Download Chapters 20 & 21: The Roaring Twenties

Chapters 20 & 21: The Roaring
Twenties
Politics and Prosperity
(1920 – 1929)
I.
Political Characteristics
A. The Return to Normalcy
1. Introduction: Sheet
2. Warren Harding ( 1921 – 1923)
*Personality…
*Post Death: Scandal!
Ohio Gang: Used position for their own benefit
Tea Pot Dome Scandal: S of Interior accepted bribes to
allow oil drilling on govt property
I.
Political
A. The Return to Normalcy
2. Calvin Coolidge ( 1923 – 1929)
* “Keep it Cool with Coolidge”
* “Business of America is Business”
* Initiated laissez-faire, pro-business policies
Policies
1. Lowering personal & corporate income tax
2. Reduced national debt and balanced budget
3. Raised tariff rates
4. FED, FTC, ICC: advise rather than regulate
I.
Political
B. Foreign Affairs
1. Washington Naval Conference (1921)
* Harding organized; included US, Fr, It, GrB
* Attempt at collective security: not enforceable
Terms
• Disarmament: limit warships & sub use
• Outlaw poisonous gas
• Respect each other Pacific possessions
• Return Chinese territory; independent
I.
Political
B. Foreign Affairs
2. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1929)
* 62 nations signed to outlaw war
* Defensive war: ok
* No military or economic way to enforce
* Led to a sense of security as well as isolationism
& neutrality in the 1930s
* Pact reflected Republican desire to avoid war
I.
Political
C. The Red Scare (1919)
1. Why?
* Concern over communism post Red revolution
* Rumors: attack US govt & institutions
* Target: socialists, anarchists, labor leaders,
foreigners
I.
Political
C. The Red Scare (1918 – 1919)
2. “Palmer Raids”
* Attorney General Mitchell Palmer
* 33 cities… police w/o warrants raided HQ of
communists & other leaders (labor)
* Hold w/o charges & lawyers
* 560 deported
* Extreme actions… turn public against Palmer
* “Chilling effect”: discourage from speaking up…
II.
Economic Characteristics
A. Recession & Recovery (sheet)
* GNP: the total value of goods and services
produced annually (Now: GDP)
B. Technology & Mass Consumption
* Mass production & assembly line = uniform products and lower
costs
* Families purchases consumer goods: appliances, etc
* Purchased through installment buying: buying on credit
* Led to mass consumption: more products were available and
more people could afford to purchase
* New fields: cars, chemicals, radios, movies… growth of suburbs
II.
Economics
C. Stock Market Speculation
1. Economy recovery increase investment in stocks
2. Bull market: rising stock market (v. bear)
3. Some even invested life savings… no restraint
Flaws
• Stocks traded: “on the margin”… buy w/ small % down
• Borrowed rest from brokers
• Worked as long as bull market… what if prices dropped?
II.
Economics
D. Flaws in the Economy
1. Labor
* WWI: labor unions grew; wages increased
* Post WWI: changes… inflation, strikes,
injunctions all returned
* 1921 – 1929: labor membership dropped
* Real wages did not improve… could not afford to
buy consumer goods
* + Note: health & life insurance
II.
Economics
D. Flaws in the Economy
2. Small Farmers
* Farmers: met WWI demand…
* Now: Europeans could produce too
* Result: overproduction: product prices fell and
so did farm income
II.
Economic
D. Flaws
3. Native Americans
4. African Americans: Great Migration
* 1910-30s; 2 million left South for N. jobs
* Better wages than south but still discriminated
* Competition produced racial tension/ riots
* Marcus Garvey: react to violence
*Separation of races
III. Social Characteristics
A. Immigration
Introduction… & nativism: sheet
1. Ku Klux Klan
* Anti-foreign attitudes: revival of KKK
* 1915 – 1922: 430 lynched; included ex-soldiers
III. Social Characteristics
A. Immigration
2. Sacco-Vanzetti Case (1921)
* Nicola Sacco & Bartolomeo Vanzetti
* Convicted of murder in MA bank robbery
* No clear evidence; no speak English
* Biased trial: more convicted for beliefs & name
than evidence
* 1927: executed; 1977: cleared of charges
III. Social
A. Immigrants
1. Emergency Quota Act (1921)
* Limited # of immigrants to US to 350,000
2. National Origins Act (1924)
* Established the system of national quotas: limited the
number of immigrants from each country
* % from each country: favoring from N & W Europe
III. Social
B. Women: Sheet
C. Prohibition
1. Reasons: Temperance; WWI
2. Ineffective Law: bootleggers, speakeasies
III. Social
D. Scopes “Monkey” Trial (1925)
1. Biology teacher John Scopes in Dayton,
Tennessee: but national attention
2. Darwinism evolution v. Biblical creationism
3. Clarence Darrow v. William Jennings Bryan
4. Showed clash b/w old, rural American values &
urban, modern values
Darrow & Bryan
IV. Cultural
Introduction…
A. Literature
1. Criticized business, conformity, materialism
2. Disillusioned w/ war & society
3. Lost Generation: disconnected from country &
values (expatriates)
4. Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway,
F. Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald
IV. Cultural
B. Leisure Time
1. Movies: C.Chapin & G. Garbo
2. Golden Age of Broadcasting: Ellington, Smith,
Armstrong, Cotton Club
3. American Heroes: Lindbergh, Earhart
4. Flappers
* Young, pretty: bobbed hair and raised hemlines
* Drank alcohol, smoked: Independent
* Most were not: but image of time: movies, ads, mags
* Represent modern values over traditional values
IV. Cultural
IV. Cultural
C. Harlem Renaissance
1. African-American, well educated, mc writers,
musicians, and dancers
2. Felt alienated from mainstream society… What was
their culture?
3. Expressed pride in African American culture and
identity
4. Called for action against bigotry
5. WEB Dubois & NAACP, Hughes, Hurston,
Locke
6. Musicians: blended African, European, and
American music to create jazz and blues
C.Harlem Renaissance
IV. Cultural