. The 1920s is a major era of transition and includes: o Isolationism o Immigration o Red Scare o...
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Transcript of . The 1920s is a major era of transition and includes: o Isolationism o Immigration o Red Scare o...
Unit 5: Transition to Modern America
Major Era The 1920s is a major era of transition and
includes:o Isolationismo Immigrationo Red Scareo Jazz Ageo Social Darwinismo Eugenicso Nativismo Changing role of womeno Economic boom/ consumerism
“Roaring 20’s” US had to adjust to a new peace after WWI Decade starts with the US being a member of the
Allies and getting to partake in global decisions Decade ends with the Stock Market Crash and the
beginning of the Great Depression
Post WWI Many Americans began to favor isolationism
after WWI in foreign affairso Isolationism: refusing to become involved in other
nation’s problems From 1919-1921, US had a temporary economic
recession (downturn)o Government stopped wartime spending and soldiers
returned home looking for jobso Factories closed to convert back to civilian productiono Farmers lost markets in Europe
The Red Scare Russian Revolution in 1917 made Russia the
world’s first communist country Russia wanted a worldwide Communist revolution
and strikes began to spread in Europe and the US Many Americans feared a Communist Revolution
in the US, creating a Red Scare
The Red Scare Palmer Raids
o January 1919 – Italian anarchist set off bomb outside of home of Attorney General Mitchell Palmer
o Bombing was part of a series of attacks in 8 citieso Convinced Palmer that it was a radical plot to overthrow
the US governmento 1920 – Palmer ordered the round-up of 4,000 suspects in
several cities with warrants• His assistant J. Edgar Hoover directed the raid• Most were released but 600 were eventually deported
The Red Scare Sacco and Venzetti Case
o Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Venzetti – two Italian immigrants convicted of committing murder during a robbery
o Robbery allegedly to get funds for anarchist revolution.
o Rest of the world pressured to release them
o Despite lack of evidence, both were found guilty and executed in 1927• Supporters believed conviction
was due to their anarchist views despite jurors insisting otherwise.
Rise of Nativism and Racism
The Red Scare contributed to the rise of nativism (dislike of foreigners)
Ku Klux Klan found new life in 1915o Hostile to immigrants, Catholics, and African Americanso Major race riots broke out in many American citieso Worst were in Chicago where 38 people were killedo Lynching and segregation continued in the South
Three Republican Presidents
Harding, Coolidge and Hoover were Republican presidents o Favored laissez-faire economicso High protective tariffs (Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act (1930)
raised tariffs to highest levels in history)o Lower taxes on the wealthy and corporationso Lax enforcement of antitrust laws and regulations
Harding 1921-23 William Harding –
elected 1920 by a landslideo Campaigned for a
“return to normalcy”o US refused to join
League of Nationso Enacted high tariffso Lowered taxeso Restricted
immigration
Harding 1921-23 Showed tolerance and resisted anti-Semitism
o Campaign manager was Albert Lasker, “Father of Modern Advertising”
Created child health care centers and pursued arms reductiono Supported Washington Naval Conference and US
membership in the World Court
Harding 1921-23 Teapot Dome Scandal
o Appointed personal friends to cabinet positionso Secretary of the Interior leased oil-rich govt lands at
Teapot Dome, Wyoming to two business friends in exchange for bribes
o Scandal uncovered right after Harding’s in death in 1923 and was one of the worst scandals in U.S. history
Charles Forbes stole millions from construction of hospitals for returning veterans
Scandals have left a lasting stain on his reputation
Coolidge – 1923-29 Harding’s Vice
President Became President
when Harding died suddenly in 1923
Elected for second term in 1924
Symbolized by old-fashioned values of honesty and thrift
Coolidge – 1923-29 Pro-business Rarely spoke in public Talent for doing nothing Some accuse his laissez-faire approach to the
economy as encouraging the over-speculation that resulted in the crash of 1929
Herbert Hoover 1929-33
Self-made millionaire Predicted end of
poverty in America “Rugged individualism”
o America as equal opportunities and a will to succeed
o Spurred progress and made US great
o Too much govt involvement would hurt nation’s prosperity
What caused Prosperity?
Govt policies favoring businesses Rise of the automobile Rise of other new industries More efficient production techniques Age of Mass Consumption Speculation Boom Uneven Prosperity
Rise of the Automobile Automobile owners rose from 8 to 24 million Took large amounts of steel, glass, and rubber to
makeo Stimulating those industries
1929 – one out of every nine workers in the automobile industry
Rise of the Automobile Henry Ford
o Early automobile manufacturer
o Wanted to build cars everyone could afford
o Model T in 1905 – fist car many middle class Americans could buy
o Introduced assembly line in 1914• By 1924 producing 1.6
million cars for less than $300 per car
• So efficient, able to double wages and slash prices
Rise of Other New Industries
New discoveries and innovations in every field Improvements in:
o Transmitting electrical powero Improved motorso New Trans-Atlantic telephone serviceo New household appliances
• Vacuum cleaner• Refrigerator • Toaster
o Use of oil and natural gas expanded.o Radio and motion pictures became more widespread
New jobs
Rise of Other New Industries
Glenn Curtisso Early aviation pioneero First plane with motor in Kitty
Hawk, North Caroline 1902 by Wright Brothers
o 1908 – work on designing seaplane that could take off and land on water• Succeeded 3 years later with
“hydroeroplane”• Marked birth of US naval
aviationo 1912 – developed larger
flying boato 1919 – constructed first
airplane to cross Atlantic Ocean for US Navy
More Efficient Production Techniques
Use of conveyer belt spread to other industries Many factories adopted the assembly line Gains in productivity and allowed for lower prices Changed nature of factory work
o Skilled workers no longer needed
Age of Mass Consumption
Advertising stimulated demand Workers had higher wages and more leisure time Retailers allowed people to buy on credit with
installment plans
Speculation Boom Speculation: purchase of any item not for
personal use but in the hope of selling it later for a higher price
1920s – spread of speculation in stocks and real estate
Stock prices climbed > gains in stocks fueled speculation > heard of successes and enticed more people to buy stocks for easy profits > stock prices went even higher.
Uneven Prosperity Wealth was highly concentrated 1929 – top one thousandth (0.1%) o Americans
had a combined income equal to the bottom 42%o Same top group controlled about 1/3 of all savings, while
¾ of Americans had no savings at all Many Americans still faced poverty Farmers faced lower income due to
overproduction Railroads suffered from competition from cars Textile workers faced lower wages because of
foreign competition Minority groups faced discrimination in
employment
Cultural Values in Conflict
1920s saw adoption of new values that threatened traditional values
Young people wanted greater freedom
Many groups felt new sense of power while others felt threatened and sought to preserve traditional ways
Prohibition Liquor is the cause of poverty and crime
o Many women’s organizations championed to end the selling of alcoholic drinks
Frances Willardo One of most outspoken on Temperance Movemento 1879 – elected President of National Women’s
Temperance Union• Advocated women’s rights, suffrage, prison reform, 8 hour
work day, and improved factory conditionso 1882 – organized the Prohibition Party
1919 – Work of Willard and others convinced states to pass 18th amendment banning the sale of alcohol
Prohibition Many felt it legislated and
forced one group’s moral beliefs on others
Others opposed because it closed bars, breweries, etc and put people out of work
Led to a growth in lawlessness and organized crime to supply illegal alcohol to consumers
Alcohol available in “speakeasies” and other underground drinking establishments
21th amendment (1933) repealed 18th amendment and Prohibition
Scopes “Monkey Trial” of 1925
Tennessee – first state to pass law against teaching Darwin’s Theory of Evolutiono 1925 – John Scopes, a biology
teacher, was arrested for teaching his class about evolution• Arrested and put on trial
Scopes “Monkey Trial” drew attention for old religion beliefs vs. new scientific theories
William Jennings Bryan represented Tennessee and Clarence Darrow defended Scopes
First trial in American history to be broadcast over radio
Scopes was convicted for teaching evolution but $1 was later set aside
New Restrictions on Immigration
1910 – 70% of all immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe
WWI – immigration trickled down After WWI nativist feelings led Congress to restrict
immigration from Europe Fears: Anti-Catholic, ethnic bias, and admitting
foreign radicalso Many immigrants were unskilled, without education and
knowledge of Englisho “New Immigrants” settled in inner cities and put added
pressures on local governments
New Restrictions on Immigration
Immigration Acts of 1921, 1924, and 1929 – keep immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe out
Quotas for each nationality based on current ethnic compositiono Western Europe
immigrants allowed in great numbers, but “New Immigrants” limited
o Asian immigration barred all together
Eugenics Widespread belief in superiority of the Anglo-Saxon “race”
of light-skinned, blond-haired, blue-eyed people Eugenics – pseudoscience that the human race could be
improved by breeding Charles Davenport
o leading proponent of eugenicso Prevent the mentally ill from having children, mental illness be
reducedo Reduce immigration from “inferior races” of Eastern and Southern
Europe Led to forced sterilizations, segregation laws, and
marriage restrictions Ideas later spread to Germany Ideas closely tied to Social Darwinism
Emergence of New Values
Womeno 19th Amendment – women can voteo New household appliances reduced
houseworko More women in collegeo More women worked > greater
economic independence and more assertive
o Young women began to drink and smoke in public
o Rejected restrictive clothing and adopted the “flapper” look• Short dresses that revealed body
shapes, legs and arms• Hair was short and choppy with a lot
of make-up• Went on dates without chaperones
and enjoyed dancingo Began reading Sigmund Freud and
treating sexuality more openly
Emergence of New Values
Tin Pan Alleyo 1910 – New York City capital of
popular music publishingo Tin Pan Alley – section of New
York – where song-writing and musical ideas mixed to form American popular music• Blues, jazz, and ragtime melded
togethero Sheet music popular o Vaudeville became popular and
needed lots of musico Saw the emergence of famous
song writers:• Irving Berlin• Cole Porter• Scott Joplin• George Gershwin
Youth and the Lost Generation
New group of writers called the “Lost Generation” rejected desire for material wealth
Did not fit into life after horrors of WWI Several lived in Paris Ernest Hemmingway – A Farewell to Arms, The
Sun Also Rises Sinclair Lewis – Main Street and Babbitt
o Strong characterization of womeno First American author to receive Nobel Prize in literature
F. Scott Fitzgerald – The Jazz Age and The Great Gatsby
Great Migration 1910-1930 – Great Migration
o 2 million African Americans left the South to the “Promised Land” of the Northeast and Midwest
o Left searching for jobs and escape sharecropping, tenant farming, and racism in the South
o Reports from family and friends who had previously migrated inspired it as well
o Chicago’s population more than doubled, Cleveland’s by three times, Detroit’s by six fold
o Greeted with racism, housing shortages, and crimeo National Urban League and NAACP helped adjusto African Americans created cities within cities, largest
being Harlem
Harlem Renaissance 1920s – Jazz Age
o Reflect importance of new form of African American music Awakening of African American culture known as the
Harlem Renaissanceo Brought recognition to African American communityo Langton Hughes and Alain Locked
• Expressed pride in race and attacked racism• Hughes is one of America’s best poets
o Countee Cullen• Won more major literary prizes than any other African American
in the 1920so Zora Neale Hurston
• One of first successful African-American women authors• Their Eyes Were Watching God
Harlem Renaissance 1920s – Jazz Age
o Reflect importance of new form of African American music Awakening of African American culture known as the
Harlem Renaissanceo Brought recognition to African American communityo Langton Hughes and Alain Locked
• Expressed pride in race and attacked racism• Hughes is one of America’s best poets
o Countee Cullen• Won more major literary prizes than any other African American
in the 1920so Zora Neale Hurston
• One of first successful African-American women authors• Their Eyes Were Watching God
Harlem Renaissance Marcus Garvey
o Highly controversial political activist
o Emphasized racial prideo Universal Negro Improvement
Association in Londono Wanted to liberate African
people around the worldo Spoke to African Americans
who had witnessed more tolerance in Europe and returned to a racist US
o Encouraged African Americans to set up businesses and shops
o Back to Africa moment – African Americans should return to Africa, especially to Liberia
Popular New Heroes More leisure – more opportunity
for entertainment Rise of popular heroes to preserve
sense of personal identity in time of impersonal machines
Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey served as new role models
Charles Lindbergho First person to fly across Atlantic
Ocean in 1927o Made it alone in a single-engine
planeo Landed plane 33 hours later in Paris
on May 27, 1927o Plane “Spirit of St. Louis” carried
him over 3,600 mileso Made him national hero and
worldwide celebrity
End of Prosperity Impact of tariffs on world trade – high tariffs limited
foreign trade and investment o Became a barrier to European countries repaying the debts
they owed the U.S. following World War I
Stock market speculation – buying stocks on margin (needing only 10% of the price of a stock to be able to complete the purchase) led to rampant speculation and falsely high stock prices
The monetary policy of the Federal Reserve System o In 1928 and 1929, the Fed raised interest rates to try to curb
Wall Street speculation
End of Prosperity Bank failures – once the
stock market crashed, fearful that banks would fail, millions of Americans began to withdraw their money. o Virtually overnight, they put
thousands of banks in peril.o The more money Americans
withdrew, the more banks failed
o The more banks failed, the more money Americans withdrew.
o Banks were not secure and the money in them was not insured if banks failed.