The Roaring Twenties, Great Depression and the New Deal

The Roaring Twenties

Politics: President Warren G. Harding-Return to Normalcy-after WW1-Laissez-Faire( govt. hands off) policy toward Business. Men at work again, industries expand.

Teapot Dome Scandal-Harding’s Sec. of the Interior leased public lands for profit; others took bribes. This led to mistrust of government.

Economics in the 1920s

• Prosperity a result of: • Expansion of factory production due to technological

advances and assembly line• Reduced taxes • Buying and selling stocks• Laissez-faire government policy • High tariffs kept foreign goods out.• Farmers did not do as well because prices were down

and Europe was farming again.

Major Businessmen• Henry Ford- Revolutionized

factories with the assembly line-autos would move on a conveyor belt and each worker would do one thing(like screw in a screw) to help assemble it. Turned out many more cars this way. Cars became cheaper-more could buy.

• Glen Curtiss-aviation –developed new planes, talked Navy into buying planes-designed first aircraft carriers.

Social Issues in the 1920s• The Red Scare: Fear of Communism

and anarchists- Mass hysteria• General Palmer- Palmer raids-Att.

General Mitchell Palmer rounded up thousands of suspected leftists and anarchists. Deported 500

• Sacco and Vanzetti- Italian immigrants-accused of murder convicted and executed- many feel unfairly.

Social Issues cont.• Nativism-People who were second

generation Americans or more, protested more immigrants coming in. They said they took jobs needed by Americans.

• Immigration Act- signed by President Calvin Coolidge provided quotas to limit numbers especially from southern and eastern Europe and ban on Japanese immigrants.

• Prejudice against immigrants

Eugenics and Social Darwinism Social Darwinism-Survival of the fittest-Belief that the Anglo-Saxon race was superior.Eugenics- Belief that the human race could be improved by only using genes from the strongest and smartest. This promoted prejudice against physically or mentally handicapped.

Racism in the 1920s• Resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan• The Great Migration- Blacks from the South

moved to the north where the factories could provide work.

• Marcus Garvey-believed in black nationalism. “Back to Africa” movement-should go back to Africa and help it reach its potential.

Culture in the 1920s• Scopes Trial- Tennessee vs. John

Thomas Scopes - Modernism versus Traditionalism-Teacher wanted to teach evolution, the state thought only creationism from the Bible should be taught.

• William Jennings Bryan-prosecutor• Clarence Darrow-Defense• Teacher: John Scopes lost and was

fined $1.00

Mass Entertainment• Radio-many families had them-opera was

the first thing broadcast by Westinghouse

• Silent Movies-Charlie Chaplin-big star

• Baseball Games-Babe Ruth-homerun king

• People loved celebrities-Charles Lindbergh-first to fly across the Atlantic.

Literature and Music of the 1920s

• Harlem Renaissance- revival of black writing, music in clubs in Harlem, a primarily black area of New York

• Jazz became popular-Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington , Louie Armstrong

• Poetry by Langston Hughes

The Changing Role of Women

After the vote, women exerted their independence! Some went to the extreme-Flappers-short dresses, “wild” dancing like the Charleston, smoking, drinking, driving cars.Many women went to work.

Prohibition• Some conservative women were

against all this modernism and upset by men who spent their paychecks on drink. Some men became abusive as well when they drank. The WTU-Women’s Temperance Union was formed to try to get an amendment passed to ban alcohol.

• The 18th amendment passed and prohibited manufacture, sale or transport of alcohol.

Results of ProhibitionPeople who worked at breweries etc. lost jobs.The mob saw an opportunity to make money and started bootlegging alcohol. There was a rise in Organized crime. Speakeasies-secret clubs sprang up everywhere. Much violence happened because of rival mobs.

The Great Depression

• People thought the good times of prosperity would go on forever. They bought on the installment plan.

• They speculated on stocks and bought them on margin, sure the prices would go up.

• Materialism and instant gratification became a part of the culture.

• Then things turned sour.

Causes of the Great Depression

• Overproduction caused prices of farm products to fall and stay low.

• Tariffs on imports were met with tariffs on our exports to other countries. War Debts added to the problem

• Overproduction in industry caused prices to fall as well.

• Uneven distribution of wealth was a cause-Top 1% gained 75% in income and bottom 99% only 9% Most couldn’t afford all that was produced.

• Finally, the stock market crash-Black Tuesday-1929• Some people who lost their life savings committed suicide.

Industrial Overproduction

The Dust Bowl• Over-plowing of the grasslands

on the Great Plains left nothing to protect topsoil.

• Heat and drought took their toll.• Huge clouds of dust covered

everything.• Crops and farms lost and so

farmers had to leave to seek work- mostly in California picking crops.

Reactions to the Great Depression

• Hoover:• Hawley Smoot Tariff-hindered more than

helped.• Laissez-faire-hands off policy- didn’t work-

situation gets worse-Hoovervilles-shanty towns named after Hoover-called “do nothing” president

• Finally 1932: cut taxes, increased federal spending, established Reconstruction Finance Corporation

• Too little, too late- Lost election to FDR

FDR Relief, Recovery- New Deal• Franklin Delano Roosevelt immediately

proposed the Federal Emergency Relief Act-money for food, housing etc.

• Gave a “Bank Holiday” to see which banks were viable and then reopen the strong ones.

• Fed. Housing Administration to help get loans for housing

• To provide work:• Civil Conservation Corps, Public Works

Admin., Works progress Admin. to provide jobs.

FDR Recovery

• Legislation to assist business, labor and agriculture

• Controversial Agricultural Adjustment Act to pay farmers to plant less so prices will rise

FDR Reform• FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance

Corporation-protects your money in the bank

• Tennessee Valley Authority-puts people to work building dams.

• Social Security Act• Social Securities and Exchange

Commission-SEC to regulate stock market• National Labor Relations Act-more rights

for labor

REACTIONS TO THE NEW DEAL• Liberty League- Too much government

interference• Huey Long, Francis Townsend, Father

Coughlin-Government hasn’t done enough• Supreme Court- More conservative- kept

declaring efforts at reform legislation unconstitutional.

• FDR’s Court Packing Scheme to appoint more judges himself would give too much power to the Executive Branch and mess up the balance between the three Branches.

Impact of the New Deal

• It helped get people back on their feet.• We still have the FDIC, Social Security and the

Federal Housing Administration working for us today.• The New Deal meant more involvement of

Government in the lives of every American.• It was World War II that ended the Great Depression

for good. Once more we needed weapons and ammunition and food for soldiers. Production was up and jobs were plentiful.