American Life in the “Roaring

Twenties”1919-1929

What problems are shown in post-war America?

Insulating America

Bloody war, treaty failure led U.S. toward isolationism.

“Red Scare” of 1919-1921 caused by:

Russian RevolutionCommunist Party in AmericaGeneral Strikes (Seattle)

“Fighting Quaker” Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer led crusade (a.k.a. Palmer Raids):

6000 suspects heldDue Process not followedDec. 1919: 249 alien

radicals deported to Russia.

Rounding Up “Reds”

Criminal syndicalism laws: mere advocacy of violence for social

change was criminalized Laws used to prosecute IWWs

“wobblies”/radicals harmed free speech.

1920: 5 NY legislators denied seats because they were Socialists.

Conservative business owners used scare against labor: “open” shop was “American plan”

Insulating America at Great Expense

Sacco and Vanzetti

1921: Liberals regarded conviction of Sacco & Vanzetti as a “judicial lynching” because they were Italians, atheists, anarchists, draft dodgers.

Hooded Hoodlums

KKK revival was more “nativist” than just anti-black.

At peak in mid-20s it had 5 million members, large political influence, esp. in Midwest, South.

Why in the Midwest?

Membership of the Ku Klux Klan

1920 1930 1970 2000

4,000,000 30,000 2,000 3,000

• KKK collapsed suddenly in late 20s: terror, cover-up embezzlement.• Congressional investigation exposed KKK as being basically a membership fee racket.

Membership of the Ku Klux Klan1920 1930 1970 2000

4,000,000 30,000 2,000 3,000

Stemming the Flood

• The U.S. Government began to restrict certain “undesirable” immigrants from entering the U.S.

• Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924• Kept out immigrants from southeastern Europe.

1924 Act barred any Japanese immigration, but exempted Canadian/Latin Americans for work purposes.

By 1931, more foreigners left U.S. than arrived.

Act marked end of era of unrestricted immigration.

What is the most dangerous drug in America?

Prohibition “Experiment”

1919: Progressive reform led by churches, women resulted in 18th Amendment, Volstead Act.

Where was prohibition popular?

Why there?

Prohibition “Experiment”

Problems with enforcement:

1. Disillusionment over outcome of war raised questions about further self-denial.

2. Legislators’ private drinking.

3. Returning WWI soldiers disapproved.

4. Poor workers upset that while they lost beer, rich could still buy illicit alcohol.

5. Bootlegging, “bar hunts” popular with young & old.

Prohibition “Experiment”

But northern cities full of immigrants resisted.

Corner saloons replaced by “speakeasies”– preferred hard liquor

Strained diplomatic relations with Canada

Personal stills popular, but product was often dangerous.

Prohibition “Experiment”

Despite problems, bank savings increased, work absentee rate declined.

Less alcohol consumed than prior to prohibition.

The Night Chicago Died

Golden Age of Gangsters

Profits from illegal alcohol led to rise of criminal gangs

War in Chicago led to 500 killings

Al Capone convicted of income-tax

evasion, sent to prison. By 1930, organized crime

was making $12-$18B/year, several times more than federal government.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Progress in Education

More states requiring high school rate of high school completion doubled

Dewey’s principle of progressive education or “learning by doing” led to more practical, attractive schools

Scientific breakthroughs: Rockefeller Foundation program wiped

out hookworm in South. Life expectancy grew from 50 to 59

from 1901-1929.

Monkey Business in TN

But Fundamentalists fought new theories

3 Bible Belt states prohibited teaching evolution.

Biology teacher Scopes (Dayton, TN) indicted for teaching evolution and violating Butler Law

led to sensational “Monkey Trial.”

• Prosecutor W.J. Bryan • Defense lawyer Clarence

Darrow. Darrow Bryan

Clip from Inherit the Wind

Monkey Business in TN

Scopes found guilty, fined $100

fine waived on appeal Trial cast ridicule on cause

of Fundamentalists: More Christians were coming

to reconcile religion & science. Fundamentalism remained

strong among Baptists, etc.

Mass-Consumption Economy

20s economy grew rapidly Electricity production & autos

became huge new industries• 30M cars by 1930.

Advertising spawned by need of manufacturers to find new markets for products: used persuasion, seduction,

etc. 1925: Ad industry founder

Bruce Barton’s The Man Nobody Knows claimed that Jesus was greatest adman ever.

Mass-Consumption Economy

Commercialization led to fame of sports stars Ruth/Grange/ Dempsey.

Consumers could now buy new marvels refrigerators, vacuums, cars,

radios etc. on installment plans. Economy now vulnerable to

disruptions of credit structure.

The Second Industrial Revolution

U.S. develops the highest standard of living in the world

The twenties and the second revolutionelectricity replaces steam Henry Ford’s modern

assembly line introduced Rise of the airline

industry

Auto makers stimulate sales through model changes- advertising

Auto industry fostered the growth of other businessesGlass, paint, rubber, service stations,

car dealerships, tool and die shops, roads etc

Autos encourage movement and more individual freedom.

The Automobile Revolution

Buses led to consolidation of schools/churches

Suburbs spread Nation of commuters 1M dead by 1951–more than all

wars. Cars contributed to declining

morals Sexual freedom crime waves

The Automobile Revolution

Aviation Revolution

12/17/03: Gas engines led to Wright Bros. flight at Kitty Hawk.

“Flying coffins” with stunt pilots were popular at fairs.

Planes had moderate success in WWI. After war, private companies flew passengers, air

mail. 1927: Cynical U.S. found hero in Lindbergh after

Spirit of St. Louis transatlantic flight. Flight popularized flying, gave boost to aviation industry. Though early accidents, by 30s & 40s was safer than

car. Another setback for RRs.

• Westinghouse Radio Station KDKA was a world pioneer of commercial radio broadcasting.

• KDKA first broadcast was the Harding-Cox Presidential election returns on November 2, 1920.

• 220 stations eighteen months after KDKA took the plunge. • $50 to $150 for first radios

Radio Revolution

Radio Revolution• Radio sets, parts and accessories brought in $60 million

in 1922 and $852 million in 1929 • Radio reached into 1/3 homes in its first decade. • Listening audience grew to 50,000,000 by 1925

• “Commercials” paid for private networks.• Radio brought Americans back to home, knitted nation

together with favorite shows • Popularized sports, forced politicians to adapt.

Hollywood’s Fantasies

1903: 1st story sequence The Great Train Robbery was released to “nickelodeons.”

Among 1st full-length movies was Griffith’s KKK-glorifying The Birth of a Nation (1915).

Sunny Hollywood, CA became movie capital. Indecency in early movies outraged

public, producers set up censorship code.

1927: 1st “talkie” movie, The Jazz Singer, was success.

Movies became most popular entertainment stars made more $ than president.

Culture was standardized, ethnic divisions reduced.

The Dynamic Decade

1920: More Americans now lived in urban areas.

More opportunities for women: Jobs in cities, though low-paying

“women’s work.” Margaret Sanger led birth control

movement. Sexual openness used by

advertisers & inspired “flappers.” Freud claimed sexual repression

was harmful to health. Teenagers led assault on sexual

taboos in theaters, cars.

The Dynamic Decade (2)

Jazz was soundtrack of new era:

Harlem-based Marcus Garvey founded UNIA to promote resettlement of blacks in Africa and sponsor black business.

Harlem Renaissance

Large black community in Harlem sustained creative output

“Renaissance” led by writers McKay, Hughes, Hurston & jazz artists Armstrong, Callaway.

Argued for “New Negro” who was social equal to whites.

Literary Liberation

20s saw new generation of writers who were ethnically and regionally diverse. Critic H. L. Menken attacked patriotism,

Puritanism, South, marriage, middle-class. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby (1925) and

Dreiser’s An American Tragedy (1925) explored cruelty of achievement-oriented society.

Disillusioned Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises (1926) and A Farewell to Arms (1929) discussed WWI & aftermath.

Satirist Sinclair Lewis chronic-led midwestern life in Main Street (1920) & Babbitt (1922).

Novelist William Faulkner penned The Sound and the Fury (1929) & As I Lay Dying (1930) about southern themes.

Literary Liberation (2)

20s innovation most obvious in poetry: “Make It New” Ezra Pound influenced T.S. Eliot, author

of “The Waste Land” (1922). Robert Frost wrote of adopted New England. e.e. cummings used unorthodox diction & typesetting. Artistic center Greenwich Village home to playwright

Eugene O’Neill: authored sex-themed Strange Interlude (1928) and A Streetcar Named Desire.

Big Bull Market Bank failures & collapse of Florida real estate scheme gave evidence

that economy could crash from over speculation. Speculation w/ patriotic pitch drove stock market up wildly.

Even barbers & elevator operators began buying on margin. But conservative federal government was focused on debt, not Wall

St. 1921: Congress created Bureau of the Budget to prevent extravagant

spending. Treasury Sec. Mellon saw sky-high taxes on rich as harmful to growth

& government revenue. 1921-26: Led Congress to lower income, excise, gift, estate taxes. Mellon’s lower taxes on rich resulted in higher proportion of taxes paid by

middle-class. Mellon reduced nat. debt from $26B to 16B: policies typified pro business

regimes of 20s.