

• Low wages and racism kept African-Americans segregated and facing discrimination. As a result, many settled in poorer neighborhoods that are still inhabited today by the poor and minorities.

Immigration• Since the late 19th century, Asian

immigration had been limited.• After World War I and the

Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, immigration from Europe saw drastic reductions and laws that put a quota (limit) on the number of immigrants that could enter the United States.

• Immigrants began to come more from Canada and Latin America than from Europe, but still sought employment in the same areas.

The Great Migration

New Immigrants

Canadians• Entered to work in northern

mills and factories after immigration restrictions during and after WWI

• EXAMPLES IN RI: Woonsocket, West Warwick, other industrial areas saw influx of French-Canadiens.

Mexicans & Latin Americans• Supplied most of the low-

paying jobs in the West after restrictions were placed on Asian immigrants

• Especially settled in cities, forming their own Spanish-speaking barrios (neighborhoods).

Turn and Talk:

What are demographics? What conditions brought about

demographic shifts in the 1920s?

American Heroes

American Heroes

• Morals were changing, and Americans were looking for heroes.

• Many thought heroes personified values of an earlier time.– Bravery– Modesty– Spirit & Vitality

American Charles Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight in 1927.

Sports Heroes

Gertrude Elderle (above) was the first woman to swim the English Channel – beating the men’s record for the feat by two hours, and American heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey (left) was a fearsome puncher and national hero.

Turn & Talk

What similarities/differences are there between 1920s heroes and

today’s heroes?

Mass Media & Culture

Mass Media: Unifying the USA

• During the 1920s, movies helped create a national culture.

• Before that, America was largely a collection of regional cultures– Interests, tastes, and values

varied from one region to another.

– Most Americans did not know much about the rest of the country outside of where they lived.

A National Culture

• Films, national news, and radio broadcasting produced the beginning of a new national culture.

• Mass media: Print, film, and broadcast methods of communicating information to large numbers of people.

Movies-Between 1910-1930, the number of movie theaters in the USA rose from 5,000 to 22,500.-By 1929, 80 million tickets were sold each week (population= 125 million).-1927’s The Jazz Singer was first movie with sound. Speech, singing, music, and sound effects would become part of motion pictures permanently.-Newsreels played before shows and during intermissions gave audiences a look at what was happening throughout the United States.

Newspapers & Magazines

Newspapers• Between 1914-1927, use of

newsprint nearly doubled.• Newspapers merged, which

increased circulation, which then increased advertising.

Magazines• By 1929, Americans were

buying more than 200 million copies of magazines annually.

• Many magazines that are still in print today were begun in the 1920s.– Time– Reader’s Digest– Ladies’ Home Journal

Radio-First radio waves had been sent in 1896 by Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi.-First radios used in the USA were mostly homemade.-In 1920, electrical engineer Frank Conrad set up a radio transmitter in his garage in Pittsburgh, broadcasting recorded music and baseball scores as an experiment.-Response was so great he began broadcasting on a regular basis.-Became nation’s first radio station, KDKA.-Radio began attracting advertisers, and by 1922 there were 500 stations nationwide.-Between 1922 and 1929, the number of households with radios increased from 60,000 to 10.25 million!

Turn & Talk

What social changes were brought about by mass media? Does mass media

bring about any social changes today?