Roaring 20 s From Boom to Bust
and conflict The Roaring 20 s, An era of prosperity Republican power,
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
Age of Prosperity Economic expansion Mass Production Assembly Line Age of the Automobile Ailing Agriculture
Consumer Economy
Mass Media and Communications How do you find out what s going on in the world? ( News, fashion, music, etc..) The 1920s was in many respects the first decade of our modern era. Even as cultural issues divided Americans from different regions or economic levels, technology was beginning to break down other barriers.
Mass Media and Communications Radio: Broadcast jazz and Fireside Chats (along with phonograph, radio broke barriers) Movies: Provided escape from Depression-era realities Newspapers and magazines: Shaped cultural norms and sparked fads
The Radio 800 stations by 1929 = 10 million families How did the radio impact America?
Mass Consumption and the Boom Economy Improved technology Home Appliances that make life easier Radios People bought lots of consumer goods Installment buying Buying on credit = taking it home and paying for it later
Leisure Time The growth of cities changed leisure patterns. The average workweek changed from seven days 70 hours to five days 45 hours. Salaries and wages also were on the rise. Movies, radio, and phonographs allowed people to escape their problems and brought about a similar culture. The radio and movies reached all parts of the world.
Henry Ford Lowered cost by using mass production assembly line 1 worker = one task All parts interchangeable More than one made at a time Faster = Cheaper
Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black
Wanted to build a car that his employees could afford Model T $290 in 1920 1914: 500,000 car 1930: 30 million cars!
The Impact of the Automobile Industry
Higher wages & more job opportunities Prosperity The 1920s was a period marked by: A return to isolationism Less government intervention. music, art, literature, sports flourish New consumer goods Prohibition- speakeasies, bootleggers Flappers A change in American values and way of life.
Early 20 s: Return to Normalcy Belief that America needed to return to a normal life after the war Normalcy=Pre-Progressivism: Political Corruption Anti-Immigration Laissez-faire Isolation Fundamentalism (Religious)
Republican Power President Harding Elected 1920 Legacy of Scandals Teapot Dome Died in office
Political Corruption President Harding s presidency is marked by scandal Teapot Dome Scandal: Government officials gave government land to oil company. Prohibition: Smuggling alcohol and speakeasies appear and government officials are bribed and corrupted. The age of Al Capone well known gangster
The Teapot Dome Scandal I have no trouble with my enemies But my damned friends they re the ones that keep me walking the floor nights!
Teapot Dome Secret leasing of federal oil reserves by the secretary of the interior, Albert Bacon Fall. Warren G. Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil-reserve lands from the navy to the Department of the Interior in 1921. All secretly granted to Harry F. Sinclair of the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome (Wyoming) reserves (April 7, 1922). He granted similar rights to Edward L. Deheny of Pan American Petroleum Company for the Elk Hills and Buena Vista Hills reserves in California (1921 22).
Teapot Dome Continued Shortly after the signing of the Teapot Dome lease, Fall and members of his family had received from an unknown source more than $200,000 in Liberty bonds under circumstances indicating that the bonds came from a company organized by Sinclair. Prior to the execution of the Pan American contracts and leases, Doheny, at Fall s request, sent $100,000 in currency to Fall as a loan that had not been repaid.
Political Change The Teapot Dome Scandal bothered Harding so much that he ended up having a heart attack and dying. Calvin Coolidge succeeded Harding as President in 1923 and the U.S. started to prosper under his leadership.
President Coolidge The business of America is business. Fordney- McCumber Tariff Smoot-Hawley Tariff No help for farmers Foreign Policy
The Red Scare Revolution in Russia brought the Communists to power. Many Americans, frustrated by big business owners, joined the Communist Party. Thousands of strikes in 1919 and 1920 Bombs were sent to government and business leaders.
Anti-Immigration Cause: Red Scare Belief of the early 20 s that Communists would try to take over the U.S. A. Mitchell Palmer leader of Red Scare Open immigration: Rise of new Ku Klux Klan New Immigrants most affected by the Red Scare Return of Nativism KKK grows to over 5 million people
The Palmer Raids A. Mitchell Palmer, Attorney General, ordered raids to hunt down suspected Communists. Civil rights were ignored Agents searched without a search warrant. People were arrested and held without trial. Immigrants were deported
The KKK Rises Again The Ku Klux Klan rises to power again believed in 100% Americanism Targeted: Blacks Immigrants Jews Roman Catholics Wantagh, Babylon, LI Mineola, LI Washington, D.C.
KKK in Washington 1925
Effects of Anti-Immigration Court Case: Sacco & Vanzetti two radical Italian immigrants were arrested, convicted, and executed for murder.
Sacco and Vanzetti (1927) Anarchist Italian immigrants convicted of murder Not given fair trial Executed Cleared of charges in 1977
Effects of Anti-Immigration Immigration controls: Emergency Quota act (1921) & National Quota Act (1924) Limit the number of Immigrants from dangerous countries.
Laissez-faire Return the power of big business Government crackdown on labor unions -labor unions seen as communist supporters
Global Policies The United States hope to become isolationist again.
1920 Census >50% of all Small Towns v Big Cities Americans lived in Cities Farmers less Important
Fundamentalism Religious movement of the era that hoped to restore the morality of America Supporters: Rural areas
Scopes Monkey Trial Evolution vs. The Bible Science: City Bible: Rural Evolution is Darwin s Theory that man evolved over time from monkeys The Bible teaches creationism God created man and all the world
Scopes Monkey Trial Evolution vs. Creationism Science vs. Religion Famous Lawyers Dayton, Tennessee John Scopes High School Biology teacher
SCOPES TRIAL In March 1925, Tennessee passed the nation s first law that made it a crime to teach evolution Scopes was a biology teacher who dared to teach his students that man derived from lower species John Scopes arrested
Fundamentalism Scopes Monkey Trial a science teacher from Tennessee wanted to teach evolution but the school would not allow it and he sued ACLU American Civil Liberties Union backed the teacher William Jennings Bryan represented the creationist Clarence Darrow represented the evolutionist
Scopes Trial Fundamentalists believed the Bible was literally true and without error. They rejected Darwin s theory of evolution Evolution human beings had developed from lower forms of life over the course of millions of year The creationists won the trial, but because of the trial, the Fundamentalists fell out of favor
Scopes was found guilty and fined $100
Scopes Monkey Trial
Prohibition 18 th Amendment Volstead Act Gangsters Al Capone
Prohibition The 18 th amendment banned the production and sale of alcohol The Volstead Act enforcing Prohibition became the responsibility of the U.S. Treasury Department Granted federal and state governments the power to enforce Prohibition
PROHIBITION 18 th Amendment in 1920 illegal to make, sell or transport liquor Prohibition lasted from 1920 to 1933 when it was repealed by the 21 st Amendment
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
Prohibition Speakeasies secret bars where you could buy alcohol Crime was glamorized and became big business. Some gangsters had enough money to corrupt local politicians. (organized crime) Al Capone one of the most successful and violent gangsters of the time Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Faced Nelson, John Dillinger all famous during this time period. The Twenty-first Amendment ended Prohibition
The Speakeasy
Al Capone Bootlegged whiskey from Canada. ran a network of 10,000 speakeasies made $60 million in bootlegging. He killed off the competition (literally) Rise of organized crime and the Mob Prohibition caused a RISE in crime and lawlessness, not a decrease. 21 st Amendment repeals Prohibition.
Why Prohibition Failed? 1500 agents were responsible for enforcing 1.Unpopular 2.Led to organized crime 3.Death due to poor quality alcohol 4.Under funded and hard to enforce
Al Capone
THE TWENTIES WOMAN After World War I, Americans were looking for a little fun in the 1920s Chicago 1926 Why were women able to become more independent after WWI?
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...)
19 th Amendment (1920)
NEW ROLES FOR WOMEN More women working Usually single or widowed women Many women entered the workplace as nurses, teachers, librarians, & secretaries Income to spend Technology made life easier Stoves, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners Margaret Sanger Birth control movement Family size decreases
Traditional Role of Women Flappers: A young woman with short skirts and rouged cheeks who had her hair cropped close in a style known as a bob. Women gained the right to vote with passage of the nineteenth amendment.
THE FLAPPER A Flapper was a young woman who embraced the new fashions and urban attitudes. Wanted independence Rebelled against traditional roles
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
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
Cultural Innovations Talking picture The Jazz Singer was produced and the golden age of Hollywood began. Mass media radio, movies, newspapers, and magazines aimed at a broad audience did more than just entertain. They helped to broaden people s interests and fostered a sense of shared national experience
ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS First sound movies: Jazz Singer (1927) First animated with sound: Steamboat Willie (1928) Walt Disney's animated Steamboat Willie marked the debut of Mickey Mouse. It was a seven minute long black and white cartoon. By 1930 millions of Americans went to the movies each week
African American Culture The Great Migration hundreds of thousands of African Americans move from the rural South to industrial cities in the North Harlem Renaissance African Americans created an environment that stimulated artistic development, racial pride, and a sense of community. Langston Hughes (writer), Louis Armstrong (trumpet player), Duke Ellington (bandleader)
Harlem Renaissance In the 1920s it was home to a literary and artistic revival known as the Harlem Renaissance
WHAT MADE THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE POSSIBLE? Migration of the Negro by Jacob Lawrence Between 1910 and 1920, the Great Migration saw hundreds of thousands of African Americans move north to big cities
Harlem Renaissance Writers Langston Hughes (Poet) Zora Neale Hurston (Writer) Famous Jazz Musicians Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong Bessie Smith Cotton Club: famous Jazz Club in Harlem Blacks usually denied admission
Black Nationalism Pan-Africanism: aimed to unite people of African descent worldwide Marcus Garvey Universal Negro Improvement Association Aims: African-American economic independence & a Black homeland in Africa
Celebrities Babe Ruth &Ty Cobb Charles Lindbergh The Spirit of St. Louis Jack Dempsey
Notables Charles Lindbergh first to fly across the Atlantic Babe Ruth may be the best known baseball player Henry Ford the assembly line, his most important invention, also developed the Model T ford. Welfare capitalism Companies allowed workers to buy stock, participate in profit sharing, and receive benefits such as medical care and pensions.
Notables Open shop a workplace where employees were not required to join a union. In 1920 Westinghouse Company broadcast one of the first public broadcast in history 1926 National Broadcasting Company (NBC) established a permanent network of stations to distribute daily programs. 1928 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) assembled a coast-to-coast network of stations
Slides Some of the slides used came from a internet site. Please be aware that I am using them for educational purposes and they may not be usable due to copyright laws.