The Roaring 20’s
The Results of WWI
• Red Scare – fear of radicals, Communists, and Socialism
• Immigration restricted• Post-war labor strikes
– due to demobilization – peace time after war
• KKK grew– hated blacks, Jews,
Catholics, & Darwinists
Immigration• nativism – opposition to immigration; distinguishes
between Americans who were born here and immigrants• 1921 Emergency Quota Act – fed. law that limited annual
# of immigrants• 1924 National Origins Act (a.k.a. Immigration Act) – more
strict fed. law that limited # of immigrants who could be admitted from any country
• GOAL restrict Southern and Eastern Europeans & Asians & reduce immigration!
• Chinese Exclusion Act – 1st nationality to be excluded by immigration restrictions
The Red Scare• feared communism
& socialism would spread from Russia to U.S.
• will arise again during post-WWII & the Cold War
Sacco & Vanzetti
• Italian born Americans but “foreign” anarchists• tried, convicted, & executed for “armed robbery &
murder”; evidence didn’t match up, but didn’t matter
• Xenophobia – fear of what is foreign (especially people)
KKK• the rise of xenophobia & nativism led to
increased membership• opposed immigration• by mid-1920’s, there were 5 million members• influenced politics & elections
Post War Labor Strikes
• 4.5 million returning soldiers needed jobs• War materials no longer needed, neither
their employees UNEMPLOYMENT!• Labor strikes:– shorter hours & more pay
A Changing Society
• women• urban life
(industrial life)• prohibition• music & art
Women– 19th amendment –
gave women the right to vote• women got the right
to vote because of the war (they worked the jobs for the boys why they were away)
– education (college attendance)
– flappers
Prohibition• 18th amendment – made it illegal to produce or
sell alcohol• enforcement very hard• illegal alcohol made from perfume & paint• speakeasies – secret, illegal clubs serving
alcohol• bootleggers – people who smuggled it into the
U.S.• making alcohol:– Legal business CRIMINAL work– Al Capone
• 21st amendment – ended prohibition
Scopes Trial• John T. Scopes – teacher who taught Darwinism &
evolution– “survival of the fittest” determines the success of people in
society
• William Jennings Bryan – “Bible expert” for prosecution & presidential candidate; did not succeed
• Charles Darrow – famous criminal attorney– ACLU defends Scopes
• Evolution vs. Creation – divided public opinion• fundamentalism vs. modernism
– fundamentalism – strict following of the Bible
– modernism – idea of the power of the human being
Clarence Darrow & William Jennings Bryan
Music – Jazz Age
• developed in the south (New Orleans)• expressed the difficulties that blacks faced
during slavery• as blacks moved north, they took this with them• W.C. Handy – the father of the blues• Bessie Smith – Empress of the Blues• Louis Armstrong – innovative jazz musician
(solos); most famous
Great Migration
• 90% of black Americans lived in the South before WWI
• Moved to the North (Chicago & New York) for jobs & to escape KKK!!!
• 53% of black Americans lived in South in 1970
The Harlem Renaissance
• Harlem, NY – the largest black community• the renaissance – a period of black artistic
accomplishment – Langston Hughes – author– Zora Hurston – author – James Weldon Johnson – poet
• Blacks were free but segregated
Industry• Henry Ford & Model T
– lowered the price of the automobile
– by using the assembly line
• assembly line – a system of machines that moved products “down the line”– cut time of assembly
A Consumer Culture
• Business Booms!• new products to enjoy (ex. car, washing
machine, vacuums, refrigerators)• bought through installment plans – “Ride Now, Pay Later”
• advertising increase (radio, magazines, newspapers)
Farmers• war led to increase in
demand & prices– had to feed the
troops• peace time led to
overproduction & low prices (competition) not prosperous
World News
• European Union being developed• Hong Kong – dependent territory of UK from 1842 -
1997• Africa – Britain, France, Germany all colonized
Africa (took over native’s lands)