America’s History

Eighth Edition

CHAPTER 22

Cultural Conflict, Bubble,

and Burst, 1919-1932

•Henretta • Hinderaker • Edwards • Self

The Big Question: What conflicts in culture and politics

arose in the 1920s, and how did economic developments in

that decade help cause the Great Depression?

Ch. 22: Cultural Conflict, Bubble, and Bust 1920-1932

1. Conflicted Legacies of World War IA. Racial Strife

B. Erosion of Labor Rights

C. The Red Scare

2. Politics in the 1920sA. Women in Politics

B. Republicans in Business

C. Dollar Diplomacy

D. Culture Wars

3. Intellectual ModernismA. Harlem Vogue

B. Critiquing American Life

4. From Boom to BustA. The Postwar Economy

B. Consumer Culture

C. The Coming of the Great Depression

Chapter 22: Cultural Conflict,

Bubble, and Bust 1920-1932

• Great Migration and WWI service spurred blacks to fight for rights

• Increased lynchings and race riots demonstrated white backlash

Part 1: Conflicted Legacies of World War I

1A: Racial Strife

• 4 million wage laborers (20%) went on strike during 1919

• Union membership dropped to 10% of non-farm work force

• Supreme Court struck down

child labor, women’s minimum

wage, and union rights

• Some companies instituted

welfare capitalism with pensions

and health care (5% covered)

Part 1: Conflicted Legacies of World War I

1B: Erosion of Labor Rights

• Economic anxieties, strikes, European communism, immigration

and a series of bombings led to a “red scare” resulting in Palmer

raids, the creation of the FBI and new immigration legislation

• The Sacco and Vanzetti trial illustrated the tensions of the era

Part 1: Conflicted Legacies of World War I

1C: The Red Scare

• During the 1920s, limited government

replaced progressive reform

• The potential of a women’s voting

bloc prompted many initial reforms

such as the Sheppard-Towner

Federal Maternity and Infancy Act but

by the end of the decade hopes faded

Part 2: Politics in the 1920s

Section 2A: Women in Politics

• Harding won the 1920 election by promising a “return to normalcy”

• Commerce Secretary Hoover promoted an “associated state” of

voluntary business cooperation instead of government regulation

Part 2: Politics in the 1920s

Section 2B: Republicans and Business

• By 1923, Harding was

engulfed in scandals (e.g.

Teapot Dome)

• Coolidge was elected in

1924 on a pro-business

platform of low taxes and

limited regulation

• The US government encouraged banks to loan to foreign countries

as a means of stimulating the economy and spreading US influence

• US militarily intervened in Haiti, the Dominican, Nicaragua, and more

• Dollar diplomacy profited US banks, strengthened corrupt, local elites

and created dictatorships while failing to bring prosperity

Part 1: The Business-Government Partnership

Section 2C: Dollar Diplomacy

• By 1920, most lived in cities; by 1929, 93 cities exceeded 100,000

• Prohibition (18th amendment) was passed as a WWI temperance,

anti-German measure leading to widespread bootlegging,

speakeasies, and the growth of organized crime

• Scopes Trial represented tensions between fundamentalists and

science over the issue of teaching evolution in public schools

Part 1: The Business-Government Partnership

Section 2D: Culture Wars #1

• 24 million immigrants (1880-1920) led to 1921 Emergency Quota Act

and 1924 National Origins Act limiting European immigration

• KKK rose to 4 million members as it targeted conservative cultural

tensions (nativism, temperance, atheism, science, etc.)

• Hoover easily won 1928 election as Republicans made inroads into

the “Solid South” while Democrats won some New England states

Part 1: The Business-Government Partnership

Section 2D: Culture Wars #2

• The Harlem Renaissance was a flowering of black art, literature, jazz

and cultural pride made possible by the Great Migration

• Marcus Garvey and the UNIA encouraged black separatism and a

“return to Africa”; Garvey was deported after wire fraud conviction

• UNIA, WWI contributed to pan-Africanism and black consciousness

Part 3: Intellectual Modernism

Section 3A: Harlem in Vogue

• The “lost generation” of writers (e.g. Hemmingway, Steinbeck,

Faulkner) wrote of disillusionment after WWI while others (e.g. Lewis,

Fitzgerald) condemned the conformity and materialism of the 1920s

Part 3: Intellectual Modernism

Section 3B: Critiquing American Life

• After the post-WWI recession, per capita income rose 24% by 1929

• Farming, coal and textiles struggled throughout 1920s

Part 4: From Boom to Bust

Section 4A: The Postwar Economy

• Americans spent heavily on movies,

cars, radios, refrigerators, vacuum

cleaners, stoves, etc.

• Consumption was fueled by mass

production, advertising, credit

• Auto production (aided by the

assembly line) greatly stimulated the

economy and changed society

Part 4: From Boom to Bust

Section 4B: Consumer Culture #1

• Mass media (magazines, radio, movies) helped standardize culture

• Flappers signified young women’s new spirit of independence

• Shorter work weeks and higher pay led to growth of leisure activities

Part 4: From Boom to Bust

Section 4B: Consumer Culture #2

• Causes: consumer overspending, stock market speculation, growing

income inequality, overproduction, and farm and mining troubles

• Consequences: stock market crash, bank failures, social impact,

worldwide depression

Part 4: From Boom to Bust

Section 4C: The Coming of the Great Depression