The Roaring 20 s An era of prosperity, Republican power, and conflict
1920's collectively known as the "Roaring 20's", or the "Jazz Age" in sum, a period of great change in American Society - modern America is born at this time for first time the census reflected an urban society - people had moved into cities to enjoy a higher standard of living
Economic expansion Mass Production Assembly Line Age of the Automobile Age of Prosperity Ailing Agriculture
an agri. depression in early 1920's contributed to this urban migration U.S. farmers lost agri. markets in postwar Europe at same time agri. efficiency increased so more food produced (more food = lower prices) and fewer labourers needed so farming was no longer as prosperous, and bankers called in their loans (farms repossessed) so American farmers enter the Depression in advance of the rest of society
Black Americans in this period continued to live in poverty sharecropping kept them in de facto slavery 1915 - boll weevil wiped out the cotton crop white landowners went bankrupt & forced blacks off their land
Blacks moved north to take advantage of booming wartime industry (= Great Migration) - Black ghettoes began to form, i.e. Harlem within these ghettoes a distinct Black culture flourished But both blacks and whites wanted cultural interchange restricted
Marcus Garvey (Jamaican born immigrant) established the Universal Negro Improvement Association believed in Black pride advocated racial segregation b/c of Black superiority Garvey believed Blacks should return to Africa he purchased a ship to start the Black Star line attracted many investments: gov't charged him with w/fraud he was found guilty and eventually deported to Jamaica, but his organization continued to exist
Republican Power President Harding Elected 1920 Legacy of Scandals Teapot Dome Died in office
President Coolidge The business of America is business. Fordney-McCumber Tariff Smoot-Hawley Tariff No help for farmers Foreign Policy
Consumer Economy
Culture of the Roaring 20 s Radio KDKA Pittsburgh GE, Westinghouse,& RCA form NBC Silent Movies Charlie Chaplin Talkies The Jazz Singer Starring Al Jolson Mary Pickford America s Sweetheart
Celebrities Babe Ruth &Ty Cobb Charles Lindbergh The Spirit of St. Louis Jack Dempsey
The 20 s is The Jazz Age The Flappers make up cigarettes short skirts Writers F. Scott Fitzgerald Ernest Hemingway Musicians Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington
1920's also brought about great changes for women... 1920-19th Amendment gave them the federal vote after 1920, social circumstances changed too as more women worked outside the home and more women went to college and clamoured to join the professions women didn't want to sacrifice wartime gains - amounted to a social revolt characterized by the FLAPPER/ "new woman" (bobbed hair, short dresses, smoked in public...)
A Society in Conflict Anti-immigrant National Origins Act Discrimination Sacco-Vanzetti Trial Italian immigrants Unfair trial
for immigrants the point of origin had shifted to S & E Europe and new religions appeared: Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic N. European immigrants of early 19c. feared this shift and felt it would undermine Protestant values this fear was known as NATIVISM many wanted Congress to restrict immigration, leading to a quota system that favoured n. areas of Europe fear of immigrants (from SE Europe) led to a sentiment known as the Red Scare (fear of comm. post-bolshevik Rev.) basic comm. advocates a int'l revolution by the proletariat/workers - fears that this ideology could find its way into the U.S.
at this time, W. Wilson was gravely ill following a stroke his Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, wanted to take a shot at the presidency - he used fears of both immigrants and communism to his advantage he had J. Edgar Hoover round up suspected radicals, many of which were deported (Palmer Raids)
The Ku Klux Klan Great increase In power Anti-black Anti-immigrant Anti-Semitic Anti-Catholic Anti-women s suffrage Anti-bootleggers
Scopes Monkey Trial Evolution vs. Creationism Science vs. Religion Famous Lawyers Dayton, Tennessee John Scopes High School Biology teacher
Prohibition 18 th Amendment Volstead Act Gangsters untouchables Al Capone
PROHIBITION - on manuf. and sale of alcohol adopted in 1919-18th AMENDMENT an outgrowth of the longtime temperance movement in WWI, temperance became a patriotic mvmt. - drunkenness caused low productivity & inefficiency, and alcohol needed to treat the wounded a difficult law to enforce... organized crime, speakeasies, bootleggers were on the rise Al Capone virtually controlled Chicago in this period - capitalism at its zenith Prohibition finally ended in 1933 w/ the 21st Amendment forced organized crime to pursue other interests